The Steadfast Tin-Soldier

There were once upon a time five-and twenty tin-soldiers—all brothers, as they were made out of the same old tin spoon. Their uniform was red and blue, and they shouldered their guns and looked straight in front of them. The first words that they heard in this world, when the lid of the box in which they lay was taken off, were: ‘Hurrah, tin-soldiers!’ This was exclaimed by a little boy, clapping his hands; they had been given to him because it was his birthday, and now he began setting them out on the table.

从前有二十五个锡兵，都是兄弟，因为他们是用同一把旧锡勺铸成的。他们的军服是红色和蓝色的，肩上扛着枪，笔直地望着前方。他们在这世上听到的第一句话，是他们所躺的盒子盖子被打开的那一刻，一个小男孩拍着手喊道：“万岁，锡兵们！”这些锡兵是因为那天是他的生日才送给他的，此刻他开始把他们摆到桌子上。

Each soldier was exactly like the other in shape, except just one, who had been made last when the tin had run short; but there he stood as firmly on his one leg as the others did on two, and he is the one that became famous.

每个锡兵的模样都一模一样，只有一个例外——那是锡料快用完时最后做出来的一个；可他单脚站着，却和别人两脚站着一样稳当，而正是这一个后来出了名。

There were many other playthings on the table on which they were being set out, but the nicest of all was a pretty little castle made of cardboard, with windows through which you could see into the rooms. In front of the castle stood some little trees surrounding a tiny mirror which looked like a lake. Wax swans were floating about and reflecting themselves in it. That was all very pretty; but the most beautiful thing was a little lady, who stood in the open doorway.

摆放锡兵的桌子上还有许多别的玩具，可其中最好看的，要数一座硬纸板做的漂亮小城堡，城堡上开着窗户，能看见里面的房间。城堡前面有几棵小树，围着一面小小的镜子，那镜子看起来就像一个湖。几只蜡制的天鹅在上面漂浮着，倒映在镜中。这一切都十分美丽；可是最美的，还是站在敞开的门口的一位小姑娘。

She was cut out of paper, but she had on a dress of the finest muslin, with a scarf of narrow blue ribbon round her shoulders, fastened in the middle with a glittering rose made of gold paper, which was as large as her head. The little lady was stretching out both her arms, for she was a Dancer, and was lifting up one leg so high in the air that the Tin-soldier couldn’t find it anywhere, and thought that she, too, had only one leg.

她是用纸剪出来的，可她身上穿着一件最精细的薄纱裙，肩上围着一条细细的蓝丝带做的披巾，中间用一朵金纸做的、亮闪闪的玫瑰花别住，那花跟她的头一样大。这位小姑娘伸展着双臂，因为她是一位舞蹈演员，一条腿高高地抬到空中，锡兵怎么也找不到那条腿在哪里，还以为她也只有一条腿呢。

‘That’s the wife for me!’ he thought; ‘but she is so grand, and lives in a castle, whilst I have only a box with four-and-twenty others. This is no place for her! But I must make her acquaintance.’ Then he stretched himself out behind a snuff-box that lay on the table; from thence he could watch the dainty little lady, who continued to stand on one leg without losing her balance.

“她正是适合我的妻子！”他心想；“可她那么高贵，住在城堡里，而我却只有一只盒子，跟另外二十四个兄弟挤在一起。这里可不是她该来的地方！可我一定要认识认识她。”于是他把自己藏到桌上一个鼻烟盒后面，笔直地立着；从那里他可以望见那位娇美的小姑娘，她始终单脚站立，却从未失去平衡。

When the night came all the other tin-soldiers went into their box, and the people of the house went to bed. Then the toys began to play at visiting, dancing, and fighting. The tin-soldiers rattled in their box, for they wanted to be out too, but they could not raise the lid. The nut-crackers played at leap-frog, and the slate-pencil ran about the slate; there was such a noise that the canary woke up and began to talk to them, in poetry too!

夜幕降临后，其他所有的锡兵都被放进了盒子里，家里的人也都上床睡觉去了。这时玩具们便开始玩起互相拜访、跳舞、打闹的游戏来。锡兵们在盒子里格格作响，因为他们也想出去，可是盒盖却抬不起来。胡桃夹子玩起了跳背游戏，石笔在石板上跑来跑去；闹得那么欢腾，把金丝雀都吵醒了，它也开始跟他们说起话来，而且还是用诗句说的呢！

The only two who did not stir from their places were the Tin-soldier and the little Dancer. She remained on tip-toe, with both arms outstretched; he stood steadfastly on his one leg, never moving his eyes from her face.

只有两个没有从原地挪动一步，那就是锡兵和那位小舞蹈演员。她始终踮着脚尖站着，双臂展开；他也始终坚定地单脚站立，目光从未离开过她的脸。

The clock struck twelve, and crack! off flew the lid of the snuff-box; but there was no snuff inside, only a little black imp—that was the beauty of it.

钟敲了十二下，砰的一声！鼻烟盒的盖子飞了出去；可里面并没有鼻烟，只有一个黑色的小妖精——这才是这盒子妙的地方。

‘Hullo, Tin-soldier!’ said the imp. ‘Don’t look at things that aren’t intended for the likes of you!’

“喂，锡兵！”那小妖精说道。“别去看那些不该你这样的人看的东西！”

But the Tin-soldier took no notice, and seemed not to hear.

可锡兵毫不理会，仿佛根本没有听见似的。

‘Very well, wait till to-morrow!’ said the imp.

“很好，等着瞧明天吧！”小妖精说道。

When it was morning, and the children had got up, the Tin-soldier was put in the window; and whether it was the wind or the little black imp, I don’t know, but all at once the window flew open and out fell the little Tin-soldier, head over heels, from the third-storey window! That was a terrible fall, I can tell you! He landed on his head with his leg in the air, his gun being wedged between two paving-stones.

到了早晨，孩子们都起了床，锡兵被放到了窗台上；也不知是风吹的，还是那个黑色小妖精捣的鬼，窗子突然一下子敞开了，这个小锡兵便一个筋斗从三层楼高的窗口摔了下去！那一跤摔得可真是厉害，我告诉你！他头朝下落地，一条腿翘在空中，他的枪则卡在了两块铺路石之间。

The nursery-maid and the little boy came down at once to look for him, but, though they were so near him that they almost trod on him, they did not notice him. If the Tin-soldier had only called out ‘Here I am!’ they must have found him; but he did not think it fitting for him to cry out, because he had on his uniform.

保姆和小男孩立刻下楼来找他，可是他们离他那么近，几乎都要踩到他了，却还是没有注意到他。要是这锡兵肯喊一声“我在这儿呢！”，他们准能找到他；可他觉得穿着军服喊叫实在有失体统。

Soon it began to drizzle; then the drops came faster, and there was a regular down-pour. When it was over, two little street boys came along.

不久天空开始下起细雨来，随后雨点越来越急，竟下起了倾盆大雨。雨停之后，来了两个街头的小男孩。

‘Just look!’ cried one. ‘Here is a Tin-soldier! He shall sail up and down in a boat!’

“快看！”一个喊道。“这儿有个锡兵！让他坐着小船顺水漂来漂去吧！”

So they made a little boat out of newspaper, put the Tin-soldier in it, and made him sail up and down the gutter; both the boys ran along beside him, clapping their hands. What great waves there were in the gutter, and what a swift current! The paper-boat tossed up and down, and in the middle of the stream it went so quick that the Tin-soldier trembled; but he remained steadfast, showed no emotion, looked straight in front of him, shouldering his gun. All at once the boat passed under a long tunnel that was as dark as his box had been.

于是他们用报纸叠了一只小船，把锡兵放进去，让他在阴沟里漂来漂去；两个男孩一路跟在旁边跑着，拍着手。阴沟里的浪头可真大呀，水流又是那么湍急！这只纸船一上一下地颠簸着，到了水流中央时速度快得吓人，锡兵不禁颤抖起来；可他仍旧坚定不移，没有露出丝毫情绪，笔直地望着前方，肩上扛着枪。忽然间，小船驶进了一条长长的隧道，那里面漆黑一片，跟他原先待的盒子里一样黑。

‘Where can I be coming now?’ he wondered. ‘Oh, dear! This is the black imp’s fault! Ah, if only the little lady were sitting beside me in the boat, it might be twice as dark for all I should care!’

“我这是要漂到哪儿去呢？”他心想。“哎呀，天哪！这都是那黑妖精的过错！唉，要是那位小姑娘此刻也坐在船里陪着我，就算再黑上一倍，我也毫不在乎！”

Suddenly there came along a great water-rat that lived in the tunnel.

忽然，隧道里冒出一只住在那儿的大水鼠来。

‘Have you a passport?’ asked the rat. ‘Out with your passport!’

“你有通行证吗？”水鼠问道。“把通行证拿出来！”

But the Tin-soldier was silent, and grasped his gun more firmly.

可锡兵一声不吭，只是把枪握得更紧了。

The boat sped on, and the rat behind it. Ugh! how he showed his teeth, as he cried to the chips of wood and straw: ‘Hold him, hold him! he has not paid the toll! He has not shown his passport!’

小船继续飞快地前行，那水鼠在后面紧追不舍。呃！它龇着牙，冲着那些木片和稻草大喊：“抓住他，抓住他！他没有交过路费！他也没出示通行证！”

But the current became swifter and stronger. The Tin-soldier could already see daylight where the tunnel ended; but in his ears there sounded a roaring enough to frighten any brave man. Only think! at the end of the tunnel the gutter discharged itself into a great canal; that would be just as dangerous for him as it would be for us to go down a waterfall.

可水流变得越来越湍急、越来越强劲。锡兵已经能望见隧道尽头的日光了；可他耳边响起的轰鸣声，足以吓坏任何一个勇敢的人。你想想看！隧道的尽头，这条阴沟正好汇入一条大运河；这对他来说，就跟我们顺着瀑布冲下去一样危险。

Now he was so near to it that he could not hold on any longer. On went the boat, the poor Tin-soldier keeping himself as stiff as he could: no one should say of him afterwards that he had flinched. The boat whirled three, four times round, and became filled to the brim with water: it began to sink! The Tin-soldier was standing up to his neck in water, and deeper and deeper sank the boat, and softer and softer grew the paper; now the water was over his head. He was thinking of the pretty little Dancer, whose face he should never see again, and there sounded in his ears, over and over again:

此刻他已经离得那么近，再也支撑不住了。小船继续往前冲去，可怜的锡兵尽量挺直了身子：绝不能让人日后说他曾经退缩过。小船打了三四个转，很快就灌满了水：船开始下沉了！锡兵站在齐颈深的水中，那船越沉越深，那纸也越泡越软；这时水已经没过了他的头顶。他想起了那位美丽的小舞蹈演员，想着自己再也见不到她的脸了，耳边一遍又一遍地响起这样的歌声：

‘Forward, forward, soldier bold! Death’s before thee, grim and cold!’

“前进吧，前进吧，勇敢的士兵！ 死亡就在你面前，阴森而冰冷！”

The paper came in two, and the soldier fell—but at that moment he was swallowed by a great fish.

那纸船裂成了两半，锡兵就此坠落——可就在这一刻，他被一条大鱼一口吞了下去。

Oh! how dark it was inside, even darker than in the tunnel, and it was really very close quarters! But there the steadfast little Tin-soldier lay full length, shouldering his gun.

哦！鱼肚子里可真黑呀，比隧道里还要黑，而且真是挤得厉害！可这位坚定不移的小锡兵，就在里面直挺挺地躺着，肩上依旧扛着枪。

Up and down swam the fish, then he made the most dreadful contortions, and became suddenly quite still. Then it was as if a flash of lightning had passed through him; the daylight streamed in, and a voice exclaimed, ‘Why, here is the little Tin-soldier!’ The fish had been caught, taken to market, sold, and brought into the kitchen, where the cook had cut it open with a great knife. She took up the soldier between her finger and thumb, and carried him into the room, where everyone wanted to see the hero who had been found inside a fish; but the Tin-soldier was not at all proud.

那条鱼游来游去，忽上忽下，随后剧烈地扭动挣扎起来，接着突然一动不动了。这时仿佛有一道闪电穿过了它的身体；日光顿时透了进来，一个声音喊道：“哎呀，这儿有个小锡兵！”原来这条鱼被人捉住了，拿去卖了，又被送进了厨房，厨娘用一把大刀把它剖开了。她用手指捏起这个锡兵，把他带到房间里，人人都想看看这位从鱼肚子里找出来的英雄；可锡兵一点也不骄傲。

They put him on the table, and—no, but what strange things do happen in this world!—the Tin-soldier was in the same room in which he had been before! He saw the same children, and the same toys on the table; and there was the same grand castle with the pretty little Dancer.

他们把他放到桌子上——不，这世上竟会发生这样奇怪的事情！——锡兵竟又回到了他先前所在的那间房间里！他看见了同样的孩子们，桌子上同样的玩具；那座漂亮的大城堡也还在，城堡里那位可爱的小舞蹈演员也还在。

She was still standing on one leg with the other high in the air; she too was steadfast. That touched the Tin-soldier, he was nearly going to shed tin-tears; but that would not have been fitting for a soldier. He looked at her, but she said nothing.

她依然单脚站立着，另一条腿高高抬在空中；她也一样坚定不移。这情景打动了锡兵，他几乎要落下锡制的眼泪了；可那对一个士兵来说，实在有失体统。他望着她，她却什么也没说。

All at once one of the little boys took up the Tin-soldier, and threw him into the stove, giving no reasons; but doubtless the little black imp in the snuff-box was at the bottom of this too.

忽然，一个小男孩一把抓起锡兵，不由分说地把他扔进了炉子里；不过毫无疑问，这背后一定又是那鼻烟盒里的黑色小妖精在捣鬼。

There the Tin-soldier lay, and felt a heat that was truly terrible; but whether he was suffering from actual fire, or from the ardour of his passion, he did not know. All his colour had disappeared; whether this had happened on his travels or whether it was the result of trouble, who can say? He looked at the little lady, she looked at him, and he felt that he was melting; but he remained steadfast, with his gun at his shoulder.

锡兵就这样躺在炉子里，感到一股实在骇人的热浪；可他分不清这究竟是真火所致，还是自己满腔热情所致。他身上的颜色全都褪去了；这究竟是他这一路旅程所致，还是忧愁所致，谁又说得清呢？他望着那位小姑娘，她也望着他，他感到自己正在融化；可他依旧坚定不移，枪始终扛在肩上。

Suddenly a door opened, the draught caught up the little Dancer, and off she flew like a sylph to the Tin-soldier in the stove, burst into flames—and that was the end of her! Then the Tin-soldier melted down into a little lump, and when next morning the maid was taking out the ashes, she found him in the shape of a heart. There was nothing left of the little Dancer but her gilt rose, burnt as black as a cinder.

忽然一扇门开了，一阵穿堂风卷起了那位小舞蹈演员，她像个精灵一样飞向了炉子里的锡兵，猛地燃起火焰——那便是她的结局了！随后锡兵也融化成了一小块，第二天早晨，女佣去清理炉灰时，发现他已经变成了一颗心的形状。至于那位小舞蹈演员，则什么都没有留下，只剩下她那朵镀金的玫瑰花，被烧得像炭一样黑。