THE BRAVE TIN SOLDIER故事

　　 THERE were once five-and-twenty tin soldiers, who were all

　　 brothers, for they had been made out of the same old tin

　　 spoon. They shouldered arms and looked straight before them,

　　 and wore a splendid uniform, red and blue. The first thing in

　　 the world they ever heard were the words, "Tin soldiers!"

　　 uttered by a little boy, who clapped his hands with delight

　　 when the lid of the box, in which they lay, was taken off.

　　 They were given him for a birthday present, and he stood at

　　 the table to set them up. The soldiers were all exactly alike,

　　 excepting one, who had only one leg; he had been left to the

　　 last, and then there was not enough of the melted tin to

　　 finish him, so they made him to stand firmly on one leg, and

　　 this caused him to be very remarkable.

　　 The table on which the tin soldiers stood, was covered

　　 with other playthings, but the most attractive to the eye was

　　 a pretty little paper castle. Through the small windows the

　　 rooms could be seen. In front of the castle a number of little

　　 trees surrounded a piece of looking-glass, which was intended

　　 to represent a transparent lake. Swans, made of wax, swam on

　　 the lake, and were reflected in it. All this was very pretty,

　　 but the prettiest of all was a tiny little lady, who stood at

　　 the open door of the castle; she, also, was made of paper, and

　　 she wore a dress of clear muslin, with a narrow blue ribbon

　　 over her shoulders just like a scarf. In front of these was

　　 fixed a glittering tinsel rose, as large as her whole face.

　　 The little lady was a dancer, and she stretched out both her

　　 arms, and raised one of her legs so high, that the tin soldier

　　 could not see it at all, and he thought that she, like

　　 himself, had only one leg. "That is the wife for me," he

　　 thought; "but she is too grand, and lives in a castle, while I

　　 have only a box to live in, five-and-twenty of us altogether,

　　 that is no place for her. Still I must try and make her

　　 acquaintance." Then he laid himself at full length on the

　　 table behind a snuff-box that stood upon it, so that he could

　　 peep at the little delicate lady, who continued to stand on

　　 one leg without losing her balance. When evening came, the

　　 other tin soldiers were all placed in the box, and the people

　　 of the house went to bed. Then the playthings began to have

　　 their own games together, to pay visits, to have sham fights,

　　 and to give balls. The tin soldiers rattled in their box; they

　　 wanted to get out and join the amusements, but they could not

　　 open the lid. The nut-crackers played at leap-frog, and the

　　 pencil jumped about the table. There was such a noise that the

　　 canary woke up and began to talk, and in poetry too. Only the

　　 tin soldier and the dancer remained in their places. She stood

　　 on tiptoe, with her legs stretched out, as firmly as he did on

　　 his one leg. He never took his eyes from her for even a

　　 moment. The clock struck twelve, and, with a bounce, up sprang

　　 the lid of the snuff-box; but, instead of snuff, there jumped

　　 up a little black goblin; for the snuff-box was a toy puzzle.

　　 "Tin soldier," said the goblin, "don't wish for what does

　　 not belong to you.

　　 But the tin soldier pretended not to hear.

　　 "Very well; wait till to-morrow, then," said the goblin.

　　 When the children came in the next morning, they placed

　　 the tin soldier in the window. Now, whether it was the goblin

　　 who did it, or the draught, is not known, but the window flew

　　 open, and out fell the tin soldier, heels over head, from the

　　 third story, into the street beneath. It was a terrible fall;

　　 for he came head downwards, his helmet and his bayonet stuck

　　 in between the flagstones, and his one leg up in the air. The

　　 servant maid and the litt

　　le boy went down stairs directly to

　　 look for him; but he was nowhere to be seen, although once

　　 they nearly trod upon him. If he had called out, "Here I am,"

　　 it would have been all right, but he was too proud to cry out

　　 for help while he wore a uniform.

　　 Presently it began to rain, and the drops fell faster and

　　 faster, till there was a heavy shower. When it was over, two

　　 boys happened to pass by, and one of them said, "Look, there

　　 is a tin soldier. He ought to have a boat to sail in."

　　 So they made a boat out of a newspaper, and placed the tin

　　 soldier in it, and sent him sailing down the gutter, while the

　　 two boys ran by the side of it, and clapped their hands. Good

　　 gracious, what large waves arose in that gutter! and how fast

　　 the stream rolled on! for the rain had been very heavy. The

　　 paper boat rocked up and down, and turned itself round

　　 sometimes so quickly that the tin soldier trembled; yet he

　　 remained firm; his countenance did not change; he looked

　　 straight before him, and shouldered his musket. Suddenly the

　　 boat shot under a bridge which formed a part of a drain, and

　　 then it was as dark as the tin soldier's box.

　　 "Where am I going now?" thought he. "This is the black

　　 goblin's fault, I am sure. Ah, well, if the little lady were

　　 only here with me in the boat, I should not care for any

　　 darkness."

　　 Suddenly there appeared a great water-rat, who lived in

　　 the drain.

　　 "Have you a passport?" asked the rat, "give it to me at

　　 once." But the tin soldier remained silent and held his musket

　　 tighter than ever. The boat sailed on and the rat followed it.

　　 How he did gnash his teeth and cry out to the bits of wood and

　　 straw, "Stop him, stop him; he has not paid toll, and has not

　　 shown his pass." But the stream rushed on stronger and

　　 stronger. The tin soldier could already see daylight shining

　　 where the arch ended. Then he heard a roaring sound quite

　　 terrible enough to frighten the bravest man. At the end of the

　　 tunnel the drain fell into a large canal over a steep place,

　　 which made it as dangerous for him as a waterfall would be to

　　 us. He was too close to it to stop, so the boat rushed on, and

　　 the poor tin soldier could only hold himself as stiffly as

　　 possible, without moving an eyelid, to show that he was not

　　 afraid. The boat whirled round three or four times, and then

　　 filled with water to the very edge; nothing could save it from

　　 sinking. He now stood up to his neck in water, while deeper

　　 and deeper sank the boat, and the paper became soft and loose

　　 with the wet, till at last the water closed over the soldier's

　　 head. He thought of the elegant little dancer whom he should

　　 never see again, and the words of the song sounded in his

　　 ears-

　　 "Farewell, warrior! ever brave,

　　 Drifting onward to thy grave."

　　 Then the paper boat fell to pieces, and the soldier sank

　　 into the water and immediately afterwards was swallowed up by

　　 a great fish. Oh how dark it was inside the fish! A great deal

　　 darker than in the tunnel, and narrower too, but the tin

　　 soldier continued firm, and lay at full length shouldering his

　　 musket. The fish swam to and fro, making the most wonderful

　　 movements, but at last he became quite still. After a while, a

　　 flash of lightning seemed to pass through him, and then the

　　 daylight approached, and a voice cried out, "I declare here is

　　 the tin soldier." The fish had been caught, taken to the

　　 market and sold to the cook, who took him into the kitchen and

　　 cut him open with a large knife. She picked up the soldier and

　　 held him by the waist between her finger and thumb, and

　　 carried him into the room. They were all anxious to see this

　　 wonderful soldier who had travelled about inside a fish; but

　　 he was not at all proud. They placed him on the table, and-

　　 how many curious things do happen in the world!- there he was

　　 in the very same room from the window of which he had fallen,

　　 there were the same children, the same playthings, standing on

　　 the table, and the pretty castle with the elegant little

　　 dancer at the door; she still balanced herself on one leg, and

　　 held up the other, so she was as firm as himself. It touched

　　 the tin soldier so much to see her that he almost wept tin

　　 tears, but he kept them back. He only looked at her and they

　　 both remained silent. Presently one of the little boys took up

　　 the tin soldier, and threw him into the stove. He had no

　　 reason for doing so, therefore it must have been the fault of

　　 the black goblin who lived in the snuff-box. The flames

　　 lighted up the tin soldier, as he stood, the heat was very

　　 terrible, but whether it proceeded from the real fire or from

　　 the fire of love he could not tell. Then he could see that the

　　 bright colors were faded from his uniform, but whether they

　　 had been washed off during his journey or from the effects of

　　 his sorrow, no one could say. He looked at the little lady,

　　 and she looked at him. He felt himself melting away, but he

　　 still remained firm with his gun on his shoulder. Suddenly the

　　 door of the room flew open and the draught of air caught up

　　 the little dancer, she fluttered like a sylph right into the

　　 stove by the side of the tin soldier, and was instantly in

　　 flames and was gone. The tin soldier melted down into a lump,

　　 and the next morning, when the maid servant took the ashes out

　　 of the stove, she found him in the shape of a little tin

　　 heart. But of the little dancer nothing remained but the

　　 tinsel rose, which was burnt black as a cinder.

　　 THE END