The Steadfast Tin Soldier

このストーリーについて

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.

読み聞かせのコツ

• 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.

よくある質問

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.