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The Tinder—Box打火匣A SOLDIERcame marchingalong thehigh road:Left,right left,right.He hadhis knapsack一on his back,and asword athis side;he had been to the wars,and wasnow returninghome.As hewalked on,he meta veryfrightful-looking old witch in the road.Her under-lip hungquitedown onher breast,and shestopped and said,“Good evening,soldier;you havea veryfine sword,and a large knapsack,and you are areal soldier;so you shall haveas muchmoney asever youlike.”“Thank you,oldwitch,“said the soldier.“Do yousee thatlarge tree,“said the witch,pointing toa treewhich stoodbeside them.Well,it isquite hollowinside,and you must climbto thetop,when you will see a hole,throughwhich youcan letyourself downinto the tree toa greatdepth.I willtie arope roundyour body,so that I canpull youup againwhen youcall outto me.”“But what am Ito do,down therein the tree”asked the soldier.“Get money,“she replied;ufor youmust knowthat whenyou reachthe groundunder thetree,you will find yourselfin alarge hall,lighted upby threehundred lamps;you willthen seethreedoors,which canbe easilyopened,for thekeys arein all the locks.On enteringthe firstofthe chambers,to whichthese doorslead,you willseealarge chest,standing in the middleofthe floor,and upon it a dog seated,with apair ofeyes as large as teacups.But youneed notbeat allafraid of him;I willgive youmy blue checked apron,which youmust spreadupon thefloor,and thenboldly seizehold of the dog,and placehim uponit.You canthen openthe chest,and take from itas manypence asyou please,they areonly copperpence;but if you wouldratherhave silver money,youmustgo into the secondchamber.Here you willfindanother dog,with eyesas big as mill-wheels;but do not letthat troubleyou.Place him upon my apron,and thentakewhat moneyyou please.If,however,you likegold best,enter the third chamber,where thereisanother chestfull ofit.The dogwho sitson thischest is very dreadful;his eyesare as bigas atower,but donot mindhim.If healso isplaced uponmyapron,he cannothurt you,and youmaytakefromthe chestwhat goldyou will.”“This isnot abad story,“said the soldier;but what am Ito giveyou,you oldwitch for,of course,you donot meanto tellme allthis fornothing.”“No,said the witch;but Idonotask for a singlepenny.Only promiseto bringme anoldtinder-box,which mygrandmother leftbehind the last timeshe wentdown there.”“Very well;I promise.Now tiethe roperound mybody.”“Here itis,“replied thewitch;and hereis mybluecheckedapron.”As soonas therope wastied,the soldierclimbed upthetree,and lethimself downthrough thehollowto theground beneath;and herehe found,as thewitch had told him,alargehall,in whichmanyhundred lampswere allburning.Then heopened the first door.Ah!”there sat the dog,with theeyes aslarge as teacups,staring athim.“You rea prettyfellow,“said the soldier,seizing him,and placinghim on thewitch,sapron,while hefilled his pockets fromthe chestwith asmany piecesas theywould hold.Thenhe closed the lid,seated the dog uponit again,and walkedinto anotherchamber,And,sure enough,there sat the dog with eyes as big as mill-wheels.“You hadbetter notlook atme inthat way,“said thesoldier;youwillmake youreyes water;”and thenhe seatedhim alsoupon theapron,and openedthe chest.But whenhe sawwhataquantityof silvermoney itcontained,he veryquickly threw away all the coppershe hadtaken,and filledhis pockets and his knapsackwith nothingbut silver.Then hewent into thethirdroom,and therethe dogwas reallyhideous;his eyeswere,truly,as bigas towers,and theyturned roundand roundin hishead likewheels.“Good morning,“said thesoldier,touching his cap,for he had neverseen such adogin hislife.But afterlooking athim moreclosely,he thought he had been civilenough,so heplacedhim on the floor,and openedthe chest.Good gracious,whataquantity of gold there was!enoughto buyall thesugar-sticks of the sweet-stuff women;all thetin soldiers,whips,androcking-horses inthe world,or eventhe wholetown itselfThere was,indeed,an immensequantity.So thesoldier nowthrewaway all thesilvermoneyhe hadtaken,and filledhispockets and hisknapsackwith goldinstead;and notonly hispocketsandhis knapsack,but evenhis capand boots,so that he couldscarcely walk.He wasreally richnow;so hereplaced the dog on the chest,closedthedoor,and calledup throughthetree,“Now pullme out,you oldwitch.”u Ilave yougot the tinder-box”asked thewitch.“No;I declareI quiteforgot it.”So hewent backand fetchedthe tinderbox,and thenthewitch drewhimupout ofthetree,and hestood again inthehigh road,with hispockets,hisknapsack,hiscap,andhis boots fullofgold.“What areyou going to dowith the tinder-box^asked thesoldier.“That isnothing toyou,“replied thewitch;you havethe money,now giveme the tinder-box.”“I tellyou what,“said thesoldier,“ifyoudon,t tellme whatyouaregoingtodo withit,I willdraw mysword andcut offyour head.”“No,”said thewitch.The soldierimmediately cutoff herhead,and thereshe layon theground.Then hetied upallhis moneyin herapron,and slungit onhis backlike abundle,put thetinderbox in hispocket,and walkedoff tothe nearesttown.It was a verynice town,and heput upat thebest inn,andordered adinner of all hisfavorite dishes,for nowhe was rich andhad plenty of money.The servant,who cleanedhisboots,thought theycertainly werea shabbypair to be wornby sucharich gentleman,for he had notyet boughtany newones.The nextday,however,he procuredsomegood clothesand properboots,so thatour soldiersoon becameknown asa finegentleman,andthe peoplevisited him,and toldhim all the wondersthat wereto be seen inthe town,and ofthe king sbeautiful daughter,the princess.uWhere canI see her”asked thesoldier.“She isnot to beseenat all,“they said;ashe livesin alarge copper castle,surroundedby wallsand towers.No onebut the king himselfcan passin orout,for therehas beena prophecythat she willmarry acommon soldier,and the king cannot bear tothink ofsuch amarriage.”“I shouldlike very much to seeher,“thought thesoldier;but hecould notobtain permissiontodo so.However,he passeda verypleasant time;went tothe theatre,drove inthekings garden,and gavea great deal ofmoney tothe poor,which was very goodof him;he rememberedwhat ithadbeen inolden timestobewithout ashilling.Now he wasrich,had fineclothes,and manyfriends,who alldeclared hewas afine fellowand areal gentleman,and allthis gratifiedhimexceedingly.But hismoney wouldnot lastforever;and as he spentand gaveawayagreat dealdaily,and receivednone,he foundhimself atlast withonly twoshillings left.So hewas obligedtoleave hiselegant rooms,and livein alittle garretunder theroof,where hehadtocleanhis ownboots,and evenmend themwith alarge needle.None of his friendscame to see him,therewere toomany stairsto mountup.One darkevening,hehadnot evena pennyto buya candle;thenall atonce heremembered thattherewasa piece of candlestuck inthetinder-box,which hehadbrought fromthe oldtree,into whichthewitchhad helpedhim.He foundthetinder-box,but nosooner hadhe struck a fewsparks fromthe flintand steel,thanthe doorflew openand the dogwith eyesasbigasteacups,whom hehad seenwhile downin thetree,stood beforehim,andsaid,“What orders,master”uHallo,“said thesoldier;wellthis isa pleasanttinderbox,if itbrings meall Iwish for.”“Bring mesome money,“said hetothe dog.He wasgone in a moment,and presentlyreturned,carrying alarge bagof coppersinhismonth.The soldiervery soondiscovered afterthis thevalue ofthetinder-box.If hestruck theflintonce,the dogwho saton thechest ofcopper moneymade hisappearance;if twice,the dogcamefrom thechest ofsilver;and ifthree times,thedogwith eyeslike towers,who watchedoverthe gold.The soldierhad nowplentyofmoney;he returnedto hiselegant rooms,and reappearedinhis fineclothes,so thathis friendsknew himagain directly,and made as muchofhimas before.After awhile hebegan tothink it wasverystrange thatno onecould geta lookatthe princess.Every onesays she isverybeautiful,“thoughtheto himself;“but whatis theuse ofthat if sheistobeshut upin acopper castlesurrounded byso manytowers.Can Iby anymeans getto seeher.Stop!where ismy tinder-box”Then hestruckalight,and in a momentthedog,with eyesasbigasteacups,stood beforehim.“It ismidnight,“said thesoldier,“yet Ishould verymuch liketo see the princess,ifonly fora moment.”The dogdisappeared instantly,and beforethesoldiercould evenlook round,he returned withthe princess.She waslying on thedog sbackasleep,and lookedso lovely,that everyone whosawher wouldknow shewasareal princess.The soldiercould nothelp kissingher,true soldieras hewas.Then thedog ranback with the princess;but inthe morning,while atbreakfast withtheking and queen,she toldthem whata singulardream shehad hadduring thenight,ofadogand asoldier,thatshehad riddenonthedogsback,and beenkissed by thesoldier.“That isa verypretty story,indeed,“said thequeen.So thenext nightone ofthe oldladiesof thecourt wasset towatch bythe princesss bed,to discoverwhether itreally wasa dream,or whatelse itmight be.The soldierlonged verymuch to seethe princess oncemore,so hesent forthedogagaininthenight tofetch her,and torun with her asfast asever hecould.But theold ladyput onwaterboots,and ranafter himas quicklyashedid,and foundthat hecarried the princess intoa largehouse.She thoughtit wouldhelp herto rememberthe placeifshemadealarge crossonthedoorwith apiece of chalk.Then shewent hometo bed,and thedog presentlyreturnedwiththeprincess.But whenhe sawthat a cross hadbeen madeonthedoor ofthe house,where thesoldier lived,he tookanother pieceofchalkand madecrosses onall thedoors inthe town,so thatthelady-in-waiting mightnot beable tofind outthe rightdoor.Early thenext morningtheking andqueenaccompanied thelady and all theofficers ofthe household,toseewhere theprincess hadbeen.“Here itis,“said theking,when theycame tothefirstdoor with acrossonit.“No,my dearhusband,it mustbe that one,“said thequeen,pointing toa seconddoor havingacross also.“And hereis one,and thereis another!”they allexclaimed;for therewere crosseson allthedoors inevery direction.So theyfelt itwould beuseless tosearch anyfarther.But thequeen wasa veryclever woman;she coulddo agreatdealmore thanmerely rideinacarriage.She tookher largegold scissors,cut apieceofsilk intosquares,and madea neatlittle bag.This bagshe filledwith buckwheatflour,and tiedit roundtheprincesss neck;and thenshe cuta smallhole inthe bag,so thattheflour mightbe scatteredontheground as theprincesswent along.During thenight,the dogcameagain andcarried theprincess onhis back,and ranwithhertothesoldier,who lovedhervery much,and wishedthathehadbeena prince,so thathe mighthave herforawife.The dogdidnot observehow theflour ran out ofthe bagall theway fromthe castlewall tothe soldiershouse,and evenup tothe window,where hehad climbedwiththeprincess.Therefore inthe morningthekingandqueen foundout wheretheir daughterhadbeen,and thesoldier wastaken upand putinprison.Oh,how darkand disagreeableitwasashesat there,and the people saidto him,“To-morrow youwill be hanged.It wasnot verypleasant news,and besides,hehadleft thetinder-box atthe inn.In themorning hecould seethrough theiron gratingofthelittle windowhowthepeople were hasteningout ofthe towntoseehim hanged;he heardthe drumsbeating,andsaw thesoldiers marching.Every oneranoutto lookat them,andashoemaker s boy,withaleatherapron andslippers on,galloped byso fast,thatoneofhisslippers flewoff andstruck againstthewall wherethesoldiersat lookingthrough theiron grating.Hallo,you shoemakersboy,youneed notbe insuchahurry,“cried thesoldier tohim.uThere willbe nothingtoseetill Icome;but ifyouwillrun tothe housewhere Ihave beenliving,and bringme mytinder-box,youshall havefour shillings,but youmust putyour bestfoot foremost.vThe shoemakersboyliked theidea ofgetting thefour shillings,so heran veryfast andfetchedthe tinder-box,and gaveit tothesoldier.And nowwe shallsee whathappened.Outside thetowna largegibbet hadbeen erected,round whichstood thesoldiers andseveral thousandsof people.The kingand thequeen saton splendidthrones oppositetothejudges and the wholecouncil.Thesoldier alreadystood onthe ladder;but asthey wereabout toplace therope aroundhis neck,he saidthat aninnocent requestwas oftengranted toa poorcriminal beforehe suffereddeath.He wishedverymuchto smokea pipe,as itwould bethelastpipe heshould eversmoke intheworld.The kingcould notrefuse thisrequest,so thesoldier tookhis tinder-box,and struckfire,once,twice,thrice,and thereinamoment stoodallthedogs;the onewith eyesasbig一一asteacups,the onewitheyesaslargeasmill-wheels,and thethird,whose eyeswere liketowers.Help menow,thatImay notbehanged,“cried thesoldier.And thedogs fellupon thejudges andallthecouncillors;seized onebythelegs,and anotherbythe nose,and tossedthem manyfeet highintheair,so thatthey felldown andwere dashedtopieces.“I willnotbetouched,“said theking.But thelargest dogseized him,as wellasthequeen,and threwthem afterthe others.Then thesoldiers andallthepeoplewereafraid,and cried,“Good soldier,youshallbe ourking,and youshall marrythe beautifulprincess.”So theyplaced thesoldier inthekings carriage,and thethree dogsran onin frontand cried“Hurrah!”and thelittle boyswhistled throughtheir fingers,and thesoldiers presentedarms.The princesscame outofthecoppercastle,and becamequeen,which wasvery pleasingto her.The weddingfestivities lasteda wholeweek,andthedogs satatthetable,and staredwith alltheireyes.。