The Tinder-Box

Name: The Tinder-Box
ISBN: 9787201086576

Hans Christian AndersenTianjin People's Publishing House2014

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Series: Andersen's Fairy Tales
ISBN: 9787201086576

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Summary

The Tinder-Box is a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, published in 1835 in his first collection, Fairy Tales Told for Children. It tells of a discharged soldier who meets a witch on his way home and agrees to climb down into a tree hollow to fetch an old tinderbox for her. In return he gains three wondrous dogs that come when he strikes the tinderbox, each with its own magic power. With the tinderbox the soldier acquires great wealth and encounters the kingdom's princess, who is kept locked away in a heavily guarded castle. Using the helpers summoned by the tinderbox, the soldier manages to approach the princess; when the affair is exposed, he is sentenced to hang. In desperation he strikes the tinderbox again, the three dogs appear and save him, and the soldier turns the tables, wins the princess, marries her, and ascends the throne. The story bears a strong stamp of Nordic folk tales, with bizarre turns of plot and brisk language, and is also a playful early Andersen fable about hierarchy and the warmth and coldness of human relations. This edition is a selection in one volume of the four-volume set Andersen's Fairy Tales: Complete Edition (Classic Illustrated Edition), published by Tianjin People's Publishing House in 2014, in the translation by Ye Junjian.

Editor's review

《打火匣》常被读作安徒生早期幽默色彩最浓的一篇童话——它的主角不是受难的公主，也不是被嘲笑的小人物，而是一个有些贪心、也有几分狡黠的士兵。故事里三只眼睛大如茶杯、磨盘、圆塔的狗，几乎是北国民间想象力的极致呈现；而财富骤来骤去、等级被打乱、命运在最后一刻翻盘，则让这个短短的童话在两百多年后依然好读、好玩，甚至带一点冒犯。《打火匣》与《小克劳斯和大克劳斯》《豌豆上的公主》等篇目同在安徒生第一本童话集里，可以一起看，能清晰感到他刚开始用孩子气的语言讲有点“不正经”的成年人的故事。叶君健是《安徒生童话》中文翻译的标杆性人物，其译本保留了安徒生原文的民间叙事口吻与反讽语气，注释与点评也便于家长与孩子一同阅读讨论。

Who it's for

A good fit for

6—12 岁正在接触经典童话的儿童及亲子共读家庭
希望系统阅读安徒生童话全集的读者
关心北欧民间故事与口头文学源流的爱好者
从事儿童文学教学或翻译研究的从业者

Not a good fit for

只习惯长篇情节、追求宏大叙事的成年读者
期待惊悚或黑暗改编版本的读者
对童话体裁缺乏兴趣的读者

Reading tips

先读原篇，再回到安徒生 1835 年第一本童话集的历史语境，体会他打破当时童话“说教”传统的用意。
亲子共读时，可以留意“财富的来源”与“士兵的选择”两点，与孩子聊一聊欲望与后果。
读完《打火匣》后，可对照格林童话、北欧民间故事中的同类母题，观察安徒生做了哪些改写。
若阅读叶君健译本，不妨顺带读一读他的注释与点评，理解译者的取舍。

About the publisher

Tianjin People's Publishing House China · Founded in 1950

Tianjin People's Publishing House publishes across such fields as classic works, foreign literature, architecture, social culture and social sciences, with 749 relevant titles in the collection. In the areas of classics and scholarship, works such as Wang Guowei's Renjian Cihua and Fei Xiaotong's From the Soil and Fertility and Reproduction reflect a sustained attention to social culture and classic texts of thought. Architectural books are represented by Liang Sicheng's Annotated Yingzao Fashi and A History of Chinese Architecture, showing an emphasis on architectural heritage and building traditions. In foreign literature, translations of Sholokhov's And Quiet Flows the Don and Tolstoy's War and Peace and The Death of Ivan Ilyich, through the work of translators such as Li Gang and Yu Dawei, form a substantial series of translated works. Overall, the press combines classic texts, scholarly works and fine translations, with a publishing character oriented toward humanistic depth and the dissemination of knowledge.

FAQ

《打火匣》和英文书名 The Tinder-Box 是同一本书吗？

是同一篇作品。The Tinder-Box（也写作 The Tinderbox）是安徒生童话《打火匣》的通行英文译名，中文译本里通常收入安徒生童话集中，而非单独成册的英文小说。

这本是单行本还是童话全集的一部分？

《打火匣》是一篇单篇童话，通常收录在安徒生童话全集中。《安徒生童话全集（经典插图版）》（天津人民出版社，2014，ISBN 9787201086576）为四册套装，目录中包含《打火匣》，并非单册独立出版。

故事主要讲了什么？

一名士兵在路上遇见女巫，替她取回旧打火匣，从而获得能召唤三只神奇大狗的能力。他借此发财、接近被幽禁的公主，事发被判刑，最终靠打火匣和狗的帮助绝境翻盘，与公主成婚继位。

这个故事适合几岁孩子读？

故事文本本身简短明快，适合六岁以上儿童听读或独立阅读；但其中涉及绞刑、财富与权力的戏谑处理，建议低龄读者由家长陪同并做简单解释。

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