100个儿童英语小故事: The Toy Soldier 玩具士兵

 

057 The Toy Soldier

Some toy soldiers made of brass¹ were standing² on a shelf of a toy shop. One of them had only one leg.

 The Toy Soldier

The shop had also a castle made of paper. A beautiful paper ballerina stood in front of the castle gate.

The toy soldier with one-leg loved the ballerina. He wanted to dance with her, but he couldn't ask her because he only had one leg.

One day, a little girl bought the ballerina and took her to her house. The toy soldier was so sad. That night, the wind blew very hard. The toy soldier fell down to the street because of the wind. Some naughty boys found the toy soldier.

"Look at him! This toy soldier has only one leg. Let's throw him into the river." The boys threw him in the river. When the toy soldier was drifting³ down the river, a big fish came over and swallowed him in its mouth.

After a while, the fish was caught by a fisherman's rod⁴. He sold the fish to a woman. She cut the fish while preparing dinner after she came back home. She found the toy soldier inside of the fish. The woman was surprised. "Oh, what is this?" She gave him to her daughter.

The girl took him to her room. At that moment, the toy soldier saw the beautiful paper ballerina. "Toy soldier, How did you come to this house?" They were so happy to meet again. The Ballerina said, "Frankly⁵ speaking, I like you. Stay here with me forever."

The toy soldier was so happy when he heard that. But the naughty girl thought the toy soldier and the ballerina didn't make a good match.

"Oh, I hate the ugly toy soldier!" She threw him in to the fireplace⁶. Flames were all over his body. "Good-bye, Ballerina!"

At that moment, the wind blew and took the paper ballerina to the fireplace, too. The toy soldier and the ballerina were burned together.

The next morning, the woman found a heart-shaped piece of brass in the fireplace. It was the symbol of the toy soldier's and the ballerina's love.

1 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

2 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

3 drifting   

a.弥漫的

参考例句：

• Some people enjoy that kind of life, drifting from pillar to post. 有些人喜欢这种生活，到处漂泊游荡。
• The ship was found after drifting on the ocean for six months. 那条船在海上漂流了6个月后找到了。

4 rod   

n.钓竿，杆，棒

参考例句：

• Pass me a bamboo rod.递给我一根竹竿。
• He heated the iron rod and bent it into a right angle.他将铁棒烧热，将其弯成直角。

5 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

6 fireplace   

n.壁炉，炉灶

参考例句：

• The fireplace smokes badly.这壁炉冒烟太多。
• I think we should wall up the fireplace.我想应该封住壁炉。