“Have you a passport?” asked the rat， “give it to me at once.” But the tin soldierremained silent and held his musket tighter than ever. The boat sailed on and the rat followedit. How he did gnash his teeth and cry out to the bits of wood and straw， “Stop him， stophim; he has not paid toll， and has not shown his pass.” But the stream rushed on strongerand stronger. The tin soldier could already see daylight shining where the arch ended. Then heheard a roaring sound quite terrible enough to frighten the bravest man. At the end of thetunnel the drain fell into a large canal over a steep place， which made it as dangerous forhim as a waterfall would be to us. He was too close to it to stop， so the boat rushed on， andthe poor tin soldier could only hold himself as stiffly as possible， without moving an eyelid， toshow that he was not afraid. The boat whirled round three or four times， and then filled withwater to the very edge; nothing could save it from sinking. He now stood up to his neck inwater， while deeper and deeper sank the boat， and the paper became soft and loose with thewet， till at last the water closed over the soldier's head. He thought of the elegant little dancerwhom he should never see again， and the words of the song sounded in his ears—
“Farewell， warrior! ever brave，Drifting onward to thy grave.”
then the paper boat fell to pieces， and the soldier sank into the water and immediatelyafterwards was swallowed up by a GREat fish. Oh how dark it was inside the fish! A great dealdarker than in the tunnel， and narrower too， but the tin soldier continued firm， and lay atfull length shouldering his musket. The fish swam to and fro， making the most wonderfulmovements， but at last he became quite still. After a while， a FLASH of lightning seemed topass through him， and then the daylight approached， and a voice cried out， “I declare hereis the tin soldier.” The fish had been caught， taken to the market and sold to the cook， whotook him into the kitchen and cut him open with a large knife. She picked up the soldier andheld him by the waist between her finger and thumb， and carried him into the room. Theywere all anxious to see this wonderful soldier who had travelled about inside a fish; but he wasnot at all proud. They placed him on the table， and—how many curious things do happen inthe world!
there he was in the very same room from the window of which he had fallen， there werethe same children， the same playthings， standing on the table， and the pretty castle withthe elegant little dancer at the door; she still balanced herself on one leg， and held up theother， so she was as firm as himself. It touched the tin soldier so much to see her that healmost wept tin tears， but he kept them back. He only looked at her and they both remainedsilent. Presently one of the little boys took up the tin soldier， and threw him into the stove. Hehad no reason for doing so， therefore it must have been the fault of the black goblin who livedin the snuff-box. The flames lighted up the tin soldier， as he stood， the heat was veryterrible， but whether it proceeded from the real fire or from the fire of love he could not tell.
then he could see that the bright colors were faded from his uniform， but whether theyhad been washed off during his journey or from the effects of his sorrow， no one could say.He looked at the little lady， and she looked at him. He felt himself melting away， but he stillremained firm with his gun on his shoulder. Suddenly the door of the room flew open and thedraught of air caught up the little dancer， she fluttered like a sylph right into the stove by theside of the tin soldier， and was instantly in flames and was gone. The tin soldier melted downinto a lump， and the next morning， when the maid servant took the ashes out of thestove， she found him in the shape of a little tin heart. But of the little dancer nothingremained but the tinsel rose， which was burnt black as a cinder.