I'm There were once five and twenty ten soldiers, who were all brothers, for they had been made of the same old tin spoon.

They shouldered arms and looked straight before them, and wore a splendid uniform, red and blue.

The first thing in the world they ever heard were the words,

Tin soldiers, uttered by a little boy who clapped his hands

with the light when the lid of the box in which they lay was taken off.

They were given him for a birthday present and he stood at the table to set them up.

The soldiers were all exactly alike, accepting one, who had only one leg. He had been

left to the last, and then there was not enough of the melted tin to finish him, so they made him

to stand firmly on one leg, and this caused him

to be remarkable. The table on which the tin soldiers stood was covered with other playthings,

but the most attractive to the eye was a pretty little paper castle.

Through the small windows the rooms could be seen.

In front of the castle, a number of little trees surrounded a piece of looking glass,

which was intended to represent a transparent lake.

Swans made of wax swam on the lake and were reflected in it.

All this was very pretty, but the prettiest of all was a tiny little lady,

who stood at the open door of the castle.

She also was made of paper, and she wore a dress of clear muceland with a narrow blue ribbon

over the shoulders just like a scarf.

In front of these was fixed a glittering tinsel rose, as large as her whole face.

The little lady was a dancer, and she stretched out both of her arms, and raised one of her legs so high that the tin soldier could not see it at all, and he thought that she, like himself,

had only one leg.

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