The Steadfast Tin Soldier

Among a child's toys was a very special tin soldier: as the metal had run short, he had only one leg. Even so, he stood firm and brave.

The soldier fell in love with a paper dancer who, poised on one foot, seemed to have only one leg too. From their shelf, they gazed at each other in silence.

One night, a gust of wind made him fall out of the window. It began to rain, and the soldier ended up sailing down the street's water in a little paper boat.

He travelled through streams and tunnels, and a fish even swallowed him in one gulp. But the soldier never lost his calm or his courage.

Fate had it that the fish was caught and taken, of all places, to the kitchen of his own home. The soldier had returned!

Back on his shelf, he saw his dancer again. And, together once more, their love glowed warm like a little heart.