World classic, retold in simple Mandarin
The Steadfast Tin Soldier
坚定的锡兵
The Steadfast Tin Soldier (坚定的锡兵, Jiāndìng de xī bīng) is a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, retold in simple Mandarin as a 3-chapter story with audio for learners at about HSK 1 (Beginner).
Retold from Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale: a one-legged tin soldier loves a paper dancer, and a long, wet, brave journey brings him home.
Meet the voices
- Narrator · 旁白 — The warm storyteller who opens and closes the tale.
- Tin Soldier · 锡兵 — A brave one-legged toy soldier who never lets himself fall.
- Paper Dancer · 小舞者 — A paper dancer who stands on one leg, just like the soldier.
- Troll · 小妖怪 — A sly jack-in-the-box who is jealous of the soldier.
- The Boy · 男孩 — The little boy who owns the toys.
- Street Boy · 街上的男孩 — A ragged boy who launches the paper boat.
- Water Rat · 老鼠 — A bossy rat who guards the drain and demands a pass.
- The Maid · 女佣 — The housemaid who finds the soldier twice.
3 chapters, one journey
Chapter 1: The One-Legged Soldier
一条腿的锡兵
A boy's new tin soldier has only one leg. At night he meets a dancer just like him, until a sly troll warns him off and the window flies open.
Free to read
Chapter 2: The Paper Boat
纸船
Two street boys send the soldier down the gutter in a paper boat. A rat wants a pass, a waterfall roars, and then everything goes dark.
Free to read
Chapter 3: The Little Tin Heart
小小的锡心
Back in the nursery, the soldier finds the dancer waiting, but the troll has one last trick, and the stove glows red.
Free to read
Key words in The Steadfast Tin Soldier
Behind the story
This story was written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen and first published in 1838. Toys that come alive at night, and a hero who never gives up, have made it one of his best-loved tales around the world.
In Chinese it is known as 坚定的锡兵 and appears in many children's story collections. The word 坚定 means firm and unshaken, which is just what the little soldier is.
Did you know?
- Andersen was born in Odense, Denmark, in 1805 and wrote more than 150 fairy tales.
- Tin melts at a fairly low temperature, about 232 degrees Celsius, so a tin toy in a fire really would shrink and run.
- In Chinese, 锡兵 means literally tin soldier, and 锡 is also the chemical element tin.