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014 - The Brave Tin Soldier · Hans Christian Andersen Fairytales & Short Stories Vol. 1

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  Speaker 1: Section fourteen of Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales and Short Stories,
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  Speaker 1: Volume one. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
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  Speaker 1: are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
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  Speaker 1: please visit LibriVox dot org. Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales
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  Speaker 1: and Short Stories, Volume one, eighteen thirty five to eighteen
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  Speaker 1: forty two by Hans Christian Andersen, translated by H. P. Paul.
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  Speaker 1: The Brave Tin Soldier there were once five and twenty
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  Speaker 1: tin soldiers who were all brothers, for they had been
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  Speaker 1: made out of the same old tin spoon. They shouldered
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  Speaker 1: arms and looked straight before them, and wore a splendid
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  Speaker 1: uniform red and blue. The first thing in the world
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  Speaker 1: they ever heard were the words tin soldiers, uttered by
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  Speaker 1: a little boy, who clapped his hands with delight. When
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  Speaker 1: the lid of the box in which they lay was
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  Speaker 1: taken off. They were given him for a birthday present,
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  Speaker 1: and he stood at the table to set them up.
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  Speaker 1: The soldiers were all exactly alike, excepting one who had
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  Speaker 1: only one leg. He had been left to the last,
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  Speaker 1: and then there was not enough of the melted tin
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  Speaker 1: to finish him, so they made him stand firmly on
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  Speaker 1: one leg, and this caused him to be very remarkable.
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  Speaker 1: The table on which the tin soldiers stood was covered
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  Speaker 1: with other playthings, but the most attractive to the eye
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  Speaker 1: was a pretty little paper castle. Through the small windows
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  Speaker 1: the rooms could be seen. In front of the castle,
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  Speaker 1: a number of little trees surrounded a piece of looking glass,
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  Speaker 1: which was intended to represent a transparent lake. Swans made
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  Speaker 1: of wax swam on the lake and were reflected in it.
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  Speaker 1: All this was very pretty, But the prettiest of all
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  Speaker 1: was a tiny little lady who stood at the open
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  Speaker 1: door of the castle. She all was made of paper,
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  Speaker 1: and she wore a dress of clear muslin with a
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  Speaker 1: narrow blue ribbon over her shoulders, just like a scarf.
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  Speaker 1: In front of these was fixed a glittering tinsel rose
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  Speaker 1: as large as her whole face. The little lady was
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  Speaker 1: a dancer, and she stretched out both her arms and
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  Speaker 1: raised one of her legs so high that the tin
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  Speaker 1: soldier could not see it at all, and he thought
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  Speaker 1: that she, like himself, had only one leg. That is
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  Speaker 1: the wife for me, he thought, But she is too
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  Speaker 1: grand and lives in a castle. Why I have only
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  Speaker 1: a box to live in five and twenty of us altogether.
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  Speaker 1: That's no place for her. Still, I must try and
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  Speaker 1: make her acquaintance. Then he laid himself at full length
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  Speaker 1: on the table behind a snuff box that stood upon it,
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  Speaker 1: so that he could peep at the little delicate lady,
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  Speaker 1: who continued to stand on one leg without losing her balance.
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  Speaker 1: When evening came, the other tin soldiers were all placed
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  Speaker 1: in the box, and the people of the house went
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  Speaker 1: to bed. Then the playthings began to have their own
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  Speaker 1: games together, to pay visits, to have sham fights, and
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  Speaker 1: to give balls. The tin soldiers rattled in their box.
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  Speaker 1: They wanted to get out and join the amusements, but
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  Speaker 1: they could not open the lid. The nutcrackers played at
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  Speaker 1: leap frog, and the pencil jumped about the table. There
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  Speaker 1: was such a noise that the canary woke up and
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  Speaker 1: began to talk, and in poetry too. Only the tin
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  Speaker 1: soldier and the dancer remained in their places. She stood
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  Speaker 1: on tiptoe with her legs stretched out as firmly as
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  Speaker 1: he did on his one leg. He never took his
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  Speaker 1: eyes from her for even a moment. The clock struck twelve,
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  Speaker 1: and with a bounce up sprang the lid of the
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  Speaker 1: snuff box, but instead of snuff, they jumped up a
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  Speaker 1: little black goblin, for the snuff box was a toy puzzle.
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  Speaker 1: Tin soldier said the goblin. Don't wish for what does
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  Speaker 1: not belong to you, But the tin soldier pretended not
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  Speaker 1: to hear. Very well, wait until to morrow, then said
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  Speaker 1: the goblin. When the children came in the next morning,
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  Speaker 1: they placed the tin soldier in the window. Now whether
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  Speaker 1: it was the goblin who did it or the draft,
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  Speaker 1: is not known, but the window flew open and out
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  Speaker 1: fell the tin soldier heels overhead from the third story
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  Speaker 1: into the street beneath. It was a terrible fall, for
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  Speaker 1: he came head downwards, his helmet and his bayonnet stuck
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  Speaker 1: in between the flagstones, and his one leg up in
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  Speaker 1: the air. The servant maid and the little boy went
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  Speaker 1: downstairs directly to look for him, but he was nowhere
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  Speaker 1: to be seen, although once they nearly trod upon him.
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  Speaker 1: If he had called out here, I am, it would
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  Speaker 1: have been all right, But he was too proud to
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  Speaker 1: cry out for help while he wore a uniform. Presently,
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  Speaker 1: it began and to rain, and the drops fell faster
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  Speaker 1: and faster till there was a heavy shower. When it
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  Speaker 1: was over, two boys happened to pass by, and one
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  Speaker 1: of them said, look, here is a tin soldier. He
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  Speaker 1: ought to have a boat to sail in. So they
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  Speaker 1: made a boat out of newspaper and placed the tin
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  Speaker 1: soldier in it, and sent him sailing down the gutter,
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  Speaker 1: while the two boys ran by the side of it
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  Speaker 1: and clapped their hands. Good gracious, what large waves rose
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  Speaker 1: in that gutter, and how fast the stream rolled on,
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  Speaker 1: For the rain had been very heavy. The paper boat
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  Speaker 1: rocked up and down and turned itself round, sometimes so
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  Speaker 1: quickly that the tin soldier trembled. Yet he remained firm.
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  Speaker 1: His countenance did not change. He looked straight before him
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  Speaker 1: and shouldered his musket. Suddenly the boat shot under a
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  Speaker 1: bridge which formed a part of a drain, and then
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  Speaker 1: it was as dark as the tin soldier's box. Where
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  Speaker 1: am I going? Now? Thought he This is the black
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  Speaker 1: Goblin's fault. I am sure. Oh well, if the little
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  Speaker 1: lady were only here with me in the boat, I
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  Speaker 1: should not care for any darkness. Suddenly there appeared a
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  Speaker 1: great water rat who lived in the drain. Have you
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  Speaker 1: a passport? Asked the rat give it to me at once,
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  Speaker 1: But the tin soldier remained silent and held his musket
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  Speaker 1: tighter than ever. The boat sailed on, and the rat
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  Speaker 1: followed it. How he did gnash his teeth and cry
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  Speaker 1: out to the bits of wood and straw, stop him,
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  Speaker 1: Stop him. He has not paid tall, and he has
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  Speaker 1: not shown his pass. But the stream rushed on, stronger
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  Speaker 1: and stronger. The tin soldier could already see daylight shining
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  Speaker 1: where the arch ended. Then he heard a roaring sound
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  Speaker 1: quite terrible enough to frighten the bravest man. At the
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  Speaker 1: end of the tunnel. The drain fell into a large
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  Speaker 1: canal over a steep place, which made it as dangerous
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  Speaker 1: for him as a waterfall would be to us. He
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  Speaker 1: was too close to it to stop, so the boat
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  Speaker 1: rushed on, and the poor soldier could own only hold
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  Speaker 1: himself as stiffly as possible, without moving an eyelid to
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  Speaker 1: show that he was not afraid. The boat whirled round
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  Speaker 1: three or four times, and then filled with water to
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  Speaker 1: the very edge. Nothing could save it from sinking. He
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  Speaker 1: now stood up to his neck in water, while deeper
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  Speaker 1: and deeper sank the boat and the paper became soft
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  Speaker 1: and loose. With the wet till at last the water
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  Speaker 1: closed over the soldier's head. He thought of the elegant
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  Speaker 1: little dancer, whom he should never see again, and the
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  Speaker 1: words of the song sounded in his air Farewell warrior,
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  Speaker 1: ever brave, drifting onward to thy grave. Then the paper
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  Speaker 1: boat fell to pieces, and the soldier sank into the water,
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  Speaker 1: and immediately afterwards was swallowed up by a great fish.
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  Speaker 1: Oh how dark it was inside the fish, a great
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  Speaker 1: deal darker than in the tunnel, and narrower too. But
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  Speaker 1: the soldier continued firm and lay at full length, shouldering
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  Speaker 1: his musket. The fish swam to and fro, making the
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  Speaker 1: most wonderful movements. But at last he became quite still.
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  Speaker 1: After a while, a flash of lightning seemed to pass
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  Speaker 1: through him, And then the daylight approached, and a voice
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  Speaker 1: cried out, I declare, here is the tin soldier. The
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  Speaker 1: fish had been caught, taken to market, and sold to
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  Speaker 1: the cook, who took him into the kitchen and cut
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  Speaker 1: him open with a large knife. She picked up the
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  Speaker 1: soldier and held him by the waist between her finger
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  Speaker 1: and thumb, and carried him into the room. They were
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  Speaker 1: all anxious to see this wonderful soldier who had traveled
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  Speaker 1: about inside a fish, But he was not at all proud.
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  Speaker 1: They placed him on the table, And how many curious
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  Speaker 1: things do happen in the world. There he was in
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  Speaker 1: the very same room from the window of which he
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  Speaker 1: had fallen. There were the same children, the same playthings
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  Speaker 1: standing on the table, and the pretty parcel with the
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  Speaker 1: elegant little dancer at the door. She still balanced herself
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  Speaker 1: on one leg and held up the other, so she
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  Speaker 1: was as firm as himself. It touched the tin soldier
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  Speaker 1: so much to see her that he almost wept tin tears,
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  Speaker 1: but he kept them back. He only looked at her,
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  Speaker 1: and they both remained silent. Presently, one of the little
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  Speaker 1: boys took up the tin soldier and threw him into
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  Speaker 1: the stove. He had no reason for doing so. Therefore
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  Speaker 1: it must have been the fault of the black goblin
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  Speaker 1: who lived in the snuff box. The flames lighted up
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  Speaker 1: the tin soldier as he stood. The heat was very terrible,
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  Speaker 1: but whether it proceeded from the real fire or from
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  Speaker 1: the fire of love, he could not tell. Then he
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  Speaker 1: could see that the bright colors were faded from his uniform,
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  Speaker 1: but whether they had been washed off during his journey,
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  Speaker 1: or from the effects of his sorrow, no one could say.
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  Speaker 1: He looked at the little lady, and she looked at him.
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  Speaker 1: He felt himself melting away, but he still remained firm,
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  Speaker 1: with his gun on his shoulder. Suddenly the door of
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  Speaker 1: the room flew open, and the draft of air caught
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  Speaker 1: up the little Dancer. She fluttered like a sylph, right
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  Speaker 1: into the stove by the side of the tin soldier,
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  Speaker 1: and was instantly in flames, and was gone. The tin
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  Speaker 1: soldier melted down into a lump, and the next morning,
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  Speaker 1: when the maid servant took the ashes out of the stove,
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  Speaker 1: she found him in the shape of a little tin heart.
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  Speaker 1: But of the little Dancer nothing remained but the tinsel rose,
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  Speaker 1: which was burnt black as a cinder. End of the
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  Speaker 1: Brave Tin Soldier. Recording by an ol Badrian, County Offy, Ireland,