The tale of the steadfast tin soldier. Hans Christian Andersen How many tin soldiers were there in the box
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H.-K. Andersen. "The Steadfast Tin Soldier"
One day, when Andersen was walking along one of the narrow streets of Copenhagen, a little boy ran up to him and, putting a tin soldier in his hand, quickly ran away. It is quite possible that it was at this moment that the storyteller heard the voice of a new fairy tale, a story about how...
Once upon a time there lived twenty-five tin soldiers. They lived in a box where it was dark and cramped. But one day the box opened and the boy to whom they were given saw that one soldier was not like the rest. No, he was as handsome as his brothers: a gun on his shoulder, a fine uniform, his gaze directed forward. But he was the last to be cast, there was not enough tin and it turned out that he only had one leg. However, he stood on one leg as firmly as the others on two. And you will soon see this.
In addition to the soldiers, there were many different gifts on the table. The most beautiful of all was the cardboard castle, near which stood a charming girl. She was a dancer, so she stood on one leg, stretching her arms forward, never losing her balance. The girl was so beautiful that the soldier involuntarily thought: “I wish I had such a wife!” That's when it all started... No, it was no coincidence that the tin soldier only had one leg. What, besides unparalleled stamina (after all, standing on one leg is much more difficult) could prove to the beautiful dancer how much he loved her. And in all the trials that befell him, he stood firm, clutching a gun in his hands.
Many of you have probably noticed that Andersen’s characters show resilience in life and are not at all heroic: the ugly duckling, Thumbelina... now here’s the tin soldier. Thus, Andersen pushes readers to a very important thought for him: how, looking at them, we, big and strong, should behave.
Meanwhile, chance (a traditional fairy tale device) invades the fairy tale. The fish that swallowed the soldier when he fell out of the window and was carried along a stormy river was bought at the market, and the tin soldier again ended up on the same table, among the same toys. The beautiful dancer still stood on the threshold of the cardboard castle. And she still extended her hands, as if calling on the soldier to return quickly. And he returned. Everything would have ended well if not for the tricks of the black troll, who also took a fancy to the beautiful dancer. The troll suddenly jumped out of the snuffbox standing on the table and shouted: “Stop rolling your eyes at things that are not about your honor!” And although the tin soldier pretended not to hear, the troll shouted threateningly: “Well, wait a minute! The morning will come, you will see!” This character, traditional for Scandinavian folk legends, in the author's fairy tale still remains the bearer of evil, but at the same time turns into an ordinary mechanical toy. In fairy tales, which are characterized by the interweaving of the fantastic with the real, the unusual often becomes ordinary, and the everyday turns into the fabulous.
Please note that Andersen nowhere crosses the line beyond which a toy soldier ceases to be a toy. Revival or transformation (traditional for folk tale) does not happen, but the duality inherent in Andersen’s poetics is constantly manifested. It is important for him not only to endow the toy with human properties, but to place the human in the toy above the “toy”. Try to mentally remove this duality and the whole story about the tin soldier will lose all its mysterious appeal and drama.
“You created a new, amazing world of poetry...” the famous Norwegian folklorist My told Andersen, “You were able to put into it a clear, modern worldview. That’s why your fairy tales have become pictures of life, which reflect eternal truths.”
Andersen himself believed that a true storyteller should be able to put the tragic and comic, naive and humorous into a fairy tale. And we, rereading these fairy tales again, just be ready to experience it all to the fullest. Do children need our support?
N.A. Dobrolyubov, who highly valued Andersen’s fairy tales, believed that they themselves had a beneficial effect on the hearts of children, inducing them to think freely and naturally, without any exaggeration, because they lack a “moralizing tail.”
How to preserve this freedom and naturalness in teaching work? First, let's ask the children to discover the duality that is so important for Andersen's poetics: to find moments in the text when the toy soldier feels and thinks like a human being, while remaining a toy. (When you begin to understand the author more deeply, he becomes closer to you as a human being). For example, when a soldier accidentally fell out of a window and fell head over heels from the third floor, he could have shouted to the children who were looking for him: “I’m here!”, However, “he considered it indecent to shout loudly on the street while in uniform.” And he was silent. And when, after returning, he again saw the lovely little dancer, he was so moved that “tin tears almost rolled out of his eyes,” but he immediately remembered that “a soldier is not supposed to cry.” Didn't scream. Didn't cry. - What else? Thus, he remains a toy, but having shown not at all a toy, but a human dignity, he remains true to himself.
There is another sure way that can preserve freedom and naturalness in communication with a fairy tale. And he will lead us to a puppet theater, where toys can come to life not only at night, when people don’t see them, but also during the day. To the delight of both children and adults. Andersen himself began writing plays for the puppet theater in his youth and was attached to the theater all his life.
Children - a fairy tale - a puppet theater are always nearby in our minds. In an ordinary theater, the actor is transformed into a character; in a puppet theater, the actor is brought to life. It is up to the actor who holds it in his hands to breathe life into the doll. And come up with it appearance– only an artist can make it. From an infinite number individual characteristics the artist selects the most typical, the most characteristic for each actor doll in order to convey the essence of a particular image. What and how in the puppet theater are closely connected. In such a theater, everything is frankly conventional. And everything contains artistic truth, which is achieved by a special character and breadth of generalization. You will now see how we will try to act out this fairy tale in our own puppet theater.
Scenogram of the lesson “Playing Andersen” (fragments)
Teacher. We have been to the puppet theater, but we have never staged our own puppet theater. It's not easy, but let's try. On an excursion to the museum of the Central Puppet Theater named after. Obraztsova told us what kind of puppet theaters there are. What kind of theater should we make, because it should be born right in the classroom?
- Tabletop theater, when people control puppets in full view of everyone.
Teacher. What dolls can we make quickly?
- It is best to cut dolls out of paper.
Teacher. Since almost everyone agrees with this, then everyone will have to turn into artists and draw sketches of doll heroes. But first we need to decide which episodes of the fairy tale we are going to act out. If everyone writes their proposals on a piece of paper, then they can be discussed. Please note that we have to select not only the most important moments of the fairy tale, but also take into account our capabilities: our puppet theater is just being born. Have you written everything? Listen carefully: “How the soldier saw the dancer”, “Toy Ball”, “Meeting with the water rat”, “How the toys came to life at night”, “How the boy played with soldiers”, “How the soldier was thrown into the oven”. What should we take away?
- The episode of how the boy played soldiers will not be interesting to watch.
- “Night Ball” is an interesting moment and important because a troll appears there.
Teacher. How do you imagine a troll?
- So black, like a devil.
- In my opinion, it is very difficult to act out a night ball, there are a lot of toys and it takes time to make them.
- It will also be difficult to show how the soldier was thrown into the oven, because you need to not only throw him, but also show how he dies - melts.
Teacher. What do you think about the meeting between the soldier and the water rat?
- This is a very funny moment and it will be interesting to watch.
- And there are only two characters.
- You will also need a boat and a bridge, but it’s not difficult to make it from paper.
Teacher. So, we make sketches of two dolls: a tin soldier and a water rat. Don't forget that you are sketching dolls, and not just drawing fairy tale characters. This is a homework assignment...
Look how many soldiers and all kinds of rats are in front of you... Which of them will play in our puppet theater?
- It seems to me that the soldier in this drawing is most suitable for our theater, because he has large, expressive eyes.
- They seem human...
- And this rat is the most ordinary, it’s hard to imagine how it would shout: “Do you have a passport?”
- In this picture, the rat is not just evil, but also a little funny. And you can imagine how she screams and chases the tin soldier.
Teacher. We chose the puppet actors. Remember, in many of Andersen's fairy tales there is a narrator: it can be the author himself or someone else. Remember these fairy tales. If we introduce the author-narrator, it turns out that there are three participants in the improvisation game: a person from the author, a tin soldier and a water rat.
... And now paper dolls appear on the table (ordinary table), held by the authors of the most successful sketches and drawings. But first, you still need to make a paper boat, figure out how to place a bridge on the table... think through all the movements of the doll heroes and all the mise-en-scène.
Meeting with water beauty
Narrator. When the rain stopped, the boys made a boat out of newspaper, put a tin soldier in it and launched it along the drainage ditch... The boat dived, then flew up to the crest of the wave, then spun, and the tin soldier shuddered, but he was persistent and still looked calmly forward, holding the gun on his shoulder (While the narrator is speaking, the participants in the improvisation game demonstrate all this).
… “Where is this taking me? - thought the soldier, - All this is the tricks of a troll! If only there was a little dancer sitting in the boat with me..."
At that moment a large water rat jumped out from under the bridge - it lived here.
Water rat. “Do you have a passport? Show me your passport!”
Narrator. But the tin soldier was silent and clutched his gun even tighter to himself. The boat floated further and further, and the rat swam after it...
Water rat. Hold it? Hold it! He didn't pay the toll and didn't show his passport!
Narrator. The poor soldier still held on as steadfastly as he did, he didn’t even blink an eye. And suddenly the boat spun, then tilted, immediately filled with water and began to sink. The tin soldier was already standing up to his neck in the water, and the boat was getting more and more wet and sank deeper, now the water covered the soldier’s head. He remembered the lovely little dancer whom he was never destined to see again, and a song began to ring in his ears:
Forward, O warrior!
Go to your death.
The paper became completely wet, broke through, and the soldier was already drowning, but at that moment a large fish swallowed him.
Teacher. Masha's rat turned out to be very funny. Comic effect intensified by the convergence of the words of the heroic song and the angry cries of the rat. This time we limited ourselves to one episode... Shall we continue?
- Necessarily.
Teacher. In the meantime, let's return to the fairy tale and remember how Andersen completes the story about the steadfast tin soldier.
- The soldier again found himself in the kitchen, where the fire was burning brightly in the stove.
- And his last test began.
Teacher. When the boy suddenly threw the soldier into the burning stove, he stood surrounded bright flame. How did he feel?
- That everything was burning, but what was burning him - flame or love, he himself did not know.
- When the colors faded on him, whether it was from grief that he would soon never see the little dancer again or whether they faded during the trip - he also did not know.
- But he still stood straight, with a gun on his shoulder and did not take his eyes off the little dancer.
- They couldn't take their eyes off each other.
Teacher. Why do you think the tin soldier became the personification of perseverance for Andersen?
- Because toy tin soldiers stand very stable when you play with them.
- This toy is very small, but durable.
- The word “persistent” can be understood in different ways.
- It is used differently in the fairy tale.
- The word “steadfast” is suitable for the military.
Teacher. What happened next?
- The draft caught the dancer, because she was made of paper, she fluttered into the stove and burned. So as not to be separated.
- It flashed with a bright flame - and she was gone.
- And the tin soldier was gone, he melted.
Teacher. But why does the fairy tale have such a sad ending?
- No, the end didn’t seem so sad to me, because we know that what was left of the soldier was a tin heart.
- When the maid was clearing out the ash from the stove in the morning, she found not a piece of tin, but a tin heart.
- And there was a sparkle left from the dancer, but it no longer sparkled, but turned black.
- Despite everything, they ended up together, which means love won.
- You can throw a tin soldier into the fire, but nothing can destroy true love.
Teacher. Why did the boy throw the soldier into the oven?
- He was small. Didn't understand what he was doing.
- But we saw that not only when the soldier was drowning, but also when he stood in the fire, he was persistent: he stood straight, clutching a gun in his hand.
- If the boy had not thrown the tin soldier into the fire, then no one would have found the tin heart. We would have nothing left to remember.
- If the tin soldier drowned or simply got lost, then they would immediately forget about him.
- We would buy new soldiers.
Teacher. Or maybe it would be better for the author to save them?
- But that would be a different story.
... The fire is still burning in the stove. Haven't you heard how Andersen's Muse said to the children: “Look at the heroes of the fairy tale. Draw them. Turn them into heroes puppet show. Then you will continue their lives!
We managed to hear her.
Great storyteller
... What pushed Andersen into the realm of fairy tales?
He himself said that it was easiest to write fairy tales while being alone with nature, “listening to its voice,” especially when he was relaxing in the forests of Zealand.
... But we know that Andersen wrote many of his fairy tales in the middle of winter, at the height of children's Christmas holidays, and giving them an elegant and simple form.
... Andersen considered his life wonderful, but, of course, only because of his childish cheerfulness. This gentleness towards life is usually a sure sign of inner wealth. People like Andersen have no desire to waste time and energy struggling with everyday failures, when poetry sparkles so clearly around them - and they need to live only in it, live only in it and not miss the moment when spring touches its lips to the trees...
He wrote quickly because he had the gift of improvisation. Andersen was the purest example of an improviser. Countless thoughts and images swarmed through him as he worked. It was necessary to hurry to write them down before they slipped out of memory, faded and disappeared from view. It was necessary to have extraordinary vigilance in order to catch on the fly and fix those pictures that flashed and instantly went out, like a branched pattern of lightning in a stormy sky.
... I am not listing here everything that Andersen wrote. This is unlikely to be necessary. I just wanted to sketch a glimpse of this poet and storyteller, this charming eccentric who remained a sincere child until his death, this inspired improviser and catcher human souls- both children and adults.
(K. Paustovsky. From the introductory article to the book
H.-K. Andersen "Tales and Stories")
Did you have a favorite fairy tale as a child?
(from the answers of eleventh graders)
- As a child, I really loved fairy tales for their kindness. But my favorite fairy tale is “About Tsar Saltan”. It has hidden meaning. When my mother read it to me, and then I read it myself, it simply fascinated me, captivated me. I remember with joy the most beautiful time in my life - my childhood.
- I don’t remember a single fairy tale, but I remember the illustrations.
- As a child, I was read a lot of fairy tales. Most of all I liked fairy tales with a good ending. I remade fairy tales that ended sadly. I always wanted to be little like Dunno, I wanted to fly and live on the roof with the cheerful Carlson, I envied Pippi where she lived alone in the house. I will always be friends with these heroes and will carry them throughout my life.
- To be honest, I don’t remember the name of my favorite fairy tale, but it certainly existed. I remember only a big book with many beautiful pictures. Mom read fairy tales from it, but after learning to read, I returned to it many times. And even now I sometimes want to look there. I don’t know why, it’s just like that.
- Fairy tales teach us love, compassion, kindness, self-sacrifice. In an atmosphere of magic and celebration, they teach children about life.
- When I was little, my mother often read fairy tales to me... I loved listening to them. The nobility of the soul, the ability to self-sacrifice - this is what fairy tales teach us. With bated breath, I listened about the Beautiful Princess, the good wizard, the seven dwarves and the good Cinderella.
- I believe that a fairy tale gives birth to bright dreams and develops the imagination and soul.
- My parents read me a lot of fairy tales. And the whole world seemed like a fairy tale, I perceived everything as if it were a fairy tale. And it’s not strange that sometimes I imagined myself as Malvina or Little Red Riding Hood. ... Gradually the feeling of life as a fairy tale dissipated and went into the soul, developing into dreams.
- My favorite fairy tale as a child was “Cinderella,” and it was somehow special, melodic and romantic, and it ended very well.
- “The Three Little Pigs.” Without fairy tales there will be no such love for one's neighbor, no responsibility for them. There should always be something good in life, even when it is written.
- Of course it was. There were many of them. At first my mother read them to me, then I re-read many of them myself. Fairy tales are like the first textbooks of life.
- I was raised with early childhood on verses. Fairy tales entered my life a little later... This spiritual “food” largely determines how a person’s fate will turn out.
There were once twenty-five tin soldiers in the world, all brothers, because they were born from an old tin spoon. The gun is on the shoulder, they look straight ahead, and what a magnificent uniform - red and blue! They were lying in a box, and when the lid was removed, the first thing they heard was:
- Oh, tin soldiers!
It was a little boy who shouted and clapped his hands. They were given to him for his birthday, and he immediately placed them on the table.
All the soldiers turned out to be exactly the same, and only one was a little different from the rest: he had only one leg, because he was the last to be cast, and there was not enough tin. But he stood on one leg just as firmly as the others on two, and that’s what happened to him. wonderful story. On the table where the soldiers found themselves, there were many other toys, but the most noticeable was a beautiful palace made of cardboard. Through small windows one could look directly into the halls. In front of the palace, around a small mirror that depicted a lake, there were trees, and wax swans swam on the lake and looked into it.
It was all so cute, but the cutest thing was the girl standing at the door of the castle. She, too, was cut out of paper, but her skirt was made of the finest cambric; over her shoulder there was a narrow blue ribbon, like a scarf, and on her chest there was a sparkle no smaller than the girl’s head. The girl stood on one leg, her arms stretched out in front of her - she was a dancer - and raised the other so high that the tin soldier did not even see her, and therefore decided that she was also one-legged, like him.
“I wish I had a wife like that!” he thought. “Only she, apparently, is one of the nobles, lives in a palace, and all I have is a box, and even then there are twenty-five of us soldiers in it, there’s no place for her.” there! But you can meet!”
And he hid behind a snuffbox that stood right there on the table. From here he had a clear view of the lovely dancer.
In the evening, all the other tin soldiers, except for him alone, were placed in the box, and the people in the house went to bed. And the toys themselves began to play - both to visit, and to the war, and to the ball. The tin soldiers stirred in the box - after all, they also wanted to play - but could not lift the lid. The Nutcracker tumbled, the stylus danced across the board. There was such a noise and uproar that the canary woke up and began to whistle, and not just, but in verse! Only the tin soldier and the dancer did not move. She still stood on one toe, stretching her arms forward, and he stood bravely on his only leg and did not take his eyes off her. It struck twelve, and - click! - the lid of the snuff box bounced off, only it contained not tobacco, no, but a small black troll. The snuff box had a trick.
“Tin soldier,” said the troll, “don’t look where you shouldn’t!”
But the tin soldier pretended not to hear.
- Well, wait, the morning will come! - said the troll.
And the morning came; The children stood up and placed the tin soldier on the windowsill. Suddenly, either by the grace of the troll, or from a draft, the window will open, and the soldier will fly upside down from the third floor! It was a terrible flight. The soldier threw himself into the air, stuck his helmet and bayonet between the stones of the pavement, and got stuck upside down.
The boy and the maid immediately ran out to look for him, but they could not see him, although they almost stepped on him. He shouted to them: “I’m here!” - They probably would have found him, but it was not proper for a soldier to scream at the top of his lungs - after all, he was wearing a uniform.
It began to rain, the drops fell more and more often, and finally a real downpour began to pour. When it ended, two street boys came.
- Look! - said one. - There's the tin soldier! Let's set him sailing!
And they made a boat out of newsprint, put a tin soldier in it, and it floated along the drainage ditch. The boys ran alongside and clapped their hands. Fathers, what waves were moving along the ditch, what a swift current it was! Of course, after such a downpour!
The ship was thrown up and down and spun so that the tin soldier was shaking all over, but he held on steadfastly - the gun on his shoulder, his head straight, his chest forward.
Suddenly the boat dived under long bridges across a ditch. It became so dark, as if the soldier had fallen into the box again.
“Where is I going?” he thought. “Yes, yes, all these are the tricks of a troll! Oh, if only that young lady was sitting in the boat with me, then be at least twice as dark, and then nothing!”
Then a large water rat appeared, living under the bridge.
- Do you have a passport? - She asked. - Show me your passport!
But the tin soldier took his fill of water and only clutched his gun even tighter. The ship was carried forward and forward, and the rat swam after it. Uh! How she gnashed her teeth, how she shouted to the chips and straws floating towards them:
- Hold him! Hold it! He didn't pay the duty! He's passportless!
But the current became stronger and stronger, and the tin soldier already saw the light ahead, when suddenly there was such a noise that any brave man would have been frightened. Imagine, at the end of the bridge the drainage ditch flowed into a large canal. For the soldier it was as dangerous as for us rushing in a boat to a large waterfall.
The canal is already very close, it’s impossible to stop. The ship was carried out from under the bridge, the poor fellow held on as best he could, and did not even blink an eye. The ship spun three or four times, was filled with water to the brim, and it began to sink.
The soldier found himself up to his neck in water, and the boat sank deeper and deeper, the paper became soaked. The water covered the soldier's head, and then he thought about the lovely little dancer - he would never see her again. It sounded in his ears:
Strive forward, warrior,
Death will overtake you!
Then the paper finally fell apart and the soldier sank to the bottom, but at that very moment he was swallowed by a large fish.
Oh, how dark it was inside, even worse than under the bridge over the drainage ditch, and cramped to boot! But the tin soldier did not lose courage and lay stretched out to his full height, not letting go of the gun...
The fish went in circles and began to make the most outlandish leaps. Suddenly she froze, as if lightning had struck her. The light flashed and someone shouted: “Tin Soldier!” It turns out that the fish was caught, brought to the market, sold, brought to the kitchen, and the cook ripped open its belly with a large knife.
Then the cook took the soldier by the lower back with two fingers and brought him into the room. Everyone wanted to look at such a wonderful little man - of course, he had traveled in the belly of a fish! But the tin soldier was not at all proud. They put it on the table, and - what miracles happen in the world! - he found himself in the same room, saw the same children, the same toys stood on the table and a wonderful palace with a lovely little dancer. She still stood on one leg, raising the other high - she was also persistent. The soldier was touched and almost cried tin tears, but that would have been unkind. He looked at her, she at him, but they did not say a word to each other.
Suddenly one of the kids grabbed the tin soldier and threw it into the stove, although the soldier had done nothing wrong. This, of course, was arranged by the troll who was sitting in the snuffbox.
The Tin Soldier stood in the flames, a terrible heat engulfed him, but whether it was fire or love, he did not know. The color had completely faded from him, no one could say why - from travel or from grief. He looked at the little dancer, she looked at him, and he felt that he was melting, but still stood firm, not letting go of the gun. Suddenly the door to the room swung open, the dancer was caught by the wind, and she, like a sylph, fluttered straight into the stove to the tin soldier, burst into flames at once - and she was gone. And the tin soldier melted into a lump, and the next morning the maid, scooping out the ashes, found a tin heart instead of the soldier. And all that was left of the dancer was a sparkle, and it was burnt and black, like coal.
Hans Christian Andersen
State Publishing House "Main Directorate", Moscow, 1923
Translator: not specified
Illustrations: M. Ivashintsova.
Once upon a time there lived twenty-five tin soldiers. Twenty-five siblings born from one tin spoon! They were all beautiful, dressed in blue uniforms, with sabers over their shoulders and beautiful helmets on their heads. They stood straight and proud, they all resembled each other like two peas in a pod. Only one of them was different from the others: he had only one leg! Unhappy! It was cast after everyone else, and there wasn’t enough tin for it.
But imagine, despite the fact that he only had one leg, he was not at all embarrassed by this and stood just as firmly and straight as everyone else. The first word that the soldiers heard when the box in which they were placed was opened was a joyful exclamation:
Oh! tin soldiers!
This was the cry of the little boy who had received them as a gift on his name day and, clapping his hands with joy, immediately began to place them on his table.
There were a lot of different toys on this table. All these were beautiful and expensive things, but the best thing was the paper castle. He was just like the real one. Through its windows one could see rooms filled with upholstered furniture, and in front of it there was a pretty garden with green trees and a lake on which white swans swam. The doors of the castle were open, and inside them stood a pretty, elegant lady, in a light blue dress and with a narrow ribbon over her shoulder, on which was attached a large beautiful rose. Although the lady was also made of paper, she was nevertheless charming, and our soldier was completely taken aback by her. The beauty portrayed a dancer, her arms were extended forward, and one leg was raised so high that the soldier could not see her at all and thought that she suffered from the same physical disability as he did.
“This is a good wife for me!” he thought. “It’s just a pity that she’s so noble and lives in a castle! Perhaps my room, in which twenty-five of us live, is not suitable for her. But I’ll still get to know her.” !" he decided and hid behind a snuff box, from where he could quietly admire the beautiful dancer.
When evening came, the soldiers were put back in their little box, and everyone in the house went to bed. But then the fun began! All the toys that were on the table began to move and began to play different games. There was a terrible noise and merriment. The tongs tumbled, the jerks danced, the tops spun in a dizzying waltz - and only the dancer and the lone soldier did not move. She still stood on one leg, arms outstretched, and he, standing behind the snuffbox, did not take his eyes off her. They forgot to put him in the box, along with all the soldiers who were now restlessly tossing and turning there, trying to lift the lid to join the general fun. But they did not succeed at all; the lid was too heavy for them. Suddenly, at midnight, a crash was heard in the snuffbox behind which our soldier stood, and a little devil jumped out of it.
Tin Soldier! - he shouted. - Don't look at the one with whom you have nothing in common!
But the soldier pretended not to hear him and continued to stubbornly look at the one-legged dancer!
Yeah! You're not listening! - the devil squeaked. - Well, then tomorrow you will see what will happen to you!
In the morning, when the children got up, they began to rearrange the toys and, taking the soldier, put him on the window. But at that time, whether the wind blew, or whether it was the devil’s doing, the window suddenly opened, and our poor hero flew headfirst straight onto the pavement! Having fallen, he got stuck between the stones and, moreover, in a very uncomfortable position: standing on his head, with his leg raised up. Yes; it was very unpleasant.
The children and the maid searched for a long time for the fallen soldier on the pavement, but they never found him. He should have shouted to them: “I’m here!” and they, of course, would have seen him, but he thought that shouting in the street was indecent, and remained silent.
Soon it started pouring rain, and the poor soldier was completely wet. He felt very bad, and he had already begun to think about death, when suddenly someone’s hands grabbed him, and he heard a child’s voice.
"Ba-ba-ba! Tin soldier!"
Let's take him for a boat ride!"
And the boy who was holding him in his hand immediately made a boat out of newsprint and, putting him in it, launched the boat into the drainage ditch. Wow! How quickly the boat rushed! It even took the soldier’s breath away. And the waves were raging all around!.. Every second one could expect that the boat would turn over and go to the bottom, it rocked so violently from side to side.
But the soldier stood bravely in the middle of the boat, holding his gun on his shoulder and maintaining the calmest appearance.
Suddenly he drove under some bridge and saw under him a large water rat, which immediately swam up to his boat and squeaked sternly: “Do you have a passport? Show me your passport!”
The soldier did not answer her and silently drove on. The angry rat swam after him, shouting loudly: “Hold him, hold him! He doesn’t have a passport! He doesn’t pay the fee!”... But it was too late, the boat was rushing faster and faster!.. So it drove into a large canal, which the ditch flowed into - and spun in it so that the poor soldier’s head began to spin. But he knew how to control himself, and not a single person in the world could notice from his face that he felt so bad. He didn't even seem to blink. Only when the water began to pour over the edge, and the paper from which the boat was made began to unravel, did he realize that he was in danger of death. With longing he remembered the sweet dancer, whom he was never destined to see again, and a song sounded in his ears:
"Forward, forward, O warrior!
You must face death!"
At that moment the paper tore, and he felt that he was going down... Fuck! He was swallowed by a large predatory fish!..
“God, how dark! And how cramped!.. Worse than in a box!” thought the soldier, lying in the belly of the fish. And the unfortunate fish, having swallowed such an inconvenient thing, rushed in all directions, making some strange movements...
But suddenly it became light again, and the soldier heard someone’s voice: “Fathers! Tin soldier!” This was said by the cook, who took it out of the fish that she had bought at the market and was just about to cook. She took the soldier and carried him to the nursery, to the same nursery from the window of which he had so unexpectedly fallen into the street.
Imagine his surprise when, having come to his senses, he looked around and again saw the dancer in front of him, standing in the doorway of the paper house!.. She was still just as lovely and still stood on one leg, stretching out her little pens.
It was so touching! The soldier was ready to cry with joy and tenderness. They looked at each other and did not say a word... Whether there are words here, judge for yourself!
Suddenly one of the children grabbed the soldier and threw him into the stove.
Oh, it must have been the devil's tricks!
The soldier felt a terrible heat, but thought it was from love. The fire melted his body, the colors drained from him, and he still looked at the dancer, clutching his gun to his chest.
At this time, the door in the room was opened, and a gust of wind grabbed the dancer, so that she, spinning in the air, also flew straight into the stove.
In one minute the flames destroyed her. The little soldier also completely melted and turned into a small tin lump, which, together with the tinsel ashes left by the dancer, was swept out of the stove along with the ashes and thrown into the garbage pit by the maid.
Thus ends the story of the steadfast tin soldier!..
Fairy tale The Steadfast Tin Soldier read:
There were once twenty-five tin soldiers, maternal brothers - 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: “Oh, tin soldiers!” It was the little boy who was given the toy soldiers on his birthday who shouted, clapping his hands. And he immediately began to place them on the table. All the soldiers were exactly the same, except for one, who had one leg. He was the last to be cast, and the tin was a little short, but he stood on his own leg as firmly as the others on two; and he turned out to be the most remarkable of all.
On the table where the soldiers found themselves, there were many different toys, but what caught the eye most was a palace made of cardboard. Through the small windows one could see the palace chambers; in front of the palace, around a small mirror that depicted a lake, there were trees, and wax swans swam on the lake and admired their reflection. It was all miraculously sweet, but cutest of all was the young lady standing 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 form of a scarf, and on her chest sparkled a rosette the size of the young lady’s own 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 did not even 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, is one of the nobles, lives in the palace, and all I have is a box, and even then there are twenty-five of us stuffed in it, she has no place there!” But it still doesn’t hurt to get to know each other.”
And he hid behind a snuff-box that stood right there on the table; from here he could clearly see the lovely dancer, who kept standing on one leg without losing her balance.
Late in the evening, all the other tin soldiers were put into a box, and all the people in the house went to bed. Now the toys themselves began to play at home, at war and at the ball. The tin soldiers began to knock on the walls of the box - they also wanted to play, but could not lift the lids. The Nutcracker tumbled, the stylus wrote on the board; There was such a noise and uproar that the canary woke up and also began to speak, and even in poetry! Only the dancer and the tin soldier did not move: she was still standing on her outstretched toes, 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, but a small black troll; the snuffbox was a trick!
“Tin soldier,” said the troll, “there’s no point in looking at you!”
The tin soldier seemed not to have heard.
- Well, wait! - said the troll.
In the morning the children got up and put the tin soldier on the window.
Suddenly - whether by the grace of a troll or from a draft - the window flew open, and our soldier flew headfirst from the third floor - only a whistle began to whistle in his ears! A minute - and he was already standing on the pavement with his feet 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 to search, but no matter how hard they tried, they could not find the soldier; they almost stepped on him with their feet and still did not notice him. He shouted to them: “I’m here!” - They, of course, would have found him right away, but he considered it indecent to shout in the street, he was wearing a uniform!
It began to rain; The rain finally came stronger and stronger. When it cleared up again, two street boys came.
- Look! - said one. - There's the tin soldier! Let's send him sailing!
And they made a boat out of newsprint, put a tin soldier in it and let it into the ditch.
The boys themselves ran alongside and clapped their hands. Well, well! That's how the waves moved along the groove! The current just carried along - no wonder after such a downpour!
The boat was thrown and spun in all directions, so that the tin soldier was shaking all over, but he stood firm: the gun on his shoulder, his head straight, his chest forward!
The boat was carried under long bridges: it became so dark, as if the soldier had fallen into the box again.
“Where is it taking me? - he thought. - Yes, these are all jokes of a nasty troll! Oh, if only that beauty were sitting in the boat with me - for me, be at least twice as dark!”
At that moment a large rat jumped out from under the bridge.
- Do you have a passport? she asked. - Give me your passport!
But the tin soldier was silent and clutched his gun even tighter. The boat was carried along, and the rat swam after it. Uh! How she gnashed her teeth and screamed at the chips and straws floating towards her:
- Hold him, hold him! He didn’t pay the fees and 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 chickened out. Imagine, at the end of the bridge, water from the ditch rushed into the 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 was carried further and further, it was impossible to stop. The boat with the soldier slid down; The poor fellow remained stoic as before and didn’t even blink an eye. The boat spun... Once, twice, it filled to the brim with water and began to sink. The tin soldier found himself up to his neck in water; further more... the water covered his head! Then he thought about his beauty: he would never see her again. It sounded in his ears:
Strive forward, O warrior,
And face death calmly!
The paper tore and the tin soldier sank to the bottom, but at that very moment a fish swallowed him.
What darkness! It’s worse than under the bridge, and what’s more, how cramped it is! But the tin soldier stood firm and lay stretched out to his full length, clutching his gun tightly to himself.
The fish rushed here and there, made the most amazing leaps, but suddenly froze, as if it had been struck by lightning. 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 by the waist with two fingers and carried him into the room, where everyone at home came running to see the wonderful traveler. But the tin soldier was not at all proud. They put it on the table, and - something that doesn’t 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 still stood on one leg, raising the other high. So much fortitude! The Tin Soldier was touched and almost cried with tin, but that would have been indecent, and he restrained himself. 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 apparent reason, threw him straight into the stove. The troll probably 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 had completely peeled off of him, he was all faded; who knows from what - from the road or from grief? He looked at the dancer, she looked at him, and he felt that he was melting, but he still stood 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 straight into the stove to the tin soldier, burst into flames at once and - the end!
And the tin soldier melted and melted into a lump. The next day the maid was clearing out the ash from the stove and found a small tin heart; All that was left of the dancer was only a rosette, and even that was all burnt and blackened like coal.
Andersen's fairy tales are very beautiful, magical, and what they teach can be called the best and most important qualities of a person: the ability to love and make friends unselfishly, what is called for real, courage and honesty, selflessness and resourcefulness, the ability not to lose heart in life. any situation. Moreover, some of them, despite their lyricism, do not end as well as most fairy tales. But this one is one of the distinctive features works of the great storyteller.
Steadfast Tin Soldier- one of Andersen's most famous fairy tales. It can be called sad, but for some reason children like it; they probably find in it what can be called an unsolved mystery.
The questions collected on this page will help you conduct a test on the fairy tale to find out how well your child understood what he read. And also conduct a short quiz after reading it in the children's group.
List of questions about the fairy tale
Who wrote the fairy tale "The Steadfast Tin Soldier"?
Answer: Hans Christian Andersen.
How many tin soldiers were there in total?
Answer: Twenty-five.
Who was their mother?
Answer: An old tin spoon.
Who were given the tin soldiers and for what holiday?
Answer: To a little boy on his birthday.
What were the first words the soldiers heard when they opened their box house?
Answer: “Oh, tin soldiers!”
What is the tin soldier made of?
Answer: Made of tin.
Why is the tin soldier called steadfast?
Answer: Because he steadfastly withstood all the adversities that befell him and confidently stood on his one leg.
Why did the soldier become one-legged?
Answer: Because it was cast last, and there wasn’t enough tin...
Who stood on the threshold of the toy palace?
Answer: A young lady cut out of paper.
What did the small lake in front of the palace represent?
Answer: Mirror.
Who swam on the lake?
Answer: Wax swans.
Who was the tin soldier's lover?
Answer: Paper lady.
What was the little dancer made of?
Answer: Made of paper, and she was dressed in a skirt made of the finest cambric.
What did the soldier do wrong when he saw the dancer for the first time?
Answer: It seemed to him that she was also one-legged, but in fact her second leg was raised.
What did the tin soldier think when he saw the dancer?
Answer: He was delighted, wishing for such a wife.
What did the toys start doing when all the people in the house went to bed?
Answer: Play war and ball.
Who was sitting in the snuffbox?
Answer: Little black troll.
How did the steadfast soldier end up on the street?
Answer: He flew headfirst out of a window that suddenly opened.
Why didn’t the soldier shout when the boy and the maid came out to look for him?
Answer: Because he considered it indecent to shout in the street, because he was wearing a uniform!
The soldier was found by two boys. Where did they put him?
Answer: They put him on a boat made of newsprint and set him sailing along a ditch.
Who pestered the soldier and demanded his passport?
Answer: Big rat.
Why couldn't the rat catch up with the boat with the soldier?
Answer: Because she was carried downstream faster and faster.
What frightened the soldier so much when he sailed further on the boat?
Answer: A loud noise was made when the groove flowed into a large channel.
Where did the soldier go when he drowned?
Answer: Into the mouth of the fish that swallowed it.
What happened to the fish, and how did the soldier free himself?
Answer: The fish was caught, taken to the market, and then to the kitchen. They cut open her stomach and pulled out a soldier.
Who ended up with the soldier?
Answer: From the same people who bought it and lost it.
What did the boy do with the soldier?
Answer: He threw him into the stove to be burned.
How did the dancer get into the oven?
Answer: She was caught by the wind from the door opening.
What remains of the soldier after the tragic incident?
Answer: Tin heart.
What happened to the dancer, and what is left of her?
Answer: It burned completely. There was only one brooch left, and even that one was all burnt and blackened...