Hello, welcome to Stories Podcast.
I'm your host, Amanda Weldon.
Today's story is called The Tinder Box, an original story written for you by Hans Christian Andersen.
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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, for he had been to the wars and was now going home.
On the way, he met an old witch.
She was a hideous sight.
Good evening, soldier, she said.
What a fine sword you have, and what a big knapsack.
You are a proper soldier.
Now you shall have as much money as you like.
Thank you, old witch, said the soldier.
Do you see that big tree, said the witch, pointing to a tree close by.
It is quite hollow inside.
Climb up to the top and you will see a hole.
Slip through it and you will find yourself deep down in the tree.
I will tie a rope round your waist so that I can haul you up again when you call me.
What am I to do down in the tree? asked the soldier.
Fetch money, said the witch.
Listen to me.
When you reach the bottom of the tree, you will find yourself in a large hall.
It is quite light, for there are more than three hundred lamps burning there.
Then you will see three doors.
You can open them, for the keys are in the locks.
If you go into the first room, you will see a great chest in the middle of the floor and on it sits a dog.
He has eyes as big as saucers, but don't let that trouble you.
I will give you my blue checked apron.
Spread it out on the floor.
Then go up quickly and take the dog, set him on my apron, open the chest and take out as many copper coins as you like.
If you would rather have silver, you must go into the second room, but there sits a dog with eyes as big as millstones.
Don't let that trouble you.
Set him on my apron and take the money.
If however, you want gold, you can have that too.
As much as you can carry if you go into the third room.
But the dog that sits on the money chest there has eyes as big as the round tower.
He is a fierce dog, I can tell you, but don't let that trouble you.
Just set him on my apron and he won't hurt you.
Then take as much gold out of the chest as you like.
That's not a bad idea, said the soldier.
But what am I to give you, old witch, for you'll want something, I expect.
No, said the witch.
I don't want a single penny.
All I want you to bring me is an old tinderbox that my grandmother forgot the last time she was down there.
Well, tie the rope around my waist, said the soldier.
Here it is, said the witch, and here is my blue checked apron.
Then the soldier climbed up the tree, slipped through the hole and found himself standing, as the witch had said, in the great hall where the three hundred lamps were burning.
He opened the first door.
Oog, there sat the dog with eyes as big as saucers, glaring at him.
You're a fine fellow, said the soldier.
He set the dog on the witch's apron, filled his pockets with copper coins, locked the chest and put the dog back on it.
Then he went into the second room.
Aha!
There sat the dog with eyes as big as millstones.
You shouldn't stare at me so hard, said the soldier.
You might strain your eyes.
He set the dog on the apron.
When he saw all the silver in the chest, he threw away the copper he had taken and filled his pockets and his knapsack with nothing but silver.
Then he went into the third room.
Oh, it was terrifying.
The dog in there really had eyes as big as the round tower and they were turning round and round in his head like wheels.
Good evening, said the soldier, saluting, for he had never seen a dog like that before.
After looking at him for a moment, he thought, That's enough.
So he lifted him down onto the floor and opened the chest.
Heavens, what a lot of gold there was!
With it.
He could buy the whole of Copenhagen and all the sugar pigs from the cake women and all the tin soldiers, whips and rocking horses in the world.
Yes, there was certainly plenty of money.
The soldier threw away all the silver coins with which he had filled his pockets in his knapsack and took gold instead.
Yes, he filled his pockets, his knapsack, his cap, and his boots so that he could hardly walk.
Now he had plenty of money.
He put the dog back on the chest, shut the door, and called up through the tree.
"'Haul me up, old witch.
Have you got the tinderbox?' asked the witch.
Botheration, said the soldier.
I had clean forgotten about it.
And he went and fetched it.
The witch hauled him up and there he stood, on the high road again, with his pockets boots, knapsack and cap full of gold.
What are you going to do with the tinderbox? asked the soldier.
Well, that's no business of yours, said the witch.
You've got your money.
Now give me the tinderbox.
Nonsense, said the soldier.
Tell me at once what you want to do with it or I'll draw my sword.
No, said the witch.
But she couldn't tell him her wicked plans, nor cast a spell without her tinderbox, so she was forced to run away and leave the soldier with his prize.
So he tied all his money up in her apron, slung it on his back like a bundle, put the tinderbox in his pocket and went straight to the town.
It was a splendid town.
He went to the finest inn, asked for the best rooms and ordered his favorite dishes.
For now he was rich.
The servant who cleaned his boots thought they were remarkably shabby old things for such a rich gentleman to have, for he had not yet bought any new ones, but the next day he bought good boots and fine clothes.
Now the soldier had become a fine gentleman and the people told him about all the grand things in their town and about their king and what a beautiful princess his daughter was.
"'Where can one see her?' asked the soldier."
She is not to be seen at all, they all said.
She lives in a great copper castle surrounded by many walls and towers.
No one but the king may go in or out, because it has been prophesied that she will marry a common soldier, and the king can't bear the thought of it.
I should like to see her, thought the soldier, but he couldn't get permission to do so.
Now he lived merrily, went to the theater, drove in the king's garden and gave a great deal of money to the poor, which was very good of him.
He remembered from the old days how hard it was to not have a penny in the world.
He was now rich, had fine clothes and made many friends who all said he was a splendid fellow and a real gentleman.
And the soldier liked that.
Now for a quick ad break.
We'll be back with the rest of the story after this.
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The new year is here.
One of my resolutions was to finally get my house fully organized and beautiful, and Wayfair has everything I need to do just that.
From storage solutions for every room in the house to bedding, to couches and even kitchen appliances, Wayfair is your one-stop shop.
One of the rooms we were really hoping to spruce up this year is my daughter's bedroom.
She moved into a big kid bed not that long ago and we've had her sleeping on a mattress on the floor.
This was a good idea for safety reasons.
She can't fall out of the bed and hurt herself too badly when she's already on the floor, but it really didn't look that great.
Thanks to Wayfair, we were able to do a huge upgrade.
Birdie's bed is still low to the ground, but now it's on a beautiful bed frame that looks like a little house.
It has a canopy and everything, and it's so cute.
I would have loved something like this in my room when I was a little girl, and I'm so excited to give it to my daughter now.
She loves it, and I love it too, because her bedroom looks so much better.
Someday maybe we'll replace all the furniture in her room, and when we do, Wayfair has everything we need.
Get organized, refreshed, and back on track this new year for way less.
Head to Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home.
That's W-A-Y-F-A-I-R dot com.
Wayfair.
Every style, every home.
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But as he spent money every day and never earned any, he had at last only two pennies left and was obliged to leave the fine rooms where he had lived and go to a little garret under the roof.
None of his friends came to see him, for there were so many stairs to climb.
It was a dark evening, and he could not even buy a candle.
But he suddenly remembered that there was a little piece of candle in the tinderbox.
The witch had sent him down to fetch.
He took out the tinderbox and the piece of candle.
But as soon as he struck a few sparks from the flint, the door flew open and the dog with the eyes as big as saucers, which he had seen down in the tree, stood before him and said What are my lord's commands?
Good heavens, said the soldier.
This is a fine sort of tinderbox.
If I can get whatever I want like this.
Bring me some money, he said to the dog.
Whisk, it was gone.
Whisk, it was back again, carrying a large bag of copper coins in its mouth.
Now the soldier knew what a wonderful tinderbox it was.
If he struck it once, the dog came that sat on the chest of copper money.
If he struck it twice, the dog came that had the silver.
And if he struck it three times, the dog came that had the gold.
The soldier moved down into his fine rooms again and put on his fine clothes.
Then all his friends knew him once more and liked him as much as ever.
One day he thought to himself, it's a very strange thing that no one can get to see the princess.
They all say she is very beautiful, but what's the good of that if she always has to stay in the great copper castle with all the towers?
Can I never get to see her?
Where is my tinderbox?
He struck a light and whisk!
There stood the dog with eyes as big as saucers.
It is the middle of the night, I know, said the soldier, but I should so very much like to see the princess just for a little moment.
The dog was out the door in an instant and before the soldier could think, it was back again with the princess.
She was sitting fast asleep on the dog's back, and she really was so beautiful.
When she got to the soldier, she woke up and he told her his story.
She thought he was strong and brave and clever.
He thought she was smart and quick and beautiful.
She said they couldn't be together because the king wouldn't let her leave her tower.
Even as they talked, the sun was starting to glow on the horizon.
The soldier could not help himself.
He had to kiss her.
A single peck on the forehead.
Then the dog ran back with the princess.
But when morning came and the king and queen were drinking tea and they asked what the princess was smiling about, the princess said she had a very strange dream that night about a dog and a soldier.
She had ridden on the dog's back and the soldier had kissed her forehead.
That's a pretty story indeed, said the queen, a little suspicious and maybe more true than we'd like.
So it was decided that one of the old ladies of the court should watch by the princess's bed the next night to see if it was really a dream or what else it might be.
The soldier longed terribly to see the beautiful princess again, so the dog came in the night, took her and ran off as fast as it could.
But the old lady watching her put on water boots and ran after it.
When she saw it disappear into a large house, she thought, Well, now I know where it is.
And she drew a great cross on the door with a piece of chalk.
Then she went home and lay down, and the dog came back with the princess.
But when the dog saw that a cross had been drawn on the door where the soldier lived, it took a piece of chalk and drew crosses on all the doors in the town.
This was very clever, for now.
The old lady could not find the right door, since there were crosses on them all.
Early next morning the king and the queen, the old lady and all the officers went to see where the princess had been.
Here it is, said the king when he saw the first door with a cross on it.
No, my dear husband, it is there, said the queen, pointing to the second door with a cross on it.
But here is one and there is one, they all cried.
Wherever they looked, there were crosses on the doors, so they saw that it was no use searching.
But the queen was a very clever woman.
She took a pair of large gold scissors, cut up a large piece of silk, and made a neat little bag.
She filled it with fine buckwheat flour, tied it round the princess's neck and then cut a little hole in the bag so that the flour would be scattered along the road wherever the princess went.
That night the dog came again, took the princess on its back and ran with her to the soldier who loved her very much and wished he were a prince so that he could make her his wife.
The dog did not notice the flower pouring out in a stream all the way from the castle to the soldier's window, where it ran up the wall with the princess.
In the morning, the king and queen saw clearly where their daughter had been and they took the soldier and put him in prison.
There he sat.
Oh, how dark and dull it was!
And they said to him, Tomorrow you are to be tarred and feathered.
That was not a cheerful thing to hear, and he had left his tinderbox at the inn.
In the morning he could see through the iron bars of his little window how the people were hurrying out of the town to see him tarred and feathered.
He heard the drums beating and saw the soldiers marching.
Among them was a shoemaker's boy in his leather apron and slippers.
He was running so fast that one of his slippers flew off and hit the wall right against the iron bars where the soldier sat looking out.
Hi, shoemaker's boy, cried the soldier.
Don't be in such a hurry.
Nothing will happen till I get there.
But if you will run to where I lived and fetch my tinderbox, you shall have four pennies.
But you must use your legs.
The shoemaker's boy was glad to earn the four pennies and he darted off for the tinderbox, gave it to the soldier.
And well, now we shall hear what happened.
Outside the town, a great stage had been built, and around it stood the soldiers and hundreds of thousands of people.
The king and queen sat on a magnificent throne opposite the judges and the whole council.
The soldier was already standing on the stage, but as they were going to put the tar and the feathers on his body, he said that a criminal was always granted one last innocent request before such a thing would happen.
He would so very much like to smoke his father's old pipe.
The king could not refuse him this, so the soldier took his tinderbox and struck fire.
One, two, three, and there stood all three dogs.
The one with eyes as big as saucers, the one with eyes as big as millstones and the one with eyes as big as the round tower.
Help me now so that I may not be punished, said the soldier.
Then the dogs flew at the judges and all the counselors, seized some of them by the legs and others by the nose and tossed them so high in the air that they fell down and were dashed to pieces.
I won't have it said.
The king, but the biggest dog took both him and the queen and threw them after the others.
Then the soldiers were terrified and all the people cried Little soldier, you shall be our king and marry the beautiful princess.
So they put the soldier in the king's carriage and all three dogs danced in front and cried, Hurrah!
And the boys whistled on their fingers and the soldiers presented arms.
The princess came out of the copper castle and became queen and that pleased her very much.
The wedding feast lasted for eight days, and the dogs sat at the table and were allowed a big bite of every dish.
The End.
Today's story, The Tinder Box, was an original story written for you by Hans Christian Andersen.
It was edited and produced by Ellie Hines and performed for you by me, Amanda Weldon.
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