Introduction to the old house

There is a very old house on the street, which has a history of nearly 300 years. People can see this from its beam. It is engraved with tulips and vines wrapped in hops-the year of construction in the middle. On it, people can also see whole poems carved in ancient fonts. On the stringer of each window, there is also a mocking face engraved. The second floor is much more prominent than the first floor; There is a lead water tank under the eaves, with a faucet engraved on it. Rain should flow from the dragon's mouth, but it flows from its stomach because there is a hole in the water tank. All the other houses in this street are new and tidy; Their walls are very bright and their windows are very wide. People can see that they don't want anything to do with this old house. They are undoubtedly thinking: "how long can that old dump stand as a laughing stock in the street?" Its hanging window protrudes from the wall so much that no one can see what is happening there from our window. Its stairs are as wide as those in the palace and as high as those leading to the church tower. Its iron railing is like the door of a family grave cellar-it also contains brass balls. This is ridiculous! " Opposite is also a neat new house. They also have the same view. But there is a child sitting at the window. He has a red face and a pair of shining eyes. He especially likes this old house, whether in the sun or in the moonlight. When he saw those walls with all the mud falling off, he sat there imagining many strange pictures-what would this street, those stairs, hanging windows and pointed gables look like in ancient times? He can see soldiers with halberds and water tanks shaped like dragons and sharks. This is indeed a house worth seeing! An old man lives in it. He was wearing velvet breeches and a coat with big copper buttons; He's still wearing a wig-people can tell it's a real wig at a glance. Every morning an old servant comes to clean the room and run errands for him. Besides, the old man in velvet breeches lives alone in this old house. Occasionally he came to the window and looked out. Then the child nodded to him as an answer. So they met and became friends, although they never said a word. But in fact, it is not necessary. The child once heard his parents say, "The old man across the street is rich, but very lonely!" " "In ancient Europe, gentlemen and rich people often wore wigs to cover baldness and show their dignity. The next Sunday, the child wrapped something in a piece of paper and walked to the door. When the servant running errands for the old man passed by, he said to the old man, "Please listen! Can you take this to the old man across the street? I have two tin soldiers. This is one of them; I want to give it to him because I know he is lonely. "(1) tin soldiers, here refers to the toy soldiers made of tinplate. The old servant showed a happy look. He nodded and took the tin soldier to the old house. Soon, he came to ask the child if he would like to visit him in person. His parents allowed him to go. So he visited the old house. Those copper balls on the balustrade are much brighter than usual; People may think that this is specially polished for his visit. Those carved trumpeters-because the door is engraved with trumpeters, they are standing in tulips-are blowing their horns hard; Their cheeks are rounder than before. Yes, they are blowing: "Ta-da-la-la! The children are here! Ta-da-la-la! " So the door opened. The whole corridor is covered with ancient portraits: knights in armor and women in silk. Armor creaked and silk clothes rustled. Then the stairs. It reaches a high place and then bends slightly. Then he came to a balcony. It's really about to collapse There are long cracks and big holes everywhere, but there are many grasses and leaves growing inside. Because balconies, yards and walls are covered with so many green plants, they all look like a garden. But this is just a balcony. Here are some old flower pots; They all have a face and donkey ears. Flowers grow freely everywhere. There is a flowerpot covered with carnations, which means: it is covered with green leaves and there are many buds-they are clearly saying, "The air caresses me, the sun kisses me, and they promise to let me open a small flower next Sunday-a small flower next Sunday!" So he walked into a room. The walls here are covered with pigskin; The pigskin is printed with golden flowers. It says on the wall: bronzing disappears quickly, but pigskin will never go bad! There are many high-backed chairs along the wall; Every chair is engraved with flowers and armrests. "Please sit down! Please sit down! "They said." Ah, my body is really cracked! Like that old cupboard, I think I must have gout! I have gout on my back. Oh! "After a while, the child walked into the living room. The hanging window is here, and so is the old man. "Dear children, thank you for the tin soldiers you gave me! "The old man said," thank you for coming to see me! """Thank you! Thank you! "-can also be said to be-"honk! Hey! " That's what all the furniture says. There were so many of them that when they all came to see the children, they almost crowded together. A portrait of a beautiful woman hangs in the middle of the wall. She looks young and happy, but she wears ancient costumes; Her hair and straight hair clothes are covered with powder. She didn't say "thank you" or "dad"; She just looked at the child with gentle eyes. He asked the old man at that time, "Where did you get this photo?" "From the thrift store across the street!" The old man said. "There are many portraits hanging there. No one knows them and doesn't want to care about them, because they have been buried. But I used to know this woman, and now she is dead, and she has been dead for half a century. " At the bottom of the picture, behind the glass, there is a withered bouquet. There is no doubt that they have a history of half a century, because their appearance is also very old. The pendulum of the big clock swung; The hands on the clock are turning. Everything in this room is getting old, but people don't think so. The child said, "Everyone at home says you have been lonely!" " ""Ah, "said the old man," past memories and things related to memories have come to visit, and now you have come to visit! I feel very happy! " So he took out an album from the bookshelf: there are many gorgeous carriages that we can't see now, many soldiers dressed as "Jacques" on cards, and citizens waving flags. The tailor waved a banner with scissors carried by two lions; The flag waved by the shoemaker painted a double-headed eagle-not boots, because the shoemaker had to arrange everything so that people could see it and say, "That's a pair. "Yes, it is such a picture book! The old man went to another room and took out some candied fruit, apples and nuts-everything in this old house is really lovely. " I can't take it anymore! "The tin soldier standing on the chest of drawers said," It's so lonely and sad here. It is impossible for a person who is used to family life to live here! I can't take it anymore! The days are long enough, but the nights are longer! The situation here is completely different from theirs. Your parents are always chatting happily together, and you and some other lovely children also make happy voices. Hi! How lonely this old man is! Do you think he will get a kiss? Do you think someone will give him a gentle look? Or will he have a Christmas tree? He only has a dead end! I can't take it anymore! ""You can't always look at things with sad eyes! " The child said, "I think everything here is lovely!" "There are old memories and things related to memories to visit here!" "Yes, but I can't see them and I don't know them!" Xi Bing said, "I can't stand it anymore!" "You have to bear it." The child said. At this time, the old man came with the happiest face and the sweetest candied fruit, apples and hard nuts. The children no longer think of tin soldiers. The young man came home with happiness and joy. Many days and weeks have passed. And the old house opposite, there are many nodding back and forth. Finally, the child went to visit again. The carved trumpeter sounded again: "Ta-da-da-da! The children are here again! Ta-la-la! " Then the knights' swords and armor rang again, and the silk clothes rustled again. Those pigskins are talking again, and there is gout on the back of those old chairs. Oh! This is exactly the same as when I first came, because here, this day, this is exactly the same as another day and another. "I can't stand it anymore!" Xi Bing said. "I have cried tears of tin! It's so sad here I'd rather go to war and sacrifice my hands and feet-this life has finally changed a little. I can't take it anymore! Now I know what it's like to visit with memories and things related to memories! My memory also comes to visit. Please believe me, the result is not very pleasant. I almost jumped off the chest of drawers. I can clearly see you in the opposite house, as if you were here. It's another Sunday morning-a day you are all familiar with! You children stand around the table, singing the hymns you sing every morning. You stand solemnly with your hands folded; Father and mother are equally serious. So the door opened and the little sister Maria was brought in-she was less than two years old; Whenever she hears music or songs, no matter what music or songs, she dances. She can't dance well yet, but she wants to dance at once, although it's out of step because of the long beat. She stood on one leg and bent her head forward, then stood on the other leg and bent her head forward, but this time it was not good. You all stand silently, although it is difficult. But I smiled in my heart, so I rolled down from the table and dropped a bag-it was still there-because it was wrong for me to laugh. But all this, and many things I have experienced, are now in my heart-it must be a memory, something related to it. Please tell me, do you still sing on Sunday? Can you tell me something about little Maria? What about my old friend, another tin soldier? Yes, he must be very happy! -I can't stand it anymore! " "You're betrayed!" The child said. "You should rest assured. Can't you see? " Then the old man came in with a drawer. There are many things to see in the drawer: powder boxes, ointment boxes, old playing cards-they are all big and plated with gold, but now they are not seen. He also opened many drawers and a piano with a landscape painting on the cover. When the old man plays the piano, the piano makes a rough sound. So he hummed a song. "Yes, she can sing this song, too!" He said. So he nodded in agreement with the painting he bought from a second-hand dealer. The old man's eyes became bright. "I want to go to the battlefield! I am going to the battlefield! " Tin soldiers try to raise their voices and shout loudly; Then he fell to the ground. Yes, where did he go? The old man is watching, and the child is watching, but he's gone, he's gone. "I will find him!" The old man said. But he never found him because there were many holes and cracks in the floor. The tin soldier rolled into a crack. He lay there as if in an uncovered grave. This day has passed. The child has gone home. A week passed, and then several weeks passed. The windows were frozen, so the children had to sit down and breathe a small hole in the window glass to see the old house. Snowflakes drifted into the middle of carving and lettering, covering the whole steps, as if no one lived in this old house. Indeed, there is no one here now, because the old man is dead! At dusk, a carriage stopped outside the door. People put him in the coffin and carried him to the carriage. He will be buried in a grave in the country soon, and now he will be transported there, but no one will come to the funeral because all his friends are dead. The child blew him a kiss from behind when the coffin was carried away. A few days later, an auction was held in this old house. The child saw from his window that the old knight and the old woman, the flowerpot with long ears, the old chair and the old cupboard had all been removed. Some people moved here, others moved there. Her portrait-found in that thrift store-still goes back to that thrift store and hangs there all the time, because no one knows her and no one wants an old painting. In spring, the house was pulled down because people said it was a pile of rubbish. People can see the room with pigskin on the wall at a glance from the street. These skins were torn off and torn to pieces. The green plants on the balcony hung untidily between the fallen beams. Now people want to clean up this place. "That's great!" The surrounding houses say. A beautiful new house has been built; It has wide windows and flat white walls. But the old house was once transformed into a small garden. The adjacent wall is covered with wild vines. There are iron railings and iron gates in front of the garden. They look serious. Pedestrians stopped in front of them and looked inside. Sparrows perched on vines in droves and sang to each other. But they are not talking about the old house, because they can't remember those things clearly. Many years have passed, and the children have grown up and become the capable people expected by their parents. He just got married. He and his wife will move into this house with a small garden. He stood beside her when she was planting a wild flower that she thought was beautiful. She planted flowers with her little hands and pressed some soil around them with her fingers. "oh! What is this? " She felt that something had stabbed her. There is a sharp thing protruding from the soft soil. Think about it! This is the tin soldier-the tin soldier who escaped in the old man's room. He once spent a long time in rotten wood and garbage, and finally died in the soil for many years. The young wife washed the tin soldiers with a green leaf first, and then used her beautiful and fragrant handkerchief. Tin soldiers seem to have regained consciousness from a coma. "Let me see him!" The young man said. So he smiled and shook his head. "ah! This can't be him, but he reminds me of a story I told a tin soldier when I was a child! " So he told his wife a story about an old house, an old man and a tin soldier. He gave the tin soldier to the old man because he was so lonely. He spoke so carefully as if it were true. The young wife couldn't help crying for the old house and the old man. "This may be a tin soldier!" She said. "Let me help him, so that I can remember what you told me. But you have to show me the old man's grave! " I don't know where it is,' he said. "No one knows about it! All his friends are dead; Nobody cares, and I was just a child at that time! " "Then he must be a very lonely man!" She said. "Yes, very lonely!" Xi Bing said, "But he is not forgotten. It's really gratifying!" "Happy!" A voice beside shouted. But no one can see that this is a pigskin that was stuck on the wall in those days except the tin soldiers. All the gold plating on it is gone. It looks wet, but it still has its own opinions. It says: the gilding will soon disappear, but the pigskin will never go bad! But tin soldiers don't believe this theory. (1848) This story was included in the second volume of New Fairy Tales. The protagonist is an old man who has almost finished his life and a little boy who has just entered life. The two formed an impossible friendship under normal circumstances. This is because, as the little boy said, "I think everything here (the old house) is lovely, and old memories and memory-related things come here to visit!" " "Life is like this: there are some things that people (even children who have just entered this world) miss and love in ordinary days. The reason for writing this story is that Andersen said in his notes: "... the youngest son of the poet Mo Sheng (German, Julius Mohsen, 1803- 1862) gave me one of his tin soldiers when I left oldenburg (oldenburg, a state in northwest Germany). Composer Hartman (Danish, John Petro Hartman, 1805- 1900)' s two-year-old daughter Maria wants to dance as soon as she hears music. When her brothers and sisters came to the room to sing hymns, she was about to start dancing, but her sense of music wouldn't let her lose her step, so she had to stand, first with one foot and then with the other until she entered the perfect rhythm of hymns and began to jump unconsciously.