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The Tinder-Box
The Tinder-Box
[See The Witch And Soldier: The witch drew him up.]
There came a Soldier marching along the high road - one, two! one, two!
He had his knapsack on his back and a sabre by his side, for he had been in
the wars, and now he wanted to go home. And on the way he met with an old
Witch: she was very hideous, and her under lip hung down upon her breast. She
said, "Good evening, Soldier. What a fine sword you have, and what a big
knapsack! You`re a proper soldier! Now you shall have as much money as you
like to have."
"I thank you, you old Witch!" said the Soldier.
"Do you see that great tree?" quoth the Witch; and she pointed to a tree
which stood beside them. "It`s quite hollow inside. You must climb to the top
and then you`ll see a hole, through which you can let yourself down and get
deep into the tree. I`ll tie a rope round your body, so that I can pull you up
again when you call me."
"What am I to do down in the tree?" asked the Soldier.
"Get money," replied the Witch. "Listen to me. When you come down to the
earth under the tree, you will find yourself in a great hall: it is quite
light, for above three hundred lamps are burning there. Then you will see
three doors; these you can open, for the keys are hanging there. If you go
into the first chamber, you`ll see a great chest in the middle of the floor;
on this chest sits a dog, and he`s got a pair of eyes as big as two tea -
cups. But you need not care for that. I`ll give you my blue checked apron, and
you can spread it out upon the floor; then go up quickly and take the dog, and
set him on my apron; then open the chest, and take as many shillings as you
like. They are of copper: if you prefer silver, you must go into the second
chamber. But there sits a dog with a pair of eyes as big as mill-wheels. But
do not care for that. Set him upon my apron, and take some of the money. And
if you want gold, you can have that too - in fact, as much as you can carry -
if you go into the third chamber. But the dog that sits on the money-chest
there has two eyes as big as round towers. He is a fierce dog, you may be
sure; but you needn`t be afraid, for all that. Only set him on my apron, and
he won`t hurt you; and take out of the chest as much gold as you like."
"That`s not so bad," said the Soldier. "But what am I to give you, you
old Witch? for you will not do it for nothing, I fancy."
"No," replied the Witch, "not a single shilling will I have. You shall
only bring me an old Tinder-box which my grandmother forgot when she was
down there last."
"Then tie the rope round my body," cried the Soldier.
"Here it is," said the Witch, "and here`s my blue checked apron."
Then the Soldier climbed up into the tree, let himself slip down into the
hole, and stood, as the Witch had said, in the great hall where the three
hundred lamps were burning.
Now he opened the first door. Ugh! there sat the dog with eyes as big as
tea-cups, staring at him. "You`re a nice fellow!" exclaimed the Soldier; and
he set him on the Witch`s apron, and took as many copper shillings as his
pockets would hold, and then locked the chest, set the dog on it again, and
went into the second chamber. Aha! there sat the dog with eyes as big as mill
- wheels.
"You should not stare so hard at me," said the Soldier; "you might strain
your eyes." And he set the dog upon the Witch`s apron. And when he saw the
silver money in the chest, he threw away all the copper money he had, and
filled his pockets and his knapsack with silver only. Then he went into the
third chamber. O, but that was horrid! The dog there really had eyes as big as
towers, and they turned round and round in his head like wheels.
"Good evening!" said the Soldier; and he touched his cap, for he had
never seen such a dog as that before. When he had looked at him a little more
closely, he thought, "That will do," and lifted him down to the floor, and
opened the chest. Mercy! what a quantity of gold was there! He could buy with
it the whole town, and the sugar sucking-pigs of the cake woman, and all the
tin soldiers, whips, and rocking-horses in the whole world. Yes, that was a
quantity of money! Now the Soldier threw away all the silver coin with which
he had filled his pockets and his knapsack, and took gold instead: yes, all
his pockets, his knapsack, his boots, and his cap were filled, so that he
could scarcely walk. Now indeed he had plenty of money. He put the dog on the
chest, shut the door, and then called up through the tree, "Now pull me up,
you old Witch."
"Have you the Tinder-box?" asked the Witch.
"Plague on it!" exclaimed the Soldier, "I had clean forgotten that." And
he went and brought it.
The Witch drew him up, and he stood on the high road again, with pockets,
boots, knapsack, and cap full of gold.
"What are you going to do with the Tinder-box?" asked the Soldier.
"That`s nothing to you," retorted the Witch. "You`ve had your money; just
give me the Tinder-box."
"Nonsense!" said the Soldier. "Tell me directly what you`re going to do
with it or I`ll draw my sword and cut off your head."
"No!" cried the Witch.
So the Soldier cut off her head. There she lay! But he tied up all his
money in her apron, took it on his back like a bundle, put the Tinder-box in
his pocket, and went straight off toward the town.
That was a splendid town! And he put up at the very best inn, and asked
for the finest rooms, and ordered his favorite dishes, for now he was rich, as
he had so much money. The servant who had to clean his boots certainly thought
them a remarkably old pair for such a rich gentleman; but he had not bought
any new ones yet. The next day he procured proper boots and handsome clothes.
Now our Soldier had become a fine gentleman; and the people told him of all
the splendid things which were in their city, and about the King, and what a
pretty Princess the King`s daughter was.
"Where can one get to see her?" asked the Soldier.
"She is not to be seen at all," said they all together; "she lives in a
great copper castle, with a great many walls and towers round about it: no one
but the king may go in and out there, for it has been prophesied that she
shall marry a common soldier, and the King can`t bear that."
"I should like to see her," thought the Soldier; but he could not get
leave to do so. Now he lived merrily, went to the theatre, drove in the King`s
garden, and gave much money to the poor; and this was very kind of him, for he
knew from old times how hard it is when one has not a shilling. Now he was
rich, had fine clothes, and gained many friends, who all said he was a rare
one, a true cavalier; and that pleased the Soldier well. But as he spent money
every day and never earned any, he had at last only two shillings left; and he
was obliged to turn out of the fine rooms in which he had dwelt, and had to
live in a little garret under the roof, and clean his boots for himself, and
mend them with a darning needle. None of his friends came to see him, for
there were too many stairs to climb.
It was quite dark one evening, and he could not even buy himself a
candle, when it occurred to him that there was a candle-end in the Tinder -
box which he had taken out of the hollow tree into which the Witch had helped
him. He brought out the Tinder-box and the candle end; but as soon as he
struck fire and the sparks rose up from the flint, the door flew open, and the
dog who had eyes as big as a couple of tea-cups, and whom he had seen in the
tree, stood before him, and said, -
"What are my lord`s commands?"
"What is this?" said the Soldier. "That`s a famous Tinder-box, if I can
get everything with it that I want! Bring me some money," said he to the dog;
and whisk! the dog was gone, and whisk! he was back again, with a great bag
full of shillings in his mouth.
Now the Soldier knew what a capital Tinder-box this was. If he struck
it once, the dog came who sat upon the chest of copper money; if he struck it
twice, the dog who had the silver; and if he struck it three times, then
appeared the dog who had the gold. Now the Soldier moved back into the fine
rooms, and appeared again in handsome clothes; and all his friends knew him
again, and cared very much for him indeed.
Once he thought to himself, "It is a very strange thing that one cannot
get to see the Princess. They all say she is very beautiful; but what is the
use of that, if she has always to sit in the great copper castle with the many
towers? Can I not get to see her at all? Where is my Tinder-box?" And so he
struck a light, and whisk! came the dog with eyes as big as tea-cups.
"It is midnight, certainly," said the Soldier, "but I should very much
like to see the Princess, only for one little moment."
And the dog was outside the door directly, and, before the Soldier
thought it, came back with the Princess. She sat upon the dog`s back and
slept; and every one could see she was a real princess, for she was so lovely.
The Soldier could not refrain from kissing her, for he was a thorough soldier.
Then the dog ran back again with the Princess. But when morning came, and the
King and Queen were drinking tea, the Princess said she had had a strange
dream the night before, about a dog and a soldier - that she had ridden upon
the dog, and the soldier had kissed her.
"That would be a fine history!" said the Queen.
So one of the old court ladies had to watch the next night by the
Princess` bed, to see if this was really a dream, or what it might be.
The Soldier had a great longing to see the lovely Princess again; so the
dog came in the night, took her away, and ran as fast as he could. But the old
lady put on water-boots, and ran just as fast after him. When she saw that
they both entered a great house, she thought, "Now I know where it is;" and
with a bit of chalk she drew a great cross on the door. Then she went home and
lay down, and the dog came up with the Princess; but when he saw that there
was a cross drawn on the door where the Soldier lived, he took a piece of
chalk too, and drew crosses on all the doors in the town. And that was
cleverly done, for now the lady could not find the right door, because all the
doors had crosses upon them.
In the morning early came the King and Queen, the old court lady and all
the officers, to see where it was the Princess had been. "Here it is!" said
the King, when he saw the first door with a cross upon it. "No, my dear
husband, it is there!" said the Queen, who descried another door which also
showed a cross. "But there is one, and there is one!" said all, for wherever
they looked there were crosses on the doors. So they saw that it would avail
them nothing if they searched on.
But the Queen was an exceedingly clever woman, who could do more than
ride in a coach. She took her great gold scissors, cut a piece of silk into
pieces, and made a neat little bag; this bag she filled with fine wheat flour,
and tied it on the Princess` back; and when that was done, she cut a little
hole in the bag, so that the flour would be scattered along all the way which
the Princess should take.
In the night the dog came again, took the Princess on his back, and ran
with her to the Soldier, who loved her very much, and would gladly have been a
prince, so that he might have her for his wife. The dog did not notice at all
how the flour ran out in a stream from the castle to the windows of the
Soldier`s house, where he ran up the wall with the Princess. In the morning
the King and the Queen saw well enough where their daughter had been, and they
took the Soldier and put him in prison.
There he sat. O, but it was dark and disagreeable there! And they said to
him, "To-morrow you shall be hanged." That was not amusing to hear, and he
had left his Tinder-box at the inn. In the morning he could see, through the
iron grating of the window, how the people were hurrying out of the town to
see him hanged. He heard the drums beat and saw the soldiers marching. All the
people were running out, and among them was a shoemaker`s boy with leather
apron and slippers, and he galloped so fast that one of his slippers flew off,
and came right against the wall where the Soldier sat looking through the iron
grating.
"Halloo, you shoemaker`s boy! you needn`t be in such a hurry," cried the
Soldier to him: "it will not begin till I come. But if you will run to where I
lived, and bring me my Tinder-box, you shall have four shillings: but you
must put your best leg foremost."
The shoemaker`s boy wanted to get the four shillings, so he went and
brought the Tinder-box, and - well, we shall hear now what happened.
Outside the town a great gallows had been built, and round it stood the
soldiers and many hundred thousand people. The King and Queen sat on a
splendid throne, opposite to the judges and the whole council. The Soldier
already stood upon the ladder; but as they were about to put the rope round
his neck, he said that before a poor criminal suffered his punishment an
innocent request was always granted to him. He wanted very much to smoke a
pipe of tobacco, and it would be the last pipe he should smoke in the world.
The King would not say "No" to this; so the Soldier took his Tinder-box, and
struck fire. One - two, - three! - and there suddenly stood all the dogs - the
one with the eyes as big as tea-cups, the one with eyes as large as mill -
wheels, and the one whose eyes were as big as round towers.
"Help me now, so that I may not be hanged," said the Soldier.
And the dogs fell upon the judges and all the council, seized one by the
leg and another by the nose, and tossed them all many feet into the air, so
that they fell down and were all broken to pieces.
"I won`t!" cried the King; but the biggest dog took him and the Queen,
and threw them after the others. Then the soldiers were afraid, and the people
cried, "Little Soldier, you shall be our king, and marry the beautiful
Princess!"
So they put the soldier into the King`s coach, and all the three dogs
darted on in front and cried "Hurrah!" and the boys whistled through their
fingers, and the soldiers presented arms. The Princess came out of the copper
castle, and became Queen, and she liked that well enough. The wedding lasted a
week, and the three dogs sat at the table too, and opened their eyes wider
than ever at all they saw.
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