yellow fairy tale book

Chapter 46 The Steadfast Tin Soldier

Once upon a time there were twenty-five tin soldiers, and they were all brothers, cast out of the same old tin spoon.They wore red and blue uniforms, carried long guns on their shoulders, and stared straight ahead.They were all lying in the same box, and when the lid was opened, the first words they heard in the world were, "Hello, Tin Soldier!" The tin soldier was a birthday present for him.The little boy immediately arranged these tin soldiers on the table. They were the same shape, but the last one had only one leg, because there was not enough tin when he was cast, so he had to be wronged; As stable as a two-legged tin soldier, it stands out from the crowd.

On the table where they were placed, there were many other toys, the most beautiful of which was a small cardboard castle with rooms that you could see through the windows.In front of the castle there were some small trees surrounding a small mirror, which looked like a lake.Several geese made of wax swim up and down on the surface of the "lake", and their shadows are reflected there.It was all very beautiful, but the most beautiful was a little girl standing at the open gate of the castle.She was cut out of cardboard and wore a rich muslin dress and a shawl of narrow blue ribbon around her shoulders, with a glittering gold paper rose as big as her head in the center.The lady is a dancer, with her arms outstretched and one leg high in the air.At first the tin soldier could not find the leg, and thought she had only one, too.

"She's all right to be my wife!" he thought, "but she's very handsome, and I live in a castle with twenty-four brothers in a box, and how can I live in her! But I can't say anything." Gotta get to know her." And he leaned out from behind a snuff-box on the table, from where he could see the pretty lady, who had managed to keep her balance on one leg.

As night fell, the other tin soldiers went into the box, and everyone in the house went to sleep.The toys came alive, some visiting, some dancing, and some playing.The tin soldiers were also chattering away in the box, and they wanted to get out too, but they couldn't lift the lid.The nutcracker hopped around like a frog, and the slate pen ran up and down the slate—it was such a noise that the canaries woke up, and chatted with them, and uttered poems!Only two remained where they were, the tin soldier and the little dancer.She stood there on tiptoe, arms outstretched; he stood steadfast on one leg, never taking his eyes off her face.

The clock struck twelve, and suddenly the lid of the snuff-box flew open with a snap, but there was no snuff in it, only a nigger—and that was the beauty of that snuff-box. "Hey, Tin Soldier!" said Kid Nigger, "don't look at anything that isn't yours!"

But the tin soldier ignored him as if he hadn't heard him.

"Okay, let's see tomorrow!" Hei Xiaogui said.

The next morning, the children woke up, and they put the tin soldier on the window sill. They didn't know whether it was the wind or the little black devil. The window was opened suddenly, and the one-legged tin soldier fell upside down from the window sill on the third floor. .This fall is really shocking!He was on his head, his legs dangling in the air, and the gun was caught between two paving stones.

The nurse and the little boy immediately went downstairs to find him.But although they were so close to him, almost stepping on him, they didn't see him.If the tin soldier had yelled "Here I am!" they would have found him; but he did not think it proper to yell, for he was in a uniform!

Before long, the sky began to drizzle, and the rain became thicker and thicker, and finally it became a downpour.After the rain stopped, two wild boys passed by.

"Look, look!" cried a child. "Here's a tin soldier! Let him go adrift in the boat!"

So they made a boat out of newspapers, put the Tin Soldier in it, and let him sail down the ditch, while the two boys ran along clapping their hands.Suddenly there was a rush of rapids, and the paper boat pitched up and down; in the middle of the rapids, the boat went faster, and the Tin Soldier was tossed to one side; but he remained firm, and his face did not change at all, with the spear on his shoulder, and his eyes straight ahead.Suddenly the boat rushed down a long sewer, where it was as dark as in his box.

Where am I drifting to?He thought, Oh my God!It must be the little black devil at work!well!I don't care if it's twice as dark as this place if the lady is in the boat too, sitting with me!

Suddenly, a big water mouse that lived in the sewer swam over.

"Have you a pass?" asked the Water Rat. "Show your pass!"

The tin soldier did not answer, and his grip on the gun was still tighter.

The paper boat rushed on, and the Water Rat followed closely behind.It bared its teeth and yelled at the splinters and straw, "Get him, get him! He didn't pay the toll, he didn't show his pass!"

But the current is getting faster and faster.The tin soldier had seen the sun at the end of the sewers, and the sound of the water roaring in his ears was enough to terrify any brave soul.If you think about it, when the sewer reaches the end, the water will rush into a grand canal. The danger he faces is just like we rush down the cliff along the waterfall.

The end of the sewer was near, but he couldn't stop the boat, and the boat went on, the poor tin soldier trying to keep upright—nobody thought he'd flinch after that.The paper boat spun three or four times, and the water had reached the side of the boat, and it began to sink!The tin soldier stood in the water up to his neck, and the boat sank lower and lower, and the paper became limp, until at last the water was up to his head.He also thought of the pretty little dancer, and that he would never see that face again.At this time, he heard the sound over and over again:
"Go, go, brave soldier!

Grim death is in front of you! "

The paper boat broke in two, and the tin soldier fell, when he was swallowed by a great fish.

oops!It's so dark inside, even darker than in the sewer, and it's narrow and small!The tenacious little tin soldier lay stretched out, with his gun still on his shoulder.

The fish swam to and fro and then writhed wildly and stopped suddenly.Then it seemed as if a bolt of lightning had shot through him, and the sun was breaking in, and a voice cried out, "What's the matter, there's a little tin soldier in there!" It was sold, brought into the kitchen again, and then cut open by the cook with a big knife.She dug the tin soldier out with her fingers, and brought him into the house—everyone was waiting to see the great hero who had traveled in the belly of a fish, but the tin soldier was not at all proud.They put him on the table—goodness, what wonders there are in the world! — and the tin soldier was back in the same room again!He saw the same children, and the same toys on the table, and the magnificent castle and the pretty little dancer were still there.She is still standing on one leg, the other leg is raised high in the air, and she is so tenacious!The tin soldier was almost moved to tears, but it was obviously not proper for a soldier to shed tears.He just looked at her like that, but she didn't say a word.

Suddenly, a little boy grabbed the tin soldier and threw him into the stove for no reason—of course, the black kid in the snuff bottle was behind the scenes.

As he lay there the tin soldier felt a most dreadful heat, though whether it came from the fire or from the blazing passion he did not know.All his splendor was gone, whether by adventure or by distress, who can tell?He looked at the lady, and she looked at him, and he felt himself melting, but he remained steadfast, the gun still on his shoulder.Suddenly, the door of the room opened, and a gust of wind swept the little dancer away, and she floated like a fairy to the tin soldier in the stove, and turned into a ball of flame!Then the tin soldier melted into a little ball--the maid came to take out the ashes the next morning and found him melted into the shape of a heart, while the little dancer left nothing but the charred ashes. golden rose.

(End of this chapter)