坚定的锡兵
Tlle Steadfast Tin S0ldiel"
Hans Christian Andersen
安徒生(Hans Chl"istian Andersen，1805—1875年)是19世纪丹麦著名童话作家，世界文学——童话的创始人。他生在欧登塞城一个贫苦鞋匠家庭，早年在慈善学校读过书，当过学徒工。受父亲和民间口头文学影响，他从小酷爱文学。11岁时父亲病逝，母亲改嫁。为追求艺术，14岁时他一个人来到首都哥本哈根。经过8年奋斗，终于在诗剧《阿尔芙索尔》的剧作中崭露才华。因此，他被皇家艺术剧院送进斯拉格尔塞文法学校和赫尔辛欧学校免费就读，历时5年。1828年，升入哥尔哈根大学。毕业后一直没有工作，他主要靠稿费维持生活。安徒生的创作可分早、中、晚三个时期。早期童话多充满绮丽的幻想、乐观的精神，体现现实主义和浪漫主义相结合的特点。代表作有《打火匣》、《小意达的花儿》、《拇指姑娘》、《海的女儿》、《野天鹅》、《丑小鸭》等；中期童话中幻想成分减少，现实成分相对增强。在鞭挞丑恶、歌颂善良中，表现了对美好生活的执著追求，也流露了缺乏信心的忧郁情绪。代表作有《卖火柴的小女孩》、《白雪公主》、《影子》、《一滴水》、《母亲的故事》、《演木偶戏的人》等。晚期童话比中期更加现实，着力描写底层民众的悲苦命运，揭露社会生活的阴冷、黑暗和人间的不平，作品基调低沉。代表作有《柳树下的梦》、《她是一个废物》、《单身汉的睡帽》、《幸运的贝儿》等。
their muskets，looked straight before them，and wore a mart red and blue uniform．
The first thing they heard in this world when the lid was taken off the box in which they lay were the words，“Tin soldiers！”A little boy said that and clapped his hands；they had been given to him because it was his birthday，and he now set them out on the table．Each soldier was the exact image of all the others——at least only one of them was a little different．He had only one leg，for the had been molded last of all，and there was not tin enough left to give him two legs．Yet he stood as firmly on his one leg as the others did on two legs，and it was just this particular soldier who was to become remarkable．
On the table where they were set out stood a lot of other toys，but what struck the eye most was a pretty paper palace．You could see fight into the rooms through the little windows．Outside stood small trees round about a little mirror which was meant to represent a lake，and wax swans swam on the surface，which reflected back their image．It was all very pretty，but prettiest of all was certainly a little maid who stood at the open palace door；she also was cut out of paper，but she had a skirt of the brightest linen，and a narrow blue ribbon over her shoulders like a scarf，and in the middle of this was a glistening spangle as large as her whole face．The little maid s~etched out both her arms，for she was a dancer，and then she lifted one of her legs SO high in the air that the tin soldier could not make out what had become of it，and fancied that she had only one leg，like himself．
“That’S the wife for me！”thought he，“but she’S a great beauty；she lives in a palace，while I have only a box，and there are five—and— twenty of US there，SO it is not the place for her！Still I’11 try to maer acquaintance！’’So he laid himself at full length behind a snuff—box that happened to be on the table；thence he could peep at the nice little lady who kept on standing on one let without losing her balance．
V~rhen it was evening all the other tin soldiers were put back in their box，and the people of the house went to bed．And nOW the toys began to play among themselves；they played at visitors，and at warfare，and they had a ball．The tin soldiers rattled in the box，for they wanted to join in the fun．but they could not lift the lid Off．The nut—crackers turned som。ersaults，and the pencil cast up accounts on the slate．There was such a racket that the canary awoke and began to pipe，and in verse too！The only two who did not move from their places were the tin soldier and the little dancing girl．She remained erect on the tips of her toes，with both arms stretched wide out；he was just as steadfast on his one leg，and never took his eyes off her for an instant．
And now the clock struck twelve，and crack！Up flew the lid of the snuff—box：there was no snuffin it，only a little black gnome for the box was a puzzle．
“Tin soldier．”cried the gnome，“Will you keep your eyes to your’self？”
But the tin soldier pretended not to hear．
“Wait till the morning．that’S all！”said the gnome．
Now when it was morning and the children came up to the nursery the tin soldier was placed close to the window，and whether it was the gnome or a draught of air I don’t know，but the window all at once flew open．and the soldier fell out，head over heels，from the third storey intostreet below．It was a frightful flight．His one leg was right up into theair．and he stood on his helmet with his bayonet sticking in between the flagstones．
The maid——servant and the little boy immediately came downstairs to look for him，but though they very nearly trod upon him they did not see him．If the tin soldier had cried out：“Here arn I！”they certainly would have found him，but he did not consider it right and proper to ask for help，because he was in uniform．
And now it began to rain；the drops fell thicker and thicker until it poured。When the shower was over two street—boys canqe that way．
“Look！”cried one，“There’S tin soldier；let’S give him a sail！”
So they made a boat out of a，newspaper，put the tin soldier in the middle，and down the gutter he went sailing，while both boys ran along by the side，clapping their hands．
What billows there were in that gutter！And the current too！It was dreadful！Yes，the rain had poured in torrents，and no mistake！The pa—per boar rocked up and down and spun round and round till the tin soldier was quite dizzy；but he remained steadfast all through，never changed countenance，looked straight before him，and shouldered arnls．
All at once the boat went right under a long gutter—coping；it grew as dark as in his box．
“Where on earth am 1 going now！”thought he，“Yes，it is all the gnome’S fault．Ah！If only the little dancing maid were sitting her in the boat it might be as dark again if it liked and I should not care！”
The same instant up came a large water rat who lived under the gut一、ter—coping．
“Have you a pass？”asked the rat．“Come out with youBut the tin soldier kept silence and shouldered arms still more firm1y．