"The Steadfast Tin Soldier. G. H. Andersen. The Steadfast Tin Soldier

There were once twenty-five tin soldiers in the world. All sons of one mother - an old tin spoon - and, therefore, they were brothers to each other. They were glorious, gallant guys: a gun on the shoulder, a wheeled chest, a red uniform, blue lapels, buttons shining ... Well, in a word, what a miracle for the soldiers!

All twenty-five lay in a row in a cardboard box. It was dark and cramped in it. But the tin soldiers are patient people; they lay motionless and waited for the day when the box would be opened.

And then one day the box opened.

Tin soldiers! Tin soldiers! - shouted little boy and clapped his hands for joy.

He was given tin soldiers on his birthday.

The boy immediately began to arrange them on the table. Twenty-four were exactly the same - one cannot be distinguished from the other, and the twenty-fifth soldier was not like everyone else. He turned out to be one-legged. It was cast last, and the tin was a little short. However, he stood on one leg as firmly as the others on two.

It is with this one-legged soldier that a wonderful story happened, which I will now tell you.

There were many different toys on the table where the boy built his soldiers. But the best toy was the wonderful cardboard palace. Through its windows one could look inside and see all the rooms. A round mirror lay in front of the palace. It was just like a real lake, and around this mirror-like lake were small green trees. Wax swans swam around the lake and, arching their long necks, admired their reflection.

All this was beautiful, but the most beautiful was the mistress of the palace, who stood on the threshold, in the wide-open doors. She, too, was cut out of cardboard; she wore a thin cambric skirt, a blue scarf on her shoulders, and a shiny brooch on her chest, almost as big as the head of its owner, and just as beautiful.

The beauty stood on one leg with both arms outstretched — she must have been a dancer. She raised the other leg so high that our tin soldier at first even decided that the beauty was also one-legged, like himself.

“I wish I had such a wife! thought the tin soldier. - Yes, only she, probably, of a noble family. There he lives in what a beautiful palace! .. And my house is a simple box, and even a whole company of us - twenty-five soldiers - is packed there. No, she doesn't belong there! But it doesn't hurt to get to know her ... "

And the soldier hid behind a snuff-box, which stood right there on the table.

From here he could clearly see a lovely dancer who stood on one leg all the time and never even swayed!

Late in the evening, all the tin soldiers, except for the one-legged one - they could not find him - were put in a box, and all the people went to bed.

And when it became completely quiet in the house, the toys themselves began to play: first to visit, then to the war, and in the end they had a ball. Tin soldiers knocked their guns against the walls of their box - they also wanted to go free and play, but they could not lift the heavy lid in any way. Even the nutcracker began to somersault, and the lead went dancing on the board, leaving white traces on it - tra-ta-ta-ta, tra-ta-ta-ta! There was such a noise that the canary woke up in the cage and began chatting in its own language as quickly as it could, and, moreover, in poetry.

Only the one-legged soldier and the dancer did not move.

She still stood on one leg, stretching out both hands forward, and he froze with a gun in his hands, like a sentry, and did not take his eyes from the beauty.

It struck twelve. And suddenly - click! - the snuff-box was opened.

This snuffbox never smelled of tobacco, but a little evil troll was sitting in it. He jumped out of the snuffbox, as if on a spring, and looked around.

Hey you tin soldier! - shouted the troll. - Do not hurt to look at the dancer! She's too good for you.

But the tin soldier pretended not to hear anything.

Oh, there you are! - said the troll. - Okay, wait until morning! You will still remember me!

In the morning, when the children woke up, they found a one-legged soldier behind a snuffbox and put him on the window.

And all of a sudden, it was either the troll that set it up, or it was just a draft, who knows? - but only the window was thrown open, and the one-legged soldier flew from the third floor upside down, so much so that his ears whistled. Well, he has suffered through the fear!

Within a minute, he was already sticking out of the ground upside down, and his gun and his head in a helmet were stuck between the cobblestones.

The boy and the maid immediately ran out into the street to find the soldier. But no matter how much they looked around, no matter how much they fumbled on the ground, they did not find it.

Once they almost stepped on the soldier, but even then they passed by without noticing him. Of course, if the soldier shouted: "I'm here!" - he would be found now. But he considered it indecent to shout in the street - after all, he wore a uniform and was a soldier, and, moreover, a pewter one.

The boy and the maid went back to the house. And then suddenly a rain poured down, but what a rain! A real downpour!

Wide puddles spread along the street, fast streams flowed. And when the rain finally ended, two street boys came running to the place where the tin soldier was sticking out between the cobblestones.

Look, ”one of them said. - Yes, no way, it's a tin soldier! .. Let's send him sailing!

And they made a boat out of an old newspaper, put a tin soldier in it and lowered it into the groove.

The boat swam away, and the boys ran alongside, bouncing and clapping their hands.

The water in the ditch was boiling. She shouldn't be seething after such a shower! The boat either dived or flew up the crest of the wave, then circled it in place, then carried forward.

The tin soldier in the boat was trembling all over, from helmet to boot, but he held on firmly, as a real soldier should be: a gun on his shoulder, his head up, his chest with a wheel.

And so the boat skidded under a wide bridge. It became so dark as if the soldier had gotten back into his box.

“Where am I? thought the tin soldier. - Oh, if only my beautiful dancer was with me! Then I wouldn't care about anything ... "

At that moment a large water rat jumped out from under the bridge.

Who are you? she screamed. - Do you have a passport? Show your passport!

But the tin soldier was silent and only gripped the gun tightly. The boat carried him farther and farther, and the rat swam after him. She snapped her teeth ferociously and shouted to the chips and straws floating towards them:

Keep it! Hold on! He has no passport!

And she raked her paws with all her might to catch up with the soldier. But the boat was going so fast that not even a rat could keep up with it. Finally the tin soldier saw a light ahead. The bridge ended.

"I am saved!" - thought the soldier.

But then there was such a rumble and roar that any brave man could not stand it and trembled with fear. Just think: behind the bridge, the water was noisily falling down - right into a wide stormy canal!

The tin soldier who was sailing in a small paper boat was in the same danger as we were if we were carried in a real boat to a real big waterfall.

But it was already impossible to stop. The boat with the tin soldier was carried out into the large canal. The waves tossed and threw her up and down, but the soldier still behaved well and did not even blink an eye.

And suddenly the boat spun in place, scooped up water with its starboard side, then with its left side, then again with its right side, and soon it was filled with water to the very brim.

Now the soldier is already waist-deep in water, now up to his throat ... And finally the water covered him with his head.

Sinking to the bottom, he thought sadly about his beauty. He will never see the cute dancer anymore!

But then he remembered the old soldier's song:

Step forward, always forward!
Glory awaits you beyond the grave! ..-

and prepared to meet death with honor in a terrible abyss. However, something quite different happened.

Out of nowhere, a large fish emerged from the water and instantly swallowed the soldier along with his gun.

Ah, how dark and cramped it was in the stomach of the fish, darker than under the bridge, closer than in the box! But the tin soldier stood firm even here. He drew himself up to his full height and tightened his grip on his gun. So he lay for a long time.

Suddenly the fish darted from side to side, began to dive, wriggle, jump and finally froze.

The soldier could not understand what had happened. He bravely prepared to face new challenges, but it was still dark and quiet around.

And suddenly, like lightning flashed in the darkness.

Then it became quite light, and someone shouted:

That's the thing! Tin soldier!

And the thing was this: the fish was caught, taken to the market, and then it ended up in the kitchen. The cook ripped open her belly with a large shiny knife and saw the tin soldier. She took it with two fingers and carried it into the room.

The whole house came running to look at the wonderful traveler. They put the soldier on the table, and suddenly - what miracles do not happen in the world! - he saw the same room, the same boy, the same window from which he flew out into the street ... There were the same toys around, and among them a cardboard palace rose, and a beautiful dancer stood on the threshold. She still stood on one leg, raising the other high. This is called resilience!

The tin soldier was so moved that tin tears almost rolled from his eyes, but he remembered in time that a soldier was not supposed to cry. Without blinking, he looked at the dancer, the dancer looked at him, and both were silent.

Suddenly one of the boys - the smallest one - grabbed the tin soldier and, for no reason at all, threw him straight into the stove. Probably, he was taught by an evil troll from a snuffbox.

The wood was burning brightly in the stove, and the tin soldier felt terribly hot. He felt that he was all on fire - either from fire, or from love - he himself did not know. The paint fled from his face, he faded all over - maybe from chagrin, or maybe because he had been in the water and in the stomach of a fish.

But even in the fire he kept upright, gripped his gun tightly and did not take his eyes off the beautiful dancer. And the dancer looked at him. And the soldier felt that he was melting ...

At that moment the door to the room was thrown wide open, the through wind caught the beautiful dancer, and she, like a butterfly, fluttered into the stove right to the tin soldier. The flame engulfed her, she flared up - and the end. And then the tin soldier completely melted.

The next day, the maid began to rake the ash out of the stove and found a small lump of tin, like a heart, and a charcoal-burnt brooch.

That was all that was left of the staunch tin soldier and the beautiful dancer.

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G.Kh. Andersen

The Steadfast Tin Soldier

There were once twenty-five tin soldiers in the world. All sons of one mother - an old tin spoon - and, therefore, they were brothers to each other. They were glorious, gallant guys: a gun on the shoulder, a wheeled chest, a red uniform, blue lapels, buttons shining ... Well, in a word, what a miracle for the soldiers!

All twenty-five lay in a row in a cardboard box. It was dark and cramped in it. But the tin soldiers are patient people; they lay motionless and waited for the day when the box would be opened.

And then one day the box opened.

Tin soldiers! Tin soldiers! cried the little boy and clapped his hands for joy.

He was given tin soldiers on his birthday.

The boy immediately began to arrange them on the table. Twenty-four were exactly the same - one cannot be distinguished from the other, and the twenty-fifth soldier was not like everyone else. He turned out to be one-legged. It was cast last, and the tin was a little short. However, he stood on one leg as firmly as the others on two.

It is with this one-legged soldier that a wonderful story happened, which I will now tell you.

There were many different toys on the table where the boy built his soldiers. But the best toy was the wonderful cardboard palace. Through its windows one could look inside and see all the rooms. A round mirror lay in front of the palace. It was just like a real lake, and around this mirror-like lake were small green trees. Wax swans swam around the lake and, arching their long necks, admired their reflection.

All this was beautiful, but the most beautiful was the mistress of the palace, who stood on the threshold, in the wide-open doors. She, too, was cut out of cardboard; she wore a thin cambric skirt, a blue scarf on her shoulders, and a shiny brooch on her chest, almost as big as the head of its owner, and just as beautiful.

The beauty stood on one leg with both arms outstretched — she must have been a dancer. She raised the other leg so high that our tin soldier at first even decided that the beauty was also one-legged, like himself.

“I wish I had such a wife! thought the tin soldier. - Yes, only she, probably, of a noble family. There he lives in what a beautiful palace! .. And my house is a simple box, and even a whole company of us - twenty-five soldiers - is packed there. No, she doesn't belong there! But it doesn't hurt to get to know her ... "

And the soldier hid behind a snuff-box, which stood right there on the table.

From here he could clearly see a lovely dancer who stood on one leg all the time and never even swayed!

Late in the evening, all the tin soldiers, except for the one-legged one - they could not find him - were put in a box, and all the people went to bed.

And when it became completely quiet in the house, the toys themselves began to play: first to visit, then to the war, and in the end they had a ball. Tin soldiers knocked their guns against the walls of their box - they also wanted to go free and play, but they could not lift the heavy lid in any way. Even the nutcracker began to somersault, and the lead went dancing on the board, leaving white traces on it - tra-ta-ta-ta, tra-ta-ta-ta! There was such a noise that the canary woke up in the cage and began chatting in its own language as quickly as it could, and, moreover, in poetry.

Only the one-legged soldier and the dancer did not move.

She still stood on one leg, stretching out both hands forward, and he froze with a gun in his hands, like a sentry, and did not take his eyes from the beauty.

It struck twelve. And suddenly - click! - the snuff-box was opened.

This snuffbox never smelled of tobacco, but a little evil troll was sitting in it. He jumped out of the snuffbox, as if on a spring, and looked around.

Hey you tin soldier! - shouted the troll. - Do not hurt to look at the dancer! She's too good for you.

But the tin soldier pretended not to hear anything.

Oh, there you are! - said the troll. - Okay, wait until morning! You will still remember me!

In the morning, when the children woke up, they found a one-legged soldier behind a snuffbox and put him on the window.

And all of a sudden, it was either the troll that set it up, or it was just a draft, who knows? - but only the window was thrown open, and the one-legged soldier flew from the third floor upside down, so much so that his ears whistled. Well, he has suffered through the fear!

Within a minute, he was already sticking out of the ground upside down, and his gun and his head in a helmet were stuck between the cobblestones.

The boy and the maid immediately ran out into the street to find the soldier. But no matter how much they looked around, no matter how much they fumbled on the ground, they did not find it.

Once they almost stepped on the soldier, but even then they passed by without noticing him. Of course, if the soldier shouted: "I'm here!" - he would be found now. But he considered it indecent to shout in the street - after all, he wore a uniform and was a soldier, and, moreover, a pewter one.

The boy and the maid went back to the house. And then suddenly a rain poured down, but what a rain! A real downpour!

Wide puddles spread along the street, fast streams flowed. And when the rain finally ended, two street boys came running to the place where the tin soldier was sticking out between the cobblestones.

Look, ”one of them said. - Yes, no way, it's a tin soldier! .. Let's send him sailing!

And they made a boat out of an old newspaper, put a tin soldier in it and lowered it into the groove.

The boat swam away, and the boys ran alongside, bouncing and clapping their hands.

The water in the ditch was boiling. She shouldn't be seething after such a shower! The boat either dived or flew up the crest of the wave, then circled it in place, then carried forward.

The tin soldier in the boat was trembling all over, from helmet to boot, but he held on firmly, as a real soldier should be: a gun on his shoulder, his head up, his chest with a wheel.

And so the boat skidded under a wide bridge. It became so dark as if the soldier had gotten back into his box.

“Where am I? thought the tin soldier. - Oh, if only my beautiful dancer was with me! Then I wouldn't care about anything ... "

At that moment a large water rat jumped out from under the bridge.

Who are you? she screamed. - Do you have a passport? Show your passport!

But the tin soldier was silent and only gripped the gun tightly. The boat carried him farther and farther, and the rat swam after him. She snapped her teeth ferociously and shouted to the chips and straws floating towards them:

Keep it! Hold on! He has no passport!

And she raked her paws with all her might to catch up with the soldier. But the boat was going so fast that not even a rat could keep up with it. Finally the tin soldier saw a light ahead. The bridge ended.

"I am saved!" - thought the soldier.

But then there was such a rumble and roar that any brave man could not stand it and trembled with fear. Just think: behind the bridge, the water was noisily falling down - right into a wide stormy canal!

The tin soldier who was sailing in a small paper boat was in the same danger as we were if we were carried in a real boat to a real big waterfall.

But it was already impossible to stop. The boat with the tin soldier was carried out into the large canal. The waves tossed and threw her up and down, but the soldier still behaved well and did not even blink an eye.

And suddenly the boat spun in place, scooped up water with its starboard side, then with its left side, then again with its right side, and soon it was filled with water to the very brim.

Now the soldier is already waist-deep in water, now up to his throat ... And finally the water covered him with his head.

Sinking to the bottom, he thought sadly about his beauty. He will never see the cute dancer anymore!

But then he remembered the old soldier's song:

Step forward, always forward! Glory awaits you beyond the grave! ..-

and prepared to meet death with honor in a terrible abyss. However, something quite different happened.

Out of nowhere, a large fish emerged from the water and instantly swallowed the soldier along with his gun.

Ah, how dark and cramped it was in the stomach of the fish, darker than under the bridge, closer than in the box! But the tin soldier stood firm even here. He drew himself up to his full height and tightened his grip on his gun. So he lay for a long time.

Suddenly the fish darted from side to side, began to dive, wriggle, jump and finally froze.

The soldier could not understand what had happened. He bravely prepared to face new challenges, but it was still dark and quiet around.

And suddenly, like lightning flashed in the darkness.

Then it became quite light, and someone shouted:

That's the thing! Tin soldier!

And the thing was this: the fish was caught, taken to the market, and then it ended up in the kitchen. The cook ripped open her belly with a large shiny knife and saw the tin soldier. She took it with two fingers and carried it into the room.

The whole house came running to look at the wonderful traveler. They put the soldier on the table, and suddenly - what miracles do not happen in the world! - he saw the same room, the same boy, the same window from which he flew out into the street ... There were the same toys around, and among them a cardboard palace rose, and a beautiful dancer stood on the threshold. She still stood on one leg, raising the other high. This is called resilience!

The tin soldier was so moved that tin tears almost rolled from his eyes, but he remembered in time that a soldier was not supposed to cry. Without blinking, he looked at the dancer, the dancer looked at him, and both were silent.

Suddenly one of the boys - the smallest one - grabbed the tin soldier and, for no reason at all, threw him straight into the stove. Probably, he was taught by an evil troll from a snuffbox.

The wood was burning brightly in the stove, and the tin soldier felt terribly hot. He felt that he was all on fire - either from fire, or from love - he himself did not know. The paint fled from his face, he faded all over - maybe from chagrin, or maybe because he had been in the water and in the stomach of a fish.

But even in the fire he kept upright, gripped his gun tightly and did not take his eyes off the beautiful dancer. And the dancer looked at him. And the soldier felt that he was melting ...

At that moment the door to the room was thrown wide open, the through wind caught the beautiful dancer, and she, like a butterfly, fluttered into the stove right to the tin soldier. The flame engulfed her, she flared up - and the end. At this point, the tin soldier completely melted.

The next day, the maid began to rake the ash out of the stove and found a small lump of tin, like a heart, and a charcoal-burnt brooch.

That was all that was left of the staunch tin soldier and the beautiful dancer.

If you look at the map, you will see that a large part of Denmark is located on islands large and small. On one of them - the island of Funen - is the city of Odense. Here in 1805 the future storyteller Christian Andersen was born into a shoemaker's family.
The house in which the boy grew up was very old. Its wooden beams were decorated with ancient carvings of tulips and hop shoots, and a dragon-headed gutter ran along the edge of the roof. The rainwater should have flowed out of the dragon's mouth, but flowed from the body - the gutter was full of holes. Andersen's childhood years were spent in poverty. His father, a Napoleonic soldier, returned from a military campaign seriously ill and soon died. The family was left without a livelihood, and little Christian was forced to go to work at a cloth factory. In his free hours, the boy ran to a school for the poor, where they taught the law of God, writing and arithmetic, and even then it was bad.
Christian grew up as a dreamer and inventor. He loved to play in the theater, where he presented himself as an actor, composed various funny and touching stories. The most attentive listener was the old cat. He had only one drawback - he fell asleep too soon.
In 1819, fourteen-year-old Christian left hometown... His path lay in Copenhagen. The young man arrived in the capital with the secret hope of entering the theater, becoming an artist. However, at first, Andersen had a hard time. To earn a living, he was forced to take up carpentry ...
The life of the great storyteller Christian Andersen resembles a sad fairy tale with a happy ending. In a fairy tale, kind people always come to help the hero. So it happened with Christian. Kind people procured a small educational pension for him. Thanks to her, he graduated from high school, and then the university. Andersen wrote his first stories and poems while still a student. At thirty, he is already the author of many poetry and prose books. At the same time he created his first fairy tales: "Flame", "Little Klaus and Big Klaus", "Flowers of Little Ida", "Thumbelina". The name of the storyteller becomes known far beyond the borders of little Denmark, the children of England, France, Russia are read to him.
Fame has not changed Andersen - he is still good-natured and friendly, writes a lot. He finds plots for fairy tales everywhere. He can compose an interesting, fascinating story about every thing, be it a simple darning needle or an ordinary tin soldier ... There were many dark narrow streets in old Copenhagen. Former sailors lived out their days here, small shops and workshops huddled. Each workshop had its own sign: either huge boots, or a giant castle, a toy soldier.
... Once a tin spoon fell into the hands of an old master. For a long time he turned it over and over and over again, and finally decided to cast out of it twenty-five recruited soldiers in blue and red uniforms, with guns on their shoulders. Said and did. All the tin soldiers resembled each other, like two drops of water, And only one was different from his brothers: he had only one leg. The master cast it last, and there was not enough tin for the other leg. But nevertheless, the soldier stood firm on one leg and looked forward boldly.
The old master did not even suspect how many amazing adventures would happen with this soldier: there will be a journey in a fragile boat along a stormy stream, and the pursuit of a terrible rat, a tax collector, and swimming in the stomach of a fish, and finally, a trial by fire. But what is remarkable, no matter what life troubles the tin soldier fell into, he stood firmly on his one leg and steadfastly endured all hardships and dangers. Such was his character. The story about "The Steadfast Tin Soldier", told by the great storyteller, is simple and unsophisticated. But is it really that simple. Think about it at your leisure.
B. Zabolotskikh

Listen to a fairy tale The Steadfast Tin Soldier online:

There were once twenty-five tin soldiers, siblings by their mothers - an old tin spoon, a gun on his shoulder, his head straight, a red and blue uniform - well, what a lovely soldier! The first words they heard when they opened their box house were: "Ah, tin soldiers!" It was the little boy who had been given tin soldiers on his birthday, clapping his hands. And he immediately began to arrange them on the table. All the soldiers were exactly the same, except for one who had one leg. He was cast last, and the tin was a little short, but he stood on his leg as firmly as others on two; and he just turned out to be the most wonderful of all.

There were many different toys on the table where the soldiers found themselves, but most of all the palace made of cardboard was striking. Through the small windows one could see the palace chambers; in front of the palace, around a small mirror that depicted the lake, there were trees, and wax swans swam around the lake and admired their reflection. It was all a miracle, how sweet, but the sweetest of all was the young lady who stood on the very threshold of the palace. She, too, was cut out of paper and dressed in a skirt made of the finest cambric; over her shoulder was a narrow blue ribbon in the shape of a scarf, and on her chest was a rosette the size of the young lady's face. The young lady stood on one leg with her arms outstretched - she was a dancer - and lifted her other leg so high that our soldier could not see her, and thought that the beauty was also one-legged like him.

“I wish I had such a wife! he thought. - Only she, apparently, one of the nobles, lives in the palace, and I only have that box, and even then there are twenty-five of us in it, she has no place there! But it doesn't hurt to get to know each other. "

And he hid behind a snuff-box, which stood right there on the table; from here he could clearly see the lovely dancer, who was still standing on one leg, without losing her balance.

Late in the evening, all the other tin soldiers were put in a box, and all the people in the house went to bed. Now the toys themselves began to play for a visit, at war and at a ball. The tin soldiers began to knock on the sides of the box - they also wanted to play, but they could not lift the lids. The Nutcracker was tumbling, the pencil was writing on the blackboard; there was such a noise and din that the canary woke up and also spoke, and even in poetry! Only the dancer and the tin soldier did not budge: she was still holding on to her outstretched toe, stretching her arms forward, he stood cheerfully and did not take his eyes off her.

It struck twelve. Click! - the snuffbox opened.

There was no tobacco, and there was a little black troll; the snuff-box had a focus!

Tin Soldier, - said the troll, - you have nothing to look at!

The tin soldier didn’t seem to have heard.

Well, wait! - said the troll.

In the morning the children got up, and the tin soldier was put on the window.

Suddenly - by the grace of a troll or by a draft - the window opened, and our soldier flew headfirst from the third floor - only his ears whistled! A minute - and he was already standing on the pavement with his foot upside down: his head in a helmet and his gun were stuck between the stones of the pavement.

The boy and the maid immediately ran out in search, but no matter how hard they tried, they could not find the soldier; they almost stepped on him and yet did not notice him. Shout to them: "I'm here!" - they, of course, would immediately find him, but he considered it indecent to shout in the street, he was wearing a uniform!

It started to rain; harder, harder, rain finally poured down. When it cleared up again, two street boys came.

Look! - said one. - There is the tin soldier! Let's send him sailing!

And they made a boat out of newsprint, put a tin soldier in there, and put it in the groove. The boys themselves ran alongside and clapped their hands. Well well! That's how the waves went along the groove! The current kept drifting - no wonder after such a shower!

The boat was thrown and spun in all directions, so that the tin soldier was trembling all over, but he held on firmly: the gun on his shoulder, his head straight, his chest forward!

The boat was carried under the long walkways: it became so dark as if the soldier had fallen into a box again.

“Where is it taking me? he thought. - Yes, this is all the jokes of an ugly troll! Oh, if that beauty was sitting with me in the boat - for me, be at least twice as dark! "

At that moment a large rat jumped out from under the walkway.

Do you have a passport? she asked. - Give me a passport!

But the tin soldier was silent and gripped the gun even tighter. The boat was carrying, and the rat swam after her. Uh! As she gritted her teeth and shouted to the chips and straws floating towards them:

Hold it, hold it! He didn’t pay taxes, didn’t show his passport!

But the current carried the boat faster and faster, and the tin soldier had already seen the light ahead, when he suddenly heard such a terrible noise that any brave man would have been afraid. Imagine, at the end of the bridge, water from a groove rushed into a large canal! It was as scary for the soldier as it was for us to rush in a boat to a large waterfall.

But the soldier carried further and further, it was impossible to stop. The boat with the soldier slid down; the poor fellow held on as before, and did not even blink an eye. The boat spun ... One, two - filled with water to the brim and began to sink. The Tin Soldier found himself up to his throat in the water; further more ... the water covered him with his head! Then he thought of his beauty: he will not see more. In his ears sounded:

Strive forward, oh warrior,
And meet death calmly!

The paper tore, and the tin soldier was about to go to the bottom, but at the same moment he was swallowed by a fish. What darkness! Worse than under the walkways, and even fear, how crowded! But the tin soldier stood firm and lay stretched out at full length, tightly clutching the gun to him.

The fish darted to and fro, making the most amazing jumps, but suddenly froze, as if lightning had struck it. The light flashed and someone shouted: "Tin Soldier!" The fact is that the fish was caught, taken to the market, then it ended up in the kitchen, and the cook ripped open its belly with a large knife. The cook took the tin soldier with two fingers around the waist and carried it into the room, where all the household came to look at the wonderful traveler. But the tin soldier was not in the least proud. They put him on the table, and - something that does not happen in the world! - he found himself in the same room, saw the same children, the same toys and a wonderful palace with a lovely little dancer. She was still standing on one leg with the other high. That's so resilience! The tin soldier was moved and almost burst into tears of tin, but that would have been indecent, and he resisted. He looked at her, she at him, but they did not say a word.

Suddenly one of the boys grabbed the tin soldier and, for no reason at all, threw him straight into the stove. The troll must have set it all up! The tin soldier stood engulfed in flames: he was terribly hot, from fire or love - he himself did not know. The colors have completely peeled off him, he has faded all over; who knows from what - from the road or from grief? He looked at the dancer, she was him, and he felt that he was melting, but he still held on firmly, with a gun on his shoulder. Suddenly the door in the room opened, the wind caught the dancer, and she, like a sylph, fluttered right into the stove to the tin soldier, flashed at once and - the end! And the tin soldier melted and melted into a lump. The next day the maid shook the ashes out of the stove and found a small pewter heart; from the dancer, only one rosette remained, and even that was all burnt and blackened like coal.

There were once twenty-five tin soldiers, siblings by the mother - an old tin spoon; a rifle on his shoulder, his head straight, a red and blue uniform - well, what a lovely soldier! The first words they heard when they opened their box house were: "Ah, tin soldiers!" It was the little boy who had been given tin soldiers on his birthday, clapping his hands. He immediately began to arrange them on the table. All the soldiers were exactly the same, except for one, which was on one leg. He was cast last, and the tin was a little short, but he stood on his one leg as firmly as the others on two; and he just turned out to be the most wonderful of all.

On the table, where the soldiers found themselves, there were many different toys, but most of all the wonderful palace made of cardboard was striking. Through the small windows one could see the palace chambers; in front of the palace, around a small mirror that depicted the lake, there were trees, and wax swans swam around the lake and admired their reflection. It was all a miracle, how sweet, but the loveliest of all was the young lady who stood on the very threshold of the palace. She was cut out of paper and dressed in the finest cambric skirt; over her shoulder was a narrow blue ribbon in the shape of a scarf, and on her chest was a rosette the size of the young lady's face. The young lady stood on one leg with her arms outstretched — she was a dancer — and raised her other leg so high that our soldier could not see her at all and thought that the beauty was also one-legged like him.

“That would be my wife! He thought. - Only she, apparently one of the nobles, lives in the palace, and I only have a box, and even then there are twenty-five of us in it: she has no place there! But it doesn't hurt to get to know each other. "

And he hid behind a snuff-box, which stood right there on the table; from here he could clearly see the lovely dancer, who was still standing on one leg, without losing her balance.

Late in the evening, all the other tin soldiers were put in a box, and all the people in the house went to bed. Now the toys themselves began to play "on a visit", "in the war" and "in the ball". The tin soldiers began to knock on the sides of the box - they also wanted to play, but they could not lift the lids. The Nutcracker was tumbling, the lead danced on the board; there was such a noise and din that the canary woke up and also spoke, and even in poetry! Only the dancer and the tin soldier did not budge: she was still holding on to her outstretched toe, stretching her arms forward, he cheerfully stood under the gun and did not take his eyes off her.

It struck twelve. Click! - the snuffbox opened.

There was no tobacco, and the little black beech was a trick!

“Tin soldier,” said the beech, “you don’t need to look around!”

The tin soldier didn’t seem to have heard.

- Well, wait! - said the beech.

In the morning the children got up, and the tin soldier was put on the window.

Suddenly - by the grace of beeches or from a draft - the window opened, and our soldier flew headfirst from the third floor - only his ears whistled! A minute - and he was already standing on the pavement with his foot upside down: his head in a helmet and a gun were stuck between the stones of the pavement.

The boy and the maid immediately ran out in search, but no matter how hard they tried, they could not find the soldier; they almost stepped on him and yet did not notice him. Shout to them: "I'm here!" - they, of course, would have found him at once, but he considered it indecent to shout in the street: he was wearing a uniform!

It started to rain; stronger, stronger, finally a real downpour started. When it cleared up again, two street boys came.

- Hey! - said one. - There is the tin soldier! Let's send him sailing!

And they made a boat out of newsprint, put a tin soldier in there, and put it in the groove. The boys themselves ran alongside and clapped their hands. Eh-ma! That's how the waves went along the groove! The current carried on - no wonder after such a shower!

The boat was thrown and spun in all directions, so that the tin soldier was trembling all over, but he held on firmly: the gun on his shoulder, his head straight, chest forward!

The boat was carried under the long walkways: it became so dark as if the soldier had fallen into a box again.

“Where is it taking me? He thought. - Yes, these are all things of an ugly beech! Ah, if that beauty was sitting with me in the boat, for me it would be at least twice as dark! "

At that moment a large rat jumped out from under the walkway.

- Do you have a passport? She asked. - Give me a passport!

But the tin soldier was silent and gripped the gun tightly. The boat was carrying, and the rat ran after it. Uh! As she gritted her teeth and shouted to the chips and straws floating towards them:

- Hold, hold it! He didn’t pay taxes, didn’t show his passport!

But the current carried the boat faster and faster, and the tin soldier had already seen the light ahead, when suddenly he heard such a terrible noise that any brave man would have been afraid. Imagine - at the end of the bridge, a groove fell into a large canal! It was as scary for the soldier as it was for us to rush in a boat to a large waterfall.

But it was already impossible to stop. The boat with the soldier slid down; the poor fellow kept to the line as before and did not even blink an eye. The boat spun ... One, two - filled with water to the brim and began to sink. The Tin Soldier found himself up to his throat in the water; further - more ... the water covered his head! Then he thought of his beauty: he will not see her again. In his ears sounded:

Strive forward, oh warrior,

And meet death calmly!

The paper tore, and the tin soldier was about to go to the bottom, but at the same moment he was swallowed by a fish.

What darkness! Worse than under the catwalks, and even fear, how narrow! But the tin soldier stood firm and lay at full length, holding the gun tightly to him.

The fish darted to and fro, making the most amazing leaps, but suddenly froze, as if lightning had struck it. A light flashed and someone shouted, "Tin Soldier!" The fact is that the fish was caught, taken to the market, then it got to the kitchen and the cook ripped open its belly with a large knife. The cook took the tin soldier with two fingers around the waist and carried it into the room, where all the household came to look at the wonderful traveler. But the tin soldier did not become proud. They put him on the table, and - something that does not happen in the world! - he saw himself in the same room, saw the same children, the same toys and a wonderful palace with a beautiful dancer! She was still standing on one leg with the other high. That's so resilience! The tin soldier was moved and almost burst into tears of tin, but that would have been indecent, and he resisted. He looked at her, she at him, but they did not say a word.

Suddenly one of the boys grabbed the tin soldier and, for no reason at all, threw him straight into the stove. Probably, it was the beech who set it up! The Tin Soldier stood in flames. He was terribly hot, from fire or from love - he himself did not know. The colors have completely peeled off him, he has faded all over; who knows why - from the road or from grief? He looked at the dancer, she at him, and he felt that he was melting, but still held firm, with a gun on his shoulder. Suddenly the door in the room opened, the wind caught the dancer, and she, like a sylph, fluttered right into the stove to the tin soldier, flashed at once, and - the end! And the tin soldier melted and melted into a lump. The next day, the maid was taking ash out of the stove and found it in the form of a small pewter heart; from the dancer, only one rosette remained, and even that was all burnt and blackened like coal.