Fairy tale · 声匠改编 · 4:03
The Steadfast Tin Soldier
A one-legged tin soldier loves a paper dancer, and stands firm through a fall, a paper-boat voyage, a water rat and a fish. Andersen's tale, retold warmly.
Narrator
The Tin Soldier
The Paper Dancer
The Snuffbox Goblin
The Water Rat
The Little BoyOther languages · 2 languages
About this story
The Steadfast Tin Soldier is a fairy tale by the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen, first published in 1838. A one-legged soldier, cast from an old tin spoon, falls for a paper dancer and stays upright through a fall from a window, a paper-boat voyage, a toll-collecting water rat and a fish. In Andersen's ending both are lost in the stove, leaving a little tin heart and the dancer's spangle burnt black; this version keeps the tin heart but makes the fire feel warm, and lets the boy keep the heart and the spangle together.
What it teaches
Being steadfast means staying true to yourself and to the people you love, whatever happens. The soldier can't choose where life carries him, but he can choose to stand tall.
Suits
Ages 4–9
Tips for telling it
- Stand on one leg together every time the soldier stands firm.
- Give the water rat a squeaky, bossy voice: Passport! Passport!
- Ask which part of the soldier's journey would be scariest, and how he stays brave.
Questions people ask
- What is the message of The Steadfast Tin Soldier?
- It is about steadfastness: courage, loyalty and quiet love that hold firm whatever life throws at you. The soldier is swept along by bad luck, but he never stops standing tall.
- Why does the tin soldier have only one leg?
- All twenty-five soldiers were cast from one old tin spoon, and by the time the last soldier was made, there wasn't enough tin left for a second leg.
- Does The Steadfast Tin Soldier have a happy ending?
- Not exactly. In Andersen's 1838 story the soldier and the paper dancer both end up in the stove, and the soldier melts into a small tin heart. This retelling keeps that ending but tells it warmly, so the two stay together.
More Fairy tales
All Fairy tales episodes →The Wild Swans
声匠改编
A wicked queen turns eleven princes into swans, and their sister Elisa must knit nettle shirts in total silence to save them. Andersen's tale, retold.
Alice and the Mad Tea Party
声匠改编
Alice sits down uninvited at a tea table where it is always six o'clock, riddles have no answers and the Dormouse keeps dozing off. Carroll, retold.
阿拉丁和神灯
声匠改编
穷孩子阿拉丁被假伯伯关进山洞，一擦戒指、一擦旧油灯，冒出了两个精灵。他娶了公主，坏魔法师却喊着：新灯换旧灯！
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
声匠改编
A poor woodcutter overhears the words Open, Sesame! and finds a robbers' cave of gold. When the forty thieves come hunting, clever Morgiana outwits them.
Snow White
声匠改编
A jealous queen, a mirror that never lies, seven dwarfs and one rosy apple. A gentle bedtime retelling of the Grimms' Snow White, with a softer ending.
Beauty and the Beast
声匠改编
A stolen rose, a lonely Beast and a girl brave enough to take her father's place. A gentle bedtime retelling of Beaumont's Beauty and the Beast.
