The Tinder-Box

A soldier came marching along the high road: "Left, right—left, right." He had his knapsack on his back and a sword at his side. He had been to the wars and was now returning home.

As he walked on, he met a very frightful-looking old witch in the road. Her under-lip hung down on her chest, and she stopped and said, "Good evening, soldier! You have a very fine sword and a large knapsack, and you are a real soldier. So you shall have as much money as you like."

"Thank you, old witch," said the soldier.

"Do you see that large tree?" said the witch, pointing to a tree beside them. "Well, it is hollow inside. You must climb to the top, and you will see a hole. You can let yourself down into the tree. I will tie a rope around your body, so I can pull you up again when you call out to me."

"But what am I to do down there?" asked the soldier.

"Get money," she replied. "When you reach the ground, you will be in a large hall lighted by three hundred lamps. There are three doors. The keys are in the locks. Open the first door.

You will see a large chest, and on it sits a dog with eyes as big as teacups. Don't be afraid. I will give you my blue checked apron. Spread it on the floor, seize the dog, and place him on it.

Then open the chest and take as many copper coins as you like. If you want silver, go into the second room. There sits a dog with eyes as big as mill wheels. Place him on my apron and take what you like. If you want gold, go into the third room.

The dog there is dreadful—his eyes are as big as a tower. But if you place him on my apron, he cannot hurt you, and you may take as much gold as you wish."

"This is not a bad story," said the soldier. "But what am I to give you, old witch? You don't mean to tell me this for nothing."

"No," said the witch. "But I don't ask for a penny. Just promise to bring me an old tinder-box that my grandmother left behind the last time she went down there."

"Very well. Now tie the rope around my body."

"Here it is," replied the witch, "and here is my blue checked apron."

As soon as the rope was tied, the soldier climbed the tree and let himself down through the hollow. He found himself in a large hall with many hundred lamps burning. Then he opened the first door. There sat the dog with eyes as big as teacups, staring at him.

"You're a pretty fellow," said the soldier, seizing him and placing him on the apron. He filled his pockets from the chest with as many copper coins as they would hold. Then he closed the lid, put the dog back on it, and walked into the next room. There sat the dog with eyes as big as mill wheels.

"You'd better not look at me like that," said the soldier. "You'll make your eyes water." He placed the dog on the apron and opened the chest. When he saw all the silver, he threw away the copper coins and filled his pockets and knapsack with silver.

Then he went into the third room. That dog was truly hideous—his eyes were as big as towers and turned round and round like wheels.

"Good morning," said the soldier, touching his cap. He had never seen such a dog in his life. But he placed him on the apron and opened the chest. Good gracious, what a lot of gold! Enough to buy all the candy in the world, all the tin soldiers and rocking horses, or even the whole town! He threw away all the silver and filled his pockets, knapsack, cap, and boots with gold. He could hardly walk.

He was rich now. He put the dog back on the chest, closed the door, and called up through the tree, "Pull me up, old witch!"

"Have you got the tinder-box?" asked the witch.

"No, I forgot it!" So he went back and fetched the tinder-box. Then the witch pulled him up, and he stood on the road with his pockets, knapsack, cap, and boots full of gold.

"What are you going to do with the tinder-box?" asked the soldier.

"That's none of your business," replied the witch. "You have the money. Give me the tinder-box."

"If you don't tell me, I'll cut off your head," said the soldier.

"No," said the witch.

So the soldier cut off her head, and she lay on the ground. He tied all his money in her apron, slung it over his back, put the tinder-box in his pocket, and walked to the nearest town. It was a nice town. He stayed at the best inn and ordered a dinner of his favorite dishes, for he was rich.

The servant who cleaned his boots thought they were shabby for a rich gentleman. The next day he bought good clothes and proper boots. Soon everyone knew he was a fine gentleman. People visited him and told him about the wonders of the town, and about the king's beautiful daughter, the princess.

"Where can I see her?" asked the soldier.

"She is not to be seen at all," they said. "She lives in a large copper castle surrounded by walls and towers. Only the king can go in or out, because a prophecy says she will marry a common soldier, and the king hates that idea."

"I would very much like to see her," thought the soldier. But he could not get permission. He had a pleasant time—went to the theater, drove in the king's garden, and gave a lot of money to the poor. He remembered what it was like to be without a shilling.

Now he was rich, had fine clothes, and many friends who said he was a fine fellow. But his money did not last forever. He spent and gave away so much that he soon had only two shillings left.

He had to leave his fine rooms and live in a little attic under the roof. He cleaned his own boots and even mended them with a big needle. None of his friends came to visit—too many stairs.

One dark evening he did not even have a penny for a candle. Then he remembered that there was a piece of candle stuck in the tinder-box he had brought from the tree.

He found the tinder-box. No sooner had he struck a few sparks than the door flew open and the dog with eyes as big as teacups stood before him and said, "What orders, master?"

"Well! This is a pleasant tinder-box, if it gives me everything I wish for!" said the soldier. "Bring me some money," he said to the dog.

The dog was gone in a moment and returned carrying a large bag of copper coins in his mouth. The soldier soon discovered how the tinder-box worked. If he struck once, the dog from the copper chest appeared; if twice, the dog from the silver chest; if three times, the dog with eyes like towers. Now he had plenty of money again. He returned to his fine rooms and wore his fine clothes. His friends recognized him at once and made as much of him as before.

After a while he thought it was strange that no one could see the princess. "Everyone says she is beautiful, but what good is that if she is shut up in a copper castle? Can I get to see her? Where is my tinder-box?" He struck a light, and the dog with eyes as big as teacups appeared.

"It is midnight," said the soldier, "but I would very much like to see the princess, if only for a moment."

The dog disappeared instantly and soon returned with the princess on his back. She was asleep and looked so lovely that anyone would know she was a real princess. The soldier could not help kissing her. Then the dog ran back with the princess. In the morning, at breakfast with the king and queen, she told them about the strange dream she had had: a dog and a soldier, and she rode on the dog's back and was kissed by the soldier.

"That is a very pretty story," said the queen. So the next night one of the old ladies of the court was set to watch by the princess's bed to find out if it was a dream or something else.

The soldier longed to see the princess again, so he sent the dog to fetch her once more. The dog ran as fast as he could with the princess. But the old lady put on water boots and ran after him.

She saw that the dog carried the princess into a large house. She made a large cross on the door with a piece of chalk to remember the place. Then she went home to bed. The dog soon returned with the princess.

But when he saw the cross on the door of the soldier's house, he took another piece of chalk and made crosses on all the doors in town, so the lady-in-waiting could not find the right door.

Early the next morning, the king and queen came with the lady and all the officers to see where the princess had been.

"Here it is," said the king at the first door with a cross.

"No, my dear husband, it must be that one," said the queen, pointing to another door with a cross.

"And here is one, and there is another!" they all exclaimed, for there were crosses on all the doors.

They knew it was useless to search further. But the queen was clever. She took her large gold scissors, cut a piece of silk into squares, and made a neat little bag. She filled the bag with buckwheat flour and tied it around the princess's neck. Then she cut a small hole in the bag so the flour would scatter on the ground as the princess went along.

During the night, the dog came again, carried the princess on his back, and ran to the soldier. The soldier loved her very much and wished he were a prince so he could marry her. The dog did not notice the flour running out all the way from the castle to the soldier's house and up to the window. In the morning, the king and queen found out where their daughter had been. The soldier was arrested and put in prison.

Oh, how dark and dreadful it was in prison! The people said to him, "Tomorrow you will be hanged." That was not pleasant news. And he had left the tinder-box at the inn. In the morning, he could see through the iron grating how people were hastening out of town to see him hanged. He heard drums beating and saw soldiers marching. Everyone ran out. A shoemaker's boy with a leather apron and slippers galloped by so fast that one of his slippers flew off and hit the wall where the soldier sat.

"Hey, you shoemaker's boy! You need not be in such a hurry," cried the soldier. "There will be nothing to see till I come. But if you run to the house where I lived and bring me my tinder-box, you shall have four shillings. But you must run fast."

The shoemaker's boy liked the idea of getting four shillings, so he ran very fast, fetched the tinder-box, and gave it to the soldier. And now we shall see what happened.

Outside the town, a large gallows had been built. Around it stood soldiers and thousands of people. The king and queen sat on splendid thrones opposite the judges and the council. The soldier already stood on the ladder.

But as they were about to put the rope around his neck, he said that a poor criminal often got one last innocent request. He wished very much to smoke a pipe, as it would be the last pipe he would ever smoke. The king could not refuse.

So the soldier took his tinder-box and struck fire: once, twice, thrice. In a moment all three dogs stood before him—the one with eyes as big as teacups, the one with eyes as big as mill wheels, and the one with eyes like towers.

"Help me now, so I won't be hanged!" cried the soldier.

The dogs fell upon the judges and all the councillors. They seized one by the legs and another by the nose and tossed them high in the air. They fell down and were broken to pieces.

"I will not be touched!" said the king. But the largest dog seized him and the queen and threw them after the others. Then the soldiers and all the people were afraid and cried, "Good soldier, you shall be our king, and you shall marry the beautiful princess!"

So they placed the soldier in the king's carriage. The three dogs ran in front and cried, "Hurrah!" The little boys whistled through their fingers, and the soldiers presented arms. The princess came out of the copper castle and became queen, which pleased her very much. The wedding festivities lasted a whole week, and the dogs sat at the table and stared with all their eyes.