The Steadfast Tin Soldier

The Steadfast Tin Soldier is a literary fairy tale by Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen, which was first published in 1838.

Content

The little tin soldier is one of twenty-five identical tin soldiers, all of which were cast from an old spoon and therefore brothers. He's the only one leg because he was cast as the last figure and the tin was no longer sufficient. This makes him but no less brave than the others.

He falls in love with the paper doll of a dancer who has so exalted a leg, that it is not recognizable - he thinks she would have only one leg as he himself and is of the opinion that they would both go well together. At night he watches constantly the dancer, but is warned by a leprechaun to let this be - because this has thrown himself an eye on them. The next morning he falls out the window - "maybe it was the wind or the goblin who threw the window " - and is powered by two street boys found which let him go in a newspaper paper ship in the gutter. Despite the wild ride he remains steadfast and brave. He meets a water rat who wants to see his passport, but you can escape. He moves in down the channel, the boat capsizes and he is swallowed by a fish.

In there it is dark, but the tin soldier remains steadfast. Suddenly it moves " as the lightning " through the fish, it's light and a voice calls out, " The Tin Soldier ". The fish had been caught and sold on the market - the Steadfast Tin Soldier has arrived back home. There he is, however, immediately thrown by the boy for no reason in the oven. A gust of wind blowing the dancer also in the oven, both burn, and the next day finds the maid in the oven a little heart made ​​of tin, and the charred star dancer.

In Roy E. Disney's musical film Fantasia 2000 ( Continued from Walt Disney's Fantasia ), the tale to Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major is retold and set to music by Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich, Op 102; However, there is changed the conclusion that tin soldier and dancer not burn in the fire, but the villain gets the short end. The British folk singer Donovan takes up the story in his song " The Little Tin Soldier". Again, the conclusion is changed: dancer and soldier jump together voluntarily into the fire.