1. There were once five-and-twenty tin soldiers, who were all brothers, for they had been made out of the same old tin spoon. They shouldered arms and looked straight, and wore a splendid uniform, red and blue. The first thing they heard each day were the words, "Tin soldiers!" uttered by a little boy when he took off the lid of the box, in which they lay. The soldiers were all exactly alike, excepting one, who had only one leg. There had not been enough of the melted tin spoon to finish him, so they made him to stand firmly on one leg, and this caused him to be very remarkable.
從前，有二十五個錫兵，他們都是兄弟，是用同一把舊錫勺子做的。他們扛著武器，眼睛注視著前方，穿著漂亮的紅色和藍(lán)色的軍裝。他們在世界上聽到的第一句話就是“錫兵！”是一個小男孩說的。當(dāng)裝錫兵的匣子被打開時，小男孩高興地拍著巴掌。錫兵全都一模一樣，只有一個例外。他只有一條腿。他是最后做的，熔化的錫已經(jīng)不夠把他做完整了，他們就讓他靠一條腿穩(wěn)穩(wěn)地站著，這使得他非常引人注目。
2. 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. The prettiest of all about this castle, was a tiny little lady, who stood at its open door; she, also, was made of paper, and she wore a dress of clear muslin, with a narrow blue ribbon over her shoulders just like a scarf. In front of these was fixed a glittering tinsel rose, as large as her whole face.
擺錫兵的桌上，放滿了別的玩具，最吸引人目光的是一個漂亮的小紙城堡。所有這些都很漂亮，而最漂亮的是一位小小的女士，她站在城堡敞開的門口。她也是紙做的，穿著一件清爽的薄紗做的長裙，肩膀上披著一條窄窄的藍(lán)色絲帶，就像圍巾一樣。她的胸前別著一朵亮晶晶的金屬玫瑰，有她的整個臉龐那么大。
3. The little lady was a dancer, and she stretched out both 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. "That is the wife for me," he thought; "but she is too grand, and lives in a castle, while I have only a box to live in, five-and-twenty of us altogether, that is no place for her. Still I must try and make her acquaintance." Then he laid himself on the table behind a snuff-box that stood upon it, so that he could peep at the little delicate lady, who continued to stand on one leg without losing her balance.
這位小女士是舞蹈家，她伸展雙臂，把一條腿抬得很高很高，錫兵根本看不見它，因此他以為這位女士跟他一樣，只有一條腿。“她給我當(dāng)妻子倒很合適，”他想，“可是她太高貴了，住在一個城堡里，而我只能住在一個盒子里，二十五個人擠在一起，這可配不上她。不過我一定要試著跟她認(rèn)識認(rèn)識。”于是，他躺在桌上的一個鼻煙盒后面，這樣便可以看到那位嬌小優(yōu)雅的女士，她一直單腿站立，站得穩(wěn)穩(wěn)當(dāng)當(dāng)?shù)摹?br />4. When evening came, the other tin soldiers were all placed in the box, and the people of the house went to bed. Then the playthings began to have their own games together, to pay visits and to give balls. The tin soldiers wanted to get out of their box and join the amusements, but they could not open the lid. Only the tin soldier and the dancer remained in their places. He never took his eyes from her for even a moment. The clock struck twelve, and, with a bounce, up sprang the lid of the snuff-box; there jumped out a little black goblin! "Tin soldier," said the goblin, "don't wish for what does not belong to you.” But the tin soldier pretended not to hear. "Very well; wait till tomorrow, then," said the goblin.
到了晚上，別的錫兵都被放進(jìn)了盒子，家里的人上床睡覺了。那些玩具就開始在一起玩自己的游戲，串門，假裝打架，舉辦舞會。錫兵們也想出來一起玩樂，可是打不開蓋子。只有那個錫兵和舞蹈家呆在原地。錫兵一刻也沒有把目光從她身上移開。鐘敲響了十二點，騰地一下，鼻煙盒的蓋子彈開了。里面跳出一個黑黑的小妖精。“錫兵，”妖精說，“不要渴望不屬于你的東西。”錫兵假裝沒有聽見。“好吧，那就等到明天吧。”妖精說。
5. When the children came in the next morning, they placed the tin soldier in the window. Now, whether it was the goblin who did it, or the draught, is not known, but the window flew open, and out fell the tin soldier, from the third story, into the street beneath. It was a terrible fall; for he came head downwards, his helmet and his bayonet stuck in between the flagstones, and his one leg up in the air.
第二天，孩子們進(jìn)來了，他們把那個錫兵放在窗戶上。也不知是妖精搞的鬼，還是突然吹來一陣風(fēng)，窗戶突然打開，錫兵從三層樓上掉了下去，頭朝下摔在下面的街道上。摔得真狠啊！他是頭先落地，所以頭盔和刺刀扎在了石板之間，一條腿豎在空中。

6. Presently it began to rain, faster and faster, till there was a heavy shower. When it was over, two boys happened to pass by, and one of them said, "Look, there is a tin soldier. He ought to have a boat to sail in." So they made a boat out of a newspaper, and placed the tin soldier in it, and sent him sailing down the gutter, while the two boys ran by the side of it, and clapped their hands. The tin soldier trembled; yet he remained firm; his countenance did not change; he looked straight, and shouldered his musket. Suddenly the boat flowed into a drain, and then it was as dark as the tin soldier's box.
不一會兒，天開始下雨，雨點越落越快，最后成了一場很大的陣雨。雨停了，兩個男孩碰巧路過這里，其中一個說，“看，有一個錫兵。他應(yīng)該在一艘船里。”于是，他們用報紙疊了一艘船，把錫兵放在里面，讓他順著排水溝向前航行，兩個男孩在旁邊跟著跑，一邊拍著巴掌。錫兵顫抖了，但他仍然穩(wěn)穩(wěn)地站著，表情沒有絲毫變化，他扛著他的步槍，目視前方。突然，紙船沖進(jìn)了排水溝，就跟那個裝錫兵的盒子一樣漆黑。
7. "Where am I going now?" thought he. "This is the black goblin's fault, I am sure. Ah, well, if the little lady were only here with me in the boat, I should not care for any darkness." Then he heard a roaring sound quite terrible enough to frighten the bravest man. At the end of the drain, there was a large canal. The poor tin soldier could only hold himself as stiffly as possible, without moving an eyelid, to show that he was not afraid. The boat filled with water to the very edge; nothing could save it from sinking. The paper of the boat became soft and loose, till at last the water closed over the soldier's head. He thought of the elegant little dancer whom he should never see again, and the words of the song sounded in his ears- - "Farewell, warrior! ever brave, Drifting onward to thy grave."
“我現(xiàn)在往哪里去呢？”他想。“我敢肯定，這都是黑妖精搞的鬼。唉，如果那位小女士此刻能跟我一起在船里，我就不在乎什么黑暗了。”接著他聽見一聲可怕的轟響，足以令最勇敢的人心驚膽寒。排水管最后通到下面一個很大的運(yùn)河，可憐的錫兵盡量讓自己保持挺立，連眼皮也不眨一下，表示他并不害怕。船艙里灌滿了水，注定要沉下去了。紙船越沉越低，浸濕的紙變得軟塌塌的，松散開來。最后，水沒過了錫兵的腦袋。他想起了那位嬌小優(yōu)雅的小舞蹈演員，自己大概再也見不到她了，他耳邊響起了那首歌的歌詞——再見，勇士！永遠(yuǎn)堅定，一路漂向你的墳塋。
8. Then the paper boat fell to pieces, and the soldier sank into the water and immediately afterwards was swallowed up by a great fish. Oh how dark it was inside the fish! A great deal darker than in the tunnel, but the tin soldier continued firm, shouldered his musket. The fish swam to and fro, but at last he became quite still. After a while, a flash of lightning seemed to pass through him, and then the daylight approached.
接著，紙船變成了碎片，錫兵沉到水底，瞬間被一條大魚吞了下去。哦，魚肚子里真黑啊！比排水管里黑得多，但是錫兵還是那么堅定，扛著滑膛槍。魚游來游去，但最后終于安靜下來。過了一陣，似乎一道閃電穿透了魚，接著亮光越來越近。
9. The fish had been caught, taken to the market and sold to the cook, who took him into the kitchen and cut him open with a large knife. She picked up the soldier and held him by the waist between her finger and thumb, and carried him into the room. She placed him on the table, and- how many curious things do happen in the world! - there he was in the very same room from the window of which he had fallen, there were the same children, the same playthings, standing on the table, and the pretty castle with the elegant little dancer at the door; she still balanced herself on one leg, and held up the other, so she was as firm as himself.
魚被人抓住，拿到集市上，賣給了廚娘，廚娘把它拎到廚房，用刀剖開了它的肚子。廚娘撿起錫兵，用食指和拇指捏住錫兵的腰，把他拿進(jìn)了屋。她把他放在桌上，啊——世界上的許多事情真是奇妙！——他又來到了他從窗口掉出去的那個房間，眼前還是那些孩子，桌上放的還是那些玩具，還有那座漂亮的城堡，以及門口那個優(yōu)雅的小舞蹈家。她仍然靠一條腿站著，另一條腿高高舉起，這么說，她跟他一樣堅定。
10.It touched the tin soldier so much to see her that he almost wept tin tears, but he kept them back. He only looked at her and they both remained silent. Presently, one of the little boys took up the tin soldier, and threw him into the stove. He had no reason for doing so, therefore it must have been the fault of the black goblin who lived in the snuff-box. The flames lighted up the tin soldier, as he stood, the heat was very terrible, but whether it proceeded from the real fire or from the fire of love he could not tell.
錫兵看見她非常激動，幾乎流下眼淚，但他拼命忍住了。他只是看著她，兩人都保持沉默。過了一會兒，一個小男孩拿起錫兵，扔進(jìn)了爐子。他這么做毫無道理，肯定是住在鼻煙盒里的黑妖精在搗鬼。錫兵站在爐子里，火焰燒著了他的身體，熱得可怕，但他不知道這熱量來自真正的火焰，還是來自愛情的火焰。
11. He looked at the little lady, and she looked at him. He felt himself melting away, but he still remained firm with his gun on his shoulder. Suddenly the door of the room flew open and the draught of air caught up the little dancer, she fluttered like a sylph right into the stove by the side of the tin soldier, and was instantly in flames and was gone. The tin soldier melted down into a lump, and the next morning, when the maid servant took the ashes out of the stove, she found him in the shape of a little tin heart. But of the little dancer nothing remained but the tinsel rose, which was burnt black as a cinder.
他看著那位嬌小的女士，她也看著他。他覺得自己正在熔化，但他仍然堅定地扛著他的槍。房間的門突然打開，一陣風(fēng)吹起了嬌小的舞蹈家，她像空氣精靈一樣，直接飛進(jìn)爐子，飛到錫兵的身旁，立刻就被火焰吞噬了。錫兵熔化成一塊錫，第二天早晨，當(dāng)女仆清出爐子里的爐灰時，發(fā)現(xiàn)他成了一顆小錫心的形狀。至于那位小舞蹈家，剩下的只有那朵金屬玫瑰，已被燒得像煤渣一樣漆黑。