The prince’s eyes had rare sapphires. He sent them for the playwright and a little girl.

The young man was writing a play for the Director of the Theatre but it was too cold for him to write. Moreover, hunger made him faint. The Prince wanted a sapphire to be delivered to him so that he could sell it and purchase some firewood and food and complete his work.

He wanted the other sapphire to be delivered to a little matchgirl who had let all her matches in the gutter. The Prince knew that the girl’s father would beat her so he wanted the other sapphire to be delivered to her so that she could give it to her father.