The Drop of Water by Hans Christian Andersen. Short summary

5 seconds

The wizard Colum Cotton looks at a drop of water from a puddle through a magnifying glass. The inhabitants there, devouring each other. The other wizard thinks it is Copenhagen or another big city.

1 minute

How much interesting you can find even in a drop of water if you look at it through a magnifying glass. And so did a wizard with the strange name of Colum Chlopotun.

The wizard took a drop of water from an ordinary muddy puddle and looked at it through a magnifying glass. He saw many strange creatures chasing each other and mutually devouring their own kind. He found the sight disgusting.

The sorcerer decided to color the creatures by adding a drop of witch’s blood. They became like naked human beings tearing each other apart mercilessly. The wizard showed the drop under the glass to his companion, offering to guess what it was.

The second wizard looked through the glass, observed the creatures, and said it must be Copenhagen or some other large city. But Kolun Chlopotun remarked that it was just a drop of water from a muddy puddle.