An old man lived in Denmark long ago. He was good at making toys. He took a very big

tin spoon and made twenty-four tin soldiers out of it.

Then there was a little more tin, and the old man made another soldier, but this one had only one leg, because there was no more tin.

The twenty-five soldiers were brothers. They all stood very straight. They had red coats and blue trousers, and each one held a gun in his hand.

The last tin soldier stood as his brothers.

The old man put the twenty-five soldiers in a box and closed the lid. He said, "I'm going to sell them."

A lady bought the soldiers and took them home to her son. "Look at my tin soldiers," the small boy shouted happily. He took them out of the box and put them on the table. The twenty-five tin soldiers stood very straight in their red coats and blue trousers, and all the children looked at them.

" That one's got one leg," one of the children said.

"I like him best, "the small boy said, and the small tin soldier was very happy.

There were other toys on the table. There was a black dog and a bird. The black dog had a key in his back, and the bird was in a cage. The small tin soldier did not like the black dog, and the black dog did not like the small tin soldier.

There was a pretty paper house, too. It had a door, small windows and a garden. There were paper flowers and a piece of glass like a pool in the garden. There were ducks on the pool.

A small paper lady stood by the door of the house. It was her house. The paper house was pretty, The small paper lady had a beautiful blue dress and wore a flower on head. It was a tin flower, and it shone like a star.

The paper lady was a dancer. One of her legs was on the ground, and the other was up in the air. The small tin soldier looked at her a lot. He loved her. "She is like me. She's got one leg," he said. " She's going to be my wife."

But they did not meet each other, because she lived in her pretty paper house, and the small tin soldier lived in a dark box with his twenty-four brothers.

The small tin soldier lay down behind the black dog and looked at the paper dancer. She did not look at him, but he loved her more and more.

"She' s the prettiest lady in the world, and she' s going to be my wife," the tin soldier said, but the black dog laughed nastily.

In the evening, the small boy put the twenty-five soldiers in the box and went to bed. At midnight the room was dark and everybody in the house was asleep. Then the toys woke up and played. The black dog turned his key and jumped, and the bird sang in its cage.

The tin soldiers did not play, because their box was closed. They kicked the lid, but it did not open. There was a small hole near the small tin soldier, and he looked through it.

"The small paper lady's dancing by the paper house. I love her very much, and she's going to be my wife," he said very quietly, but the black dog heard him.

"She is mine," he said angrily. "Stop looking at her. I'm going to bite you tomorrow."

The tin soldier lay very straight in the box and did not speak.

In the morning the small boy put the soldiers by the window. It was open, and the black dog was very near it. It was windy, and the small tin soldier fell out of the window and into the road.

" Ha, ha," the black dog laughed nastily. Did he push the soldier out?

The small tin soldier fell a long way, and the ground was hard. The tin soldier's head hit the ground at the side of the road. His gun went into the ground, and he stayed there. His one leg was up in the air.

The small boy and a servant ran downstairs and out into the road. They looked everywhere for the small tin soldier. They went quite near him, but they did not find him.

Then the small boy and the servant went back into the house, and the small tin soldier was alone at the side of the road. He was brave and did not cry.

Then it rained. It rained very hard, and after a minute the small tin soldier was very wet. The side of the road was full of water. It was like a small river. Two boys came and played in the road.

"Look, there's a tin soldier here, and he's got one leg," one boy said. "I'm going to make a boat and put him in it," the other boy said. The boy found a newspaper, and made a boat and a sail. Then he put the tin soldier in the boat. The boat sailed along the water at the side of the road, and the boys ran along near it. The boat went up and down, and the small tin soldier was afraid, but he stood very straight in the boat and held his gun.

Then the boat came to a bridge over the water. The water went under the bridge, and the boat sailed under it too, but the boys did not follow it, because the bridge was very low.

It was dark under the bridge. It was as the soldier's box.

"Where am I going?" the small tin soldier said. "Am I ever going to see the beautiful dancer again"

A rat lived under the bridge. He looked out of his hole.

"Where are you going?" he shouted angrily, "Where is your ticket?" The tin soldier did not speak, because he did not have a ticket. The boat sailed past and the rat swam after it.

"Stop him, stop him! He hasn't got a ticket," he shouted.

The rat swam very fast and came near the boat, but it sailed out from under the bridge, and the rat didn't follow.

Then the water went down into a big drain and the boat went too. The drain was a big black hole, and the water went down it very fast. The tin soldier was afraid, because the boat went very fast.

A lot of water came into the boat. It came up to the soldier's head. Then the boat broken into pieces, and the tin soldier fell into the water.

He went down and down, but he didn't reach the bottom. A big fish swan after him. It caught him in its mouth and ate him quickly.

It was very dark inside the fish, but tin soldier held his gun in his hand and lay very straight. The fish swam along the drain and after a long time it reached the sea.

A fisherman caught it with a hook and pulled it out of the water.

The fish jumped about, and the tin soldier fell on one side and then on the other. Then the fish was quiet. It was dead.

"Where am I going?" the tin soldier said. He lay in the fish all day. Then somebody bought the fish and took it home.

The fish lay on the kitchen table, and a servant cut it with a knife. "Look, " she shouted. "It's the small tin soldier. " The small tin soldier looked and then he looked again. He was in the same house again.

The servant took him upstairs to the children's room. The children looked at him, and the small boy shouted, " My small tin soldier's come back. "

The small tin soldier was very happy. The children put him on the table with his twenty-four brothers again. The same toys were there, but the small tin soldier looked straight at the paper lady's house at the beautiful dancer.

She did not stop dancing and did not look at him, but the small tin soldier loved her more and more.

"She's never looked at me, " he said, "but I love her. " One of the children was very angry in the evening. He took the small tin soldier and threw him into the fire.

The black dog laughed and jumped. After a second the small tin soldier was very hot, and his red coat and his blue trousers were black. He stood very straight and looked at the beautiful dancer. and then she looked at him.

Then somebody opened the door, and the wind caught the beautiful dancer and took her up into the air. She flew like a small blue bird. She flew straight into the fire. She lay at the side of the small tin soldier, but she was a paper toy and after a second she was not there any more.

The servant cleaned the fireplace in the morning. She found the tin flower from the beautiful dancer's head. It was quite black. She did not find the tin soldier, but she found a small lump of tin. It was like a heart.
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