堅(jiān)定的錫兵

There were once five and twenty tin soldiers; they were all brothers, for they had all been born of one old tin spoon. They shouldered their muskets, and looked straight before them; their uniform was red and blue, and very splendid. The first thing they had heard in the world, when the lid was taken off their box, had been the words "Tin soldiers!" These words were uttered by a little boy, clapping his hands; the soldiers had been given to him, for it was his birthday; and now he put them upon the table. Each soldier was exactly like the rest only one of them was a little different, he had but one leg, for he had been cast last of all, and there had not been enough tin to finish him; but he stood as firmly upon his one leg as the others on their two; and it was just this soldier who became remarkable.

On the table on which they had been placed stood many other playthings, but the toy that attracted most attention was a neat castle of cardboard. Through the little windows one could see straight into the hall. Before the castle some little trees were placed round a little looking-glass, which was to represent a clear lake. Waxen swans swam on this lake, and were mirrored in it. This was all very pretty; but the prettiest of all was a little lady, who stood at the open door of the castle; she was also cut out in paper, but she had a the clearest gauze, and a little narrow blue ribbon over her shoulders, that looked like a scarf; and in the middle of this ribbon was a shining tinsel rose as big as her whole face. The little lady stretched out both her arms, for she was a dancer; and then she lifted one leg so high that the tin soldier could not see it at all, and thought that, like himself, she had but one leg.

"That would be the wife for me," thought he; "but she is very grand. She lives in a castle, and I have only a box, and there are five and twenty of us in that. It is no place for her. But I must try to make acquaintance with her."

And then he lay down at full length behind a snuff-box which was on the table; there he could easily watch the little dainty lady, who continued to stand on one leg without losing her balance.

When the evening came, all the other tin soldiers were put into their box, and the people in the house went to bed. Now the toys began to play at "visiting", and at "war", and "giving balls". The tin soldiers rattled in their box, for they wanted to join, but could not lift the lid. The nutcracker threw somersaults, and the pencil amused itself on the table; there was so much noise that the canary woke up, and began to speak too, and even in verse. The only two who did not stir from their places were the tin soldier and the dancing lady; she stood straight up on the point of one of her toes, and stretched out both her arms; and he was just as enduring on his one leg; and he never turned his eyes away from her.

Now the clock struck twelve--and, bounce! --the lid flew off the snuff-box; but there was not snuff in it, but a little black goblin: you see it was a trick.

"Tin soldier!" said the goblin, "will you keep your eyes to yourself?"

But the tin soldier pretended not to hear him.

"Just you wait till tomorrow!" said the goblin.

But when the morning came, and the children got up, the tin soldier was placed in the window; and whether it was the goblin or the draught that did it, all at once the window flew open, and the soldier fell head over heels out of the third story. That was a terrible passage! He put his leg straight up, and stuck with his helmet downwards and his bayonet between the paving-stones.

The servant-maid and the little boy came down directly to look for him, but though they almost trod upon him they could not see him. If the soldier had cried out "Here I am!" they would have found him; but he did not think it fitting to call out loudly, because he was in uniform.

Now it began to rain; the drops soon fell thicker, and at last it came down in a complete stream. When the rain was past, two street boys came by.

"Just look!" said one of them, "there lies a tin soldier. He shall go out sailing."

And they made a boat out of a newspaper, and put the tin soldier in the middle of it; and so he sailed down the gutter, and the two boys ran beside him and clapped their hands. Goodness preserve us! How the waves rose in that gutter, and how fast the stream ran!But then it had been a heavy rain. The paper boat rocked up and down, and sometimes turned round so rapidly that the tin soldier trembled; but he remained firm, and never changed countenance, but looked straight before him, and shouldered his musket.

All at once the boat went into a long drain, and it became as dark as if he had been in his box.

"Where am I going now?" he thought. "Yes, yes, that's the goblin' s fault. Ah! If the little lady only sat here with me in the boat, it might be twice as dark for what I should care."

Suddenly there came a great water-rat, which lived under the drain."Have you a passport?" said the rat. "Give me your passport."

But the tin soldier kept silence, and held his musket tighter than ever.

The boat went on, but the rat came after it. Ugh! How he gnashed his teeth, and called out to the bits of straw and wood.

"Hold him! Hold him! He hasn't paid toll--he hasn't shown his passport!"

But the stream became stronger and stronger. The tin soldier could see the bright daylight where the arch ended; but he heard a roaring noise, which might well frighten a bolder man. Only think--just where the tunnel ended, the drain ran into a great canal; and for him that would have been as dangerous as for us to be carried down a great waterfall.

Now he was already so near it that he could not stop. The boat was carried out, the poor tin soldier stiffening himself as much as he could, and no one could say that he moved an eyelid. The boat whirled round three or four times, and was full of water to the very edge--it must sink. The tin soldier stood up to his neck in water, and the boat sank deeper and deeper, and the paper was loosened more and more; and now the water closed over the soldier's head. Then he thought of the pretty little dancer, and how he should never see her again; and it sounded in the soldier's ears:

Farewll, farewell, thou warrior brave,

For this day thou must die!

And now the paper parted, and the tin soldier fell out; but at that moment he was snapped up by a great fish.

Oh, how dark it was in that fish's body!It was darker yet than in the drain tunnel; and then it was very narrow too. But the tin soldier remained unmoved, and lay at full length shouldering his musket.

The fish swam to and fro; he made the most wonderful movements, and then became quite still. At last something flashed through him like lightning. The day-light shone quite clear, and a voice said aloud,"The tin soldier!" The fish had been caught, carried to market, bought, and taken into the kitchen, where the cook cut him open with a large knife. She seized the soldier round the body with both her hands, and carried him into the room, where all were anxious to see the remarkable man who had travelled about in the inside of a fish; but the tin soldier was not at all proud. They placed him on the table, and there--no! What curious things may happen in the world! The tin soldier was in the very room in which he had been before! he saw the same children, and the same toys stood on the table; and there was the pretty castle with the graceful little dancer. She was still balancing herself on one leg, and held the other extended in the air. She was hardy too. That moved the tin soldier; he was very nearly weeping tin tears, but that would not have been proper. He looked at her and she at him, but they said nothing to each other.

Then one of the little boys took the tin soldier and flung him into the stove. He gave no reason for doing this. It must have been the fault of the goblin in the snuff-box.

The tin soldier stood there quite illuminated, and felt a heat that was terrible; but whether this heat proceeded from the real fire or from love he did not know. The colours had quite gone off from him; but whether that had happened on the journey, or had been caused by grief, no one could say. He looked at the little lady, she looked at him, and he felt that he was melting; but he still stood firm, shouldering his musket. Then suddenly the door flew open, and the draught of air caught the dancer, and she flew like a sylph just into the stove to the tin soldier, and flashed up in a flame, and she was gone. Then the tin soldier melted down into a lump, and when the servant-maid took the ashes out next day, she found him in the shape of a little tin heart. But of the dancer, nothing remained but the tinsel rose, and that was burned as black as a coal.

曾經(jīng)有25個(gè)錫兵，他們都是兄弟，因?yàn)樗麄兌际怯靡粋€(gè)舊錫湯匙造出來的。他們扛著槍，眼睛注視著前方。他們的制服紅藍(lán)條相間，非常漂亮。當(dāng)他們所在的盒子打開時(shí)，他們?cè)谑郎下牭降牡谝粋€(gè)詞，就是“錫兵”。這話是一個(gè)小男孩拍著手說的。錫兵被送給了小男孩，因?yàn)槟翘焓撬纳铡，F(xiàn)在他把錫兵都放到了桌子上。每個(gè)錫兵幾乎都長(zhǎng)得一模一樣，只有一個(gè)有些不同，他只有一條腿。因?yàn)樗亲詈笠粋€(gè)造出來的，已經(jīng)沒有足夠的錫給他再做一條腿了。不過他用一條腿站得也很筆挺的，像其他有兩條腿的錫兵一樣。因此，這個(gè)士兵十分引人注目。

在放他們的桌子上，還有許多玩具，但最吸引人的是一個(gè)紙盒做的美麗的宮殿。透過它的小窗戶，人們一眼就可以看到里面的大廳。在宮殿的前面有幾棵小樹，圍著一個(gè)小鏡子，它代表一個(gè)明凈的湖。蠟做的天鵝在湖里游泳，鏡子里還顯示出它們的倒影來。這些看上去都很美，但最美麗的還是一位小姐。她站在宮殿敞開的大門邊。她也是紙做的，不過她穿著一條亮麗的裙子，肩頭披著綠色的細(xì)窄絲帶，看起來像一個(gè)披肩。在絲帶的中間，有一朵閃亮的金屬做的玫瑰花，和她的整個(gè)臉蛋一般大小。這位小姐探出雙手，因?yàn)樗莻€(gè)舞蹈演員。她把一條腿抬得特別高，弄那個(gè)獨(dú)腿士兵都看不到了。他還以為小姐和他一樣，只有一條腿呢。

“她該做我的妻子，”他想，“但她太高貴了。她住在城堡里，而我只有一個(gè)小盒子，里面卻裝著我們25個(gè)兄弟，哪里有她呆的地方呀。但我得先和她接觸接觸?！?/p>

于是他就直挺挺地躺在一個(gè)桌上的鼻煙壺后面，這樣他就可以方便地看到美貌的小姐了，她還是用一條腿支著，但沒有失去平衡。

夜幕降臨，所有其他錫兵都被裝進(jìn)了盒子，屋子里的人也都上床睡覺了。這時(shí)，玩具們開始玩起了“串門”、“打仗”和“開舞會(huì)”等各種游戲。錫兵們?cè)诤凶永镌陝?dòng)起來，也要參加游戲，但他們卻無法掀開盒蓋子。核桃鉗耍起了跟斗，鉛筆直在桌上自己玩。它們的吵鬧聲很大，把金絲鳥給吵醒了，它也開始說話，而且說的是詩詞。沒有挪動(dòng)的只有那個(gè)錫兵和舞蹈演員，她還筆直地用一條腿站著，伸出了她的雙臂。錫兵也是用一條腿支撐著，但他的眼睛始終不離開那個(gè)姑娘。

這時(shí)時(shí)鐘敲響了十二點(diǎn)。只聽得“嘭”的一聲響，鼻煙壺的蓋子掀飛了。不過里面沒有鼻煙，而是一個(gè)小黑妖精——你知道，鼻煙壺只是一個(gè)偽裝。

“錫兵！”小妖精說，“你眼睛盯著自己看好不好？”

但錫兵假裝沒聽見。

“看明天我怎么收拾你！”小妖精說。

第二天一早，孩子們起了床，這個(gè)錫兵被放到了窗臺(tái)上。不知道是妖精還是風(fēng)兒作的怪，窗戶一下被吹開了，錫兵頭沖下，從三樓跌落下去。這真是個(gè)可怕的旅程！他腿腳朝天，頭盔朝下，刺刀插進(jìn)小路上的石子中間。

女仆和那個(gè)小男孩馬上跑過來找他。他們差點(diǎn)踩著它，但竟然沒有發(fā)現(xiàn)它。如果錫兵大喊一聲“我在這兒！”，他們就會(huì)找到他了。但他覺得自己這么大喊大叫不合適，因?yàn)樗€穿著軍裝呢。

這時(shí)天下起雨來。雨很快就下大了，最后變成了瓢潑大雨。大雨過后，兩個(gè)小流浪兒從這里路過。

“瞧！”一個(gè)孩子說，“那兒躺著一個(gè)錫兵。應(yīng)該讓他出去航行。”

他們用紙疊了一個(gè)紙船，把錫兵放在船中間。于是他就順著水溝流走了，兩個(gè)孩子在他的身邊，興奮地拍著手。天哪！水溝里的波浪真大呀，水流得多么湍急！這是因?yàn)閯傁逻^一場(chǎng)暴雨。紙船上下顛簸，有時(shí)旋轉(zhuǎn)得那么快，把錫兵震得直顫。但他仍然很堅(jiān)定，面不改色，目光注視著前方，肩上扛著一支槍。

小船很快漂進(jìn)一個(gè)下水道，里面黑暗得像他以前住的盒子里一樣。

“我這是到哪兒啦？”他想，“沒錯(cuò)，沒錯(cuò)，這肯定是小妖精搗的鬼。唉！要是那個(gè)小姐和我一起坐在這條船上就好了。如果是那樣，再黑暗兩倍我也不在乎?！?/p>

突然，下水道里冒出了一個(gè)大水鼠，它就住在那兒?！澳阌型ㄐ凶C嗎？”老鼠說，“請(qǐng)出示通行證?！?/p>

但錫兵還是一言不發(fā)，只是把槍握得更緊了。

船繼續(xù)朝前漂，老鼠在后面緊追不舍。哇！他齜牙咧嘴，還沖著浮在水上的草木片大喊大叫。

“抓住他！抓住他！他沒交買路錢——他沒有出示通行證?！?/p>

但水越流越激，錫兵已經(jīng)看到拱形下水道盡頭處的光亮了。這時(shí)他聽到一種巨吼聲，膽子再大的人都會(huì)被嚇一跳。你想想吧——在下水道終點(diǎn)處，水流全都跌落進(jìn)一個(gè)大運(yùn)河里。對(duì)于他來說，就跟我們從一個(gè)大瀑布上掉下去差不多。

現(xiàn)在他已經(jīng)臨近終點(diǎn)，還是停不下來。小船沖了出去，可憐的錫兵盡可能地站直，誰也沒有看到他眨一下眼。小船飛旋了三四圈，艙里已經(jīng)灌滿了水——它肯定要沉沒了。錫兵在水里還挺著脖子，但船越沉越深，紙殼逐漸散了架。水終于沒了錫兵的頭。這時(shí)他又想到了那個(gè)美麗的舞蹈演員，可自己永遠(yuǎn)也不能再見她了。他的耳邊響起一種聲音：

再見，再見，你這無畏的勇士，

今天你只有一死！

這時(shí)紙完全散開了，錫兵掉了下去。這時(shí)，他被一條大魚吞了進(jìn)去。

啊，魚肚子里可真黑呀！比下水道里要黑多了，而且還很狹窄。但錫兵還是一動(dòng)不動(dòng)，平躺在那里，肩上照樣扛著槍。

那條魚游來游去。它的游姿很優(yōu)美，不過一會(huì)兒它就停住不動(dòng)了。最后，一道耀眼的光射了進(jìn)來，像閃電一般。外面陽光明媚，一個(gè)聲音大叫：“錫兵！”原來那條魚被抓住了，被拿進(jìn)了廚房，廚娘用一把大刀剖開了它的肚子。她用雙手抓住錫兵，帶進(jìn)房間，所有人都急于看到在魚肚里旅行的到底是個(gè)什么了不起的人物。但錫兵一點(diǎn)也不驕傲。他們把他放在桌子上，?。〔粫?huì)吧！世上的事情真是無奇不有，錫兵回到了他的老地方。他看到了那些孩子，還有桌上的玩具們。美麗的宮殿和漂亮的小舞蹈演員也在那兒。她還是用一條腿保持平衡，另一條腿高高地抬起。她也十分堅(jiān)定。這讓錫兵很感動(dòng)，他差點(diǎn)哭出錫淚來，不過那是不可能的。他倆你望著我，我望著你，但都一言不發(fā)。

這時(shí)，一個(gè)小孩拿起錫兵，把他甩到爐子里去了。他這么做也沒有什么原因，肯定又是那個(gè)鼻煙壺里的小妖精作的怪。

錫兵在爐子里全身通紅，它感到了一種可怕的灼熱。但這種熱是來自爐火，還是來自心中的愛火，他也不知道。他身上的色彩消失了，但這是在旅途上造成的，還是因?yàn)楸炊鸬?，誰也說不明白。他注視著那位小姐，小姐也注視著她。他覺得自己就要熔化了，但他仍然堅(jiān)定地站著，扛著自己的槍。這時(shí)，門突然開了，一陣風(fēng)吹起舞蹈演員，她像仙女一樣飛進(jìn)爐子，來到錫兵身邊。她在火焰中一閃，就無影無蹤了。錫兵這時(shí)也熔化成了一堆灰。當(dāng)女仆第二天將爐灰取走的時(shí)候，她發(fā)現(xiàn)錫兵已經(jīng)變成了一顆錫心。但舞蹈演員不見了，只剩下了一朵金屬玫瑰，被燒得像炭一樣黑。