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.
从前，有二十五个锡兵，他们都是兄弟，是用同一把旧锡勺子做的。他们扛着武器，眼睛注视着前方，穿着漂亮的红色和蓝色的军装。他们在世界上听到的第一句话就是“锡兵！”是一个小男孩说的。当装锡兵的匣子被打开时，小男孩高兴地拍着巴掌。锡兵全都一模一样，只有一个例外。他只有一条腿。他是最后做的，熔化的锡已经不够把他做完整了，他们就让他靠一条腿稳稳地站着，这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.
摆锡兵的桌上，放满了别的玩具，最吸引人目光的是一个漂亮的小纸城堡。所有这些都很漂亮，而最漂亮的是一位小小的女士，她站在城堡敞开的门口。她也是纸做的，穿着一件清爽的薄纱做的长裙，肩膀上披着一条窄窄的蓝色丝带，就像围巾一样。她的胸前别着一朵亮晶晶的金属玫瑰，有她的整个脸庞那么大。
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.
这位小女士是舞蹈家，她伸展双臂，把一条腿抬得很高很高，锡兵根本看不见它，因此他以为这位女士跟他一样，只有一条腿。“她给我当妻子倒很合适，”他想，“可是她太高贵了，住在一个城堡里，而我只能住在一个盒子里，二十五个人挤在一起，这可配不上她。不过我一定要试着跟她认识认识。”于是，他躺在桌上的一个鼻烟盒后面，这样便可以看到那位娇小优雅的女士，她一直单腿站立，站得稳稳当当的。
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，别的锡兵都被放进了盒子，家里的人上床睡觉了。那些玩具就开始在一起玩自己的游戏，串门，假装打架，举办舞会。锡兵们也想出来一起玩乐，可是打不开盖子。只有那个锡兵和舞蹈家呆在原地。锡兵一刻也没有把目光从她身上移开。钟敲响了十二点，腾地一下，鼻烟盒的盖子弹开了。里面跳出一个黑黑的小妖精。“锡兵，”妖精说，“不要渴望不属于你的东西。”锡兵假装没有听见。“好吧，那就等到明天吧。”妖精说。
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，孩子们进来了，他们把那个锡兵放在窗户上。也不知是妖精搞的鬼，还是突然吹来一阵风，窗户突然打开，锡兵从三层楼上掉了下去，头朝下摔在下面的街道上。摔得真狠啊！他是头先落地，所以头盔和刺刀扎在了石板之间，一条腿竖在空中。

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.
不一会儿，天开始下雨，雨点越落越快，最后成了一场很大的阵雨。雨停了，两个男孩碰巧路过这里，其中一个说，“看，有一个锡兵。他应该在一艘船里。”于是，他们用报纸叠了一艘船，把锡兵放在里面，让他顺着排水沟向前航行，两个男孩在旁边跟着跑，一边拍着巴掌。锡兵颤抖了，但他仍然稳稳地站着，表情没有丝毫变化，他扛着他的步枪，目视前方。突然，纸船冲进了排水沟，就跟那个装锡兵的盒子一样漆黑。
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."
“我现在往哪里去呢？”他想。“我敢肯定，这都是黑妖精搞的鬼。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。”接着他听见一声可怕的轰响，足以令最勇敢的人心惊胆寒。排水管最后通到下面一个很大的运河，可怜的锡兵尽量让自己保持挺立，连眼皮也不眨一下，表示他并不害怕。船舱里灌满了水，注定要沉下去了。纸船越沉越低，浸湿的纸变得软塌塌的，松散开来。最后，水没过了锡兵的脑袋。他想起了那位娇小优雅的小舞蹈演员，自己大概再也见不到她了，他耳边响起了那首歌的歌词——再见，勇士！永远坚定，一路漂向你的坟茔。
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.
接着，纸船变成了碎片，锡兵沉到水底，瞬间被一条大鱼吞了下去。哦，鱼肚子里真黑啊！比排水管里黑得多，但是锡兵还是那么坚定，扛着滑膛枪。鱼游来游去，但最后终于安静下来。过了一阵，似乎一道闪电穿透了鱼，接着亮光越来越近。
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.
鱼被人抓住，拿到集市上，卖给了厨娘，厨娘把它拎到厨房，用刀剖开了它的肚子。厨娘捡起锡兵，用食指和拇指捏住锡兵的腰，把他拿进了屋。她把他放在桌上，啊——世界上的许多事情真是奇妙！——他又来到了他从窗口掉出去的那个房间，眼前还是那些孩子，桌上放的还是那些玩具，还有那座漂亮的城堡，以及门口那个优雅的小舞蹈家。她仍然靠一条腿站着，另一条腿高高举起，这么说，她跟他一样坚定。
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.
锡兵看见她非常激动，几乎流下眼泪，但他拼命忍住了。他只是看着她，两人都保持沉默。过了一会儿，一个小男孩拿起锡兵，扔进了炉子。他这么做毫无道理，肯定是住在鼻烟盒里的黑妖精在捣鬼。锡兵站在炉子里，火焰烧着了他的身体，热得可怕，但他不知道这热量来自真正的火焰，还是来自爱情的火焰。
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.
他看着那位娇小的女士，她也看着他。他觉得自己正在熔化，但他仍然坚定地扛着他的枪。房间的门突然打开，一阵风吹起了娇小的舞蹈家，她像空气精灵一样，直接飞进炉子，飞到锡兵的身旁，立刻就被火焰吞噬了。锡兵熔化成一块锡，第二天早晨，当女仆清出炉子里的炉灰时，发现他成了一颗小锡心的形状。至于那位小舞蹈家，剩下的只有那朵金属玫瑰，已被烧得像煤渣一样漆黑。