The Staunch Tin Soldier (Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tale)

Once upon a time, twenty-five soldiers of various shapes were forged in a tin furnace. Forged from the same furnace, they all look exactly the same, all carrying guns, holding their chests, looking straight ahead, and the twenty-five brothers are all dressed in the same red and blue uniforms.

Today, it is the birthday of a little boy who received a very beautiful box of gifts. After opening it, the little boy shouted happily, "What a beautiful tin soldier!" These were the first words the tin soldiers had heard since they had come into this world. They were placed on the table one by one. Only one tin soldier was a little different, he only had one leg, because he was the last to be cast, and the tin was a bit insufficient. But he is still so straight like the other brothers, and the protagonist of our story is him.

There are many other toys on the little boy's table, such as cars, warships, bears, etc., and the most eye-catching thing is an official hall made of cardboard, which is as beautiful and exquisite as the royal palace. Looking through those small windows, you can see a hall, next to many small rooms, in front of the palace there is a small lake made of mirrors, there are a few willow trees around, and there are a few very beautiful little swans made of wax swimming on the lake, and the lake reflects their beautiful figures. The door of the palace was open, and a beautiful young lady stood there silently, which she had cut out very carefully with cardboard. The young lady was dressed in a floral dress with a blue ribbon on her head and a crystal-like ornament inserted in the middle, as beautiful as her face. Mademoiselle is an artist who is practicing her dance moves very seriously, her arms stretched out, one leg high in the air, all movements so graceful. The one-legged tin soldier could only see the leg that the beautiful lady had raised because of the position in which she stood, so he thought she only had one leg.

"How fitting it would be for her to be my wife." Xi Bing thought to himself, "But she lives in the palace, and her status is so noble, and I and my twenty-four brothers are crammed into a very inconspicuous box, such a bad environmental condition, she is likely not to get used to it, no matter what, let's find an opportunity to get to know her first!"

Pretty Lady had an equally delicate snuff bottle next to her. So, the tin soldier hid behind it, so that from that angle, he could see everything about the beautiful lady completely. The princess was apparently born a ballet dancer who stood on one leg but did not lose her balance at all.

It was dark, and twenty-four tin soldiers had gone into their boxes, and the owner of the house had gone to sleep. The nightlife of the dolls on the table, as usual, began again, they either fought or talked, the walnut pliers flared, the stone pen wandered east and west on the slate, and the tin soldiers in the box also planned to come out to join in the fun, but they could not open the lid of their box, so they could only scream inside. At this time, the golden bird's dream was awakened, and she also added someone to come in, chirping and chatting with the bear next to her. The one-legged Tin Soldier and the Ballet Lady stood motionless, and the Tin Soldier looked at the charming girl as if he had lost his soul.

"Boom, boom..... The clock rang twelve times, and the dolls suddenly fell silent. Suddenly there was a "snap", the lid of the snuff bottle opened, and a little devil jumped out of it, and I didn't think that the snuff bottle was also a very wonderful toy.

"Hey, one-legged tin soldier! Keep your eyes honest, you should be clear about what you should see and what you can't see. The devil said in a very domineering tone

Xi Bing did not answer him at all, as if he had not heard what he said.

"Don't even put me in the eye, the walker looks good!" The devil said evilly.

The next morning, when the little boy got up and cleaned up the toys on his desk, he placed a one-legged tin soldier on the windowsill. Suddenly the window opened, and I don't know if it was because of the wind or what magic the little devil had cast on the side, and the tin soldier fell out, from the third floor to the first floor, and his head fell down on the very hard ground, and his bayonet stabbed into the stone crevice.

The little boy and the servants rushed downstairs to look for him, and they almost stepped on his body, but they still did not see him, so they went upstairs in great disappointment. If only the Tin Soldier had shouted, "I'm here!" If so, he would have followed them back again, but he felt that he was wearing a uniform and shouting and shouting that he was almost out of place.

The sky suddenly darkened, and it began to rain heavily, and then it became bigger and bigger, and it rained heavily. After the rain cleared, two wandering children passed by here very casually.

"Hey, look, there's a tin soldier lying there!" One of the children was very surprised and said, "Let's do something very interesting and let him sail!" Then they found a newspaper and made a boat in a short amount of time, and the tin soldiers were placed in the paper boat. The boat was put into a small ditch and went down the river. Since it had just rained, the surrounding rain had flowed into the ditch, and the water had become very turbulent and difficult to move, and the boat was on the water for a while, left and right, constantly bumping, and the tin soldiers were also swinging together on the boat. He was terrified, but still standing upright, carrying his gun and looking ahead. Two stray children followed the boat and kept running around, clapping their hands excitedly.

Suddenly, the boat flowed into the sewers and rushed forward in the darkness.

"I don't know when the boat will stop, or where I'll drift!" Xi Bing thought to himself, "There is no doubt that the little devil is tricking the ghost!" But if that beautiful lady were sitting in this boat, even if it was twice as dark, I wouldn't care!"

"Get your pass out!" A big rat who lives here said against the water.

The tin soldier didn't pay any attention at all, but the gun in his hand was held tighter. The ship was still moving forward in a constant hurry.

"Get the pass out! Otherwise, leave the money for the pass!" The rat chased after him furiously and said, "Stop this boat, stop him!" It gave stern orders to dry branches and straw floating on the surface of the water.

The rushing currents brought the boats through the branches and straw, and their obstruction was largely ineffective. The tin soldiers had seen the sunlight outside at the end of the sewer, and at the end of the sewer was a great river, which was probably more dangerous. Just at this moment, the Tin Soldier heard the roar of the river, a sound that even the bravest warrior would feel a little afraid. The small boat flowed into the great river, which the tin soldiers could not control at all, and poor him tried to maintain a straight posture, and he became more composed and firmer at this moment. The paper boat was already soaking wet, gradually becoming soft and deformed, and eventually the ship began to sink. Xi Bing's whole body was soaked in the water, only his head was exposed, and at this moment, he remembered the beautiful lady who haunted his soul, and he would never see her again. At this moment, the words flashed in his mind: Brave soldier, boldly rush forward! Your fearless sacrifice is the highest honor of your life!

The paper boat finally shattered, and the tin soldier sank to the bottom of the water with it, and was swallowed by a large fish.

"Ah! It was darker than where I had just passed, and the road was so narrow. Xi Bing thought to himself. He had no choice but to lie down, but still held the gun as tightly as before. He felt the big fish rushing from place to place, just quieting down, and then seemed to be tossing desperately. After a while, the big fish stopped moving. At this time, Xi Bing only felt that a ray of light in front of his eyes had crossed his head, and the surrounding area suddenly became brighter.

"Hey, lo and behold, there's a tin soldier here!" A man cried out in great excitement. It turned out that the fish had been bought home from the market, and now it had been disemboweled and placed on the kitchen floor.

Xi Bing was taken to the living room of the master's house with two fingers, and people were very surprised and wanted to see this hero who had traveled a wonderful and magnificent world. The tin soldier did not show any proud look.

There are so many incredible things in the world! Xi Bing found himself back in the original little boy's room, and the table was still on the toys and beautiful palaces of the past, and the lovely ballet lady was still waiting for him. The young lady still had her arms outstretched forward, one leg high in the air. This time, Xi Bing saw Miss Ballet's legs clearly, and her persistent and calm spirit deeply touched Xi Bing, and he almost shed tears. But a real soldier can't do that, they stare at each other and don't say a word.

At this moment, the little boy suddenly lost his temper for some reason, grabbed the tin soldiers and threw him into the furnace, and there was no doubt that the little devil was at work again.

The determined Tin Soldier felt a scorching heat rushing towards him, his uniform was already difficult to distinguish, his bayonet had softened, and he found that his body was gradually melting. But his gaze was still firmly fixed on the beautiful ballet lady, his chest straighter, showing a fearless heroism.

At this moment, the little boy opened the door of the room and ran out, and the wind blew Miss Ballet, and she flew up like a fairy, flew to the furnace, flew to the tin soldier's body, and turned into a very beautiful flame, and suddenly disappeared.

The next morning, while the servant was cleaning the fireplace and cleaning the ash, he was surprised to find a silver tin block, which was the body of a tin soldier, and then a black piece of metal was found next to it, yes, the ornament on the head of Miss Ballet.