The Tinderbox

A soldier came marching down the high road—left, right, left, right—with his knapsack on his back and his sword at his side, for he was coming home from the wars.

On the road he met an old witch, and a strange sight she was, with her lower lip hanging all the way down to her chest. "Good evening, soldier," she said. "What a fine sword, and what a fat knapsack! You're a true soldier, and you shall have as much money as you like."

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

"Do you see that hollow tree?" she said. "Climb to the top, and you'll find a hole. Let yourself down through it, right to the bottom. I'll tie a rope around you, so I can pull you up again when you call."

"But what should I do down there?"

"Fetch money," said the witch. "At the bottom you'll find a great hall lit by three hundred lamps, and three doors, unlocked. In the first room a chest of copper coins sits guarded by a dog with eyes as big as teacups. In the second, a chest of silver, guarded by a dog with eyes as big as mill wheels. In the third, gold—guarded by a dog whose eyes are each as big as a tower. Don't be afraid of any of them. Just set each dog on my blue checked apron, and he'll sit there quietly while you take what you like."

"That sounds fair enough," said the soldier. "But what do you want in return?"

"Not a single coin," said the witch. "Only fetch me an old tinderbox my grandmother left down there."

So they tied the rope round him, and down he went, just as she'd said, into the great bright hall.

In the first room sat the dog with eyes like teacups. "You're a fine fellow," said the soldier, and set him on the apron, then filled his pockets with copper. In the second room the dog's eyes were as big as mill wheels, but the soldier only said, "Don't stare so hard, you'll wear your eyes out," and set him gently aside. When he saw the silver, he tipped out all his copper and filled his pockets with silver instead.

In the third room, the dog's eyes truly were as big as towers, and they turned round and round like wheels. The soldier took off his cap politely, then lifted the dog down and opened the chest. Such gold! Enough to buy the whole town. Out went the silver, and in went gold—pockets, knapsack, cap, even his boots, until he could hardly walk. He set the dog back on the chest and called up, "Pull me up, old witch!"

"Have you got the tinderbox?" she asked.

"Bless me, I forgot it," he said, and fetched it. Then she hauled him up, and there he stood on the road again, loaded with gold.

"What do you want with that old tinderbox anyway?" he asked.

"That's none of your business," said the witch. "You have your money. Give it here."

"At least tell me what it's for," said the soldier.

But she would not say. So the soldier simply kept the tinderbox for himself. He tied up his gold in the blue checked apron, tucked the tinderbox in his pocket, and left the old witch there by the hollow tree—and when he looked back, she was nowhere to be seen. Then he walked on to the town.

It was a fine town, and he took the best rooms at the best inn, ordered whatever he pleased, and bought splendid new clothes, for he was rich now and looked every inch a gentleman. People told him of all the town's wonders, and of the king, and of the king's daughter, a beautiful princess.

"Where might I see her?" he asked.

"No one may see her," they said. "She lives shut up in a great copper castle behind high walls, for it's been foretold she'll marry a common soldier, and the king won't hear of it."

The soldier thought he would dearly like to see her, but there seemed no way. He lived merrily instead—theaters, fine dinners, gifts to the poor, for he remembered what it was to have nothing. He made many friends who called him a splendid fellow. But since he spent every day and earned nothing, his gold dwindled away, until at last he had only two coins left. He had to leave his grand rooms for a little attic, mend his own boots, and clean up after himself, and not one of his fine friends came to see him—too many stairs, they said.

One dark evening, with no money even for a candle, he remembered the stub in the old tinderbox. He struck it once—and the door flew open, and there stood the dog with eyes like teacups. "What does my master wish?" it asked.

"Well now," said the soldier, delighted, "bring me some money!" And in a blink the dog was gone and back again with a bag of coins in its mouth.

So the soldier learned the tinderbox's secret: one strike brought the copper-dog, two strikes the silver-dog, three the dog of gold. He moved back to his fine rooms, and all his friends remembered him at once.

One day he thought, "It's a strange thing that no one may see the princess. They say she's lovely—what good is that, shut away in her copper castle? I wonder if I might catch just a glimpse." He struck the tinderbox once, and the dog appeared.

"I know it's the middle of the night," said the soldier, "but I would love to see the princess, just for a moment."

The dog was gone in a flash and back with the sleeping princess on his back. She was so lovely that anyone could see she was a true princess. The soldier could not help giving her a gentle kiss, for he was a soldier through and through. Then the dog carried her home again.

In the morning the princess told her mother and father she'd had a curious dream—of a dog, and riding on its back, and a soldier's kiss.

"What a tale!" said the queen.

So the next night an old lady of the court was set to watch by the princess's bed. Sure enough, the dog came again and carried the princess off—but the old lady pulled on her boots and followed close behind. She saw them vanish into a certain house and marked the door with a cross of chalk before hurrying home. But when the dog carried the princess back and saw the mark, clever creature that he was, he took chalk himself and marked crosses on every door in town, so no one could tell which house was which.

In the morning the whole court went searching, and cried out at every door, "Here it is!"—for every single door bore a cross. So they saw the trick would not serve, and had to think again.

The queen, who was cleverer than she looked, sewed a little silk bag, filled it with fine buckwheat groats, and tied it to the princess's back with a small hole cut in it, so the groats would trickle out along her path.

That night the dog came once more and carried the princess to the soldier, never noticing the little trail of groats scattered all the way from the castle to the soldier's window. In the morning the trail led the king and queen straight to him, and he was taken and thrown into prison.

It was dark and cheerless there, and worse still, they told him: "Tomorrow you hang." He had left his tinderbox behind at the inn, and there seemed no help for it now. Through the bars he watched the town hurrying out to see him hanged—drums beating, soldiers marching, and among the crowd a shoemaker's boy running so fast that one of his slippers flew off and struck the wall by the window.

"No need to hurry so," the soldier called down. "Nothing can happen till I get there. But if you'll run and fetch my tinderbox from where I used to lodge, I'll give you four coins for your trouble—only be quick!"

The boy was glad of the errand and soon came running back with the tinderbox.

Now, out beyond the town walls, the gallows stood ready, with soldiers all around and the whole town come to watch, and the king and queen seated grandly with the judges beside them. The soldier stood on the ladder, and just as they were about to place the rope, he asked, as was the custom, for one last small wish before his punishment—only to smoke a final pipe of tobacco.

The king could not refuse so small a request. So the soldier took out his tinderbox and struck it—once, twice, three times. And there stood all three dogs at once: the one with eyes like teacups, the one with eyes like mill wheels, and the one with eyes like towers.

"Help me now," cried the soldier, "so I need not hang!"

And the three great dogs sprang forward, their eyes blazing and their bark like thunder, until the judges and the whole council fled in every direction. "Not me!" cried the king—but the biggest dog fixed him and the queen with its tower-sized eyes, and the two of them ran from the town as fast as they could go, and were never seen there again.

The soldiers, seeing this, were too frightened to lift a hand, and the people all cried out together, "Good soldier, be our king, and take the princess for your bride!"

So they set him in the royal carriage, and all three dogs danced along in front crying their joy, and the boys whistled and the soldiers presented their arms. The princess came out of her copper castle to be queen, which pleased her very much indeed. And the wedding feast lasted eight whole days, with the three great dogs sitting right at the table, staring about with their enormous eyes at all the merriment.