Story Voice

The Tinderbox Story

The Tinderbox is a classic story from Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales, for children aged 4–8. This page has the English story with a native English narration (about 2 min), plus the Chinese version with Mandarin narration (about 2 min). Free to read and listen, no sign-up.

Andersen's tale of a soldier, a witch, a magic tinderbox and three dogs with eyes as big as teacups, mill wheels and towers, told gently for bedtime. With native English narration, plus the Chinese version in Mandarin.

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Tap any sentence in the story to start reading from there. It stops at the end.

A narrator, and a voice of its own for each character: The Soldier, The Witch, The Dog, The Princess, The King

Record about a minute of your voice, and every story here can be read to your child in it. Credits come back automatically if it fails.

Read The Tinderbox

A soldier was walking home. An old witch said, "That tree is hollow. Climb down and fetch my old tinderbox. Keep any gold you find."

Under the tree sat three huge dogs, with eyes like teacups, mill wheels and towers. "What do you want?" asked one. He took some gold and the tinderbox.

The witch would not say what it was for. "Then I will keep it," said the soldier. She stamped her foot and ran off.

He soon spent his gold. One dark night he struck the tinderbox. The dog with teacup eyes appeared. "Master, what do you want?"

"I want to see the princess," he said. The dog brought her from the copper castle, fast asleep. She woke and laughed. "I flew over the town on a big dog!"

The king was cross. "Father, he did nothing wrong, and I had such fun," said the princess. The king looked at the dogs and smiled. "Then you shall marry." The three dogs came to the wedding too.

The Chinese version: 打火匣

一个士兵背着背包往家走。路边的老女巫说：“小伙子，那棵大树是空心的。你钻下去，把我的旧打火匣拿上来，树底下的金币随你拿。”

士兵滑到树底下，三间屋子里各坐着一只大狗。第一只的眼睛像茶杯那么大，第二只像磨坊的轮子，第三只像两座圆塔。大狗问：“你要什么？”士兵拿了一点金币和那个旧打火匣。

他爬上来，女巫伸手就要打火匣，却不肯说要它做什么。士兵说：“那我先留着。”女巫跺了跺脚，转身跑进树林，再没回来。

士兵进了城，钱很快花光了。一天晚上，屋里没有蜡烛，他擦了一下打火匣。门忽然开了，茶杯眼睛的大狗站在面前：“主人，您要什么？”

士兵听说公主住在铜墙围着的城堡里，谁也见不到。他说：“我想见见公主。”大狗跑出去，一会儿就驮着睡梦中的公主回来了。公主睁开眼睛，笑了：“我好像坐在大狗背上飞过了整座城。”

国王知道了，气呼呼地找到士兵。公主说：“爸爸，他没有做坏事，我玩得很开心。”国王看看大狗，又看看女儿，笑了：“好吧，那就让你们俩结婚吧。”婚礼办了八天，三只大狗也坐在桌边，眼睛睁得圆圆的。

The Tinderbox Story: the moral of the story

Take what you need and no more, and when someone won't tell you what a thing is for, it is fine to ask before you hand it over.

Chinese words in The Tinderbox

Play the Chinese narration and listen for these words. The pinyin shows the tones.

  • 士兵shì bīng

    soldier

  • 女巫nǚ wū

    witch

  • 打火匣dǎ huǒ xiá

    tinderbox

  • 大狗dà gǒu

    big dog

  • 金币jīn bì

    gold coins

  • 公主gōng zhǔ

    princess

  • 国王guó wáng

    king

  • 结婚jié hūn

    to get married

For families learning Mandarin

Mandarin learning pack

Print the story, read it together, then listen and say it back. Made for heritage families and children learning Mandarin.

  • A printable PDF (4 pages): the Chinese story with pinyin over every character, the words to know, the English version, questions to talk about, and character writing practice.
  • Slow Mandarin audio (4 min): every sentence at a gentler pace, followed by a pause long enough to say it back.

Buy once, download again any time. The story itself stays free to read and hear. Try the free sample pack (The Tortoise and the Hare) first.

Page one of the The Tinderbox learning pack: the Chinese story with pinyin over every character

Bedtime storytelling tips

  • Show the dogs' eyes with your hands: a teacup, a mill wheel, a tower, each one bigger than the last. Let your child copy you.
  • Give the dog a slow, deep "Master, what do you want?" like a big, gentle hound, and make the witch quick and sharp.
  • Pause when the princess flies over the town on the dog's back and ask, "If the dog came for you, where would you go?"

Things to talk about afterwards

  • What did the soldier find under the hollow tree?
  • Why wouldn't the witch say what the tinderbox was for?
  • The king was cross at first. Why did he smile in the end?

Read this story to your child in your own voice

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The Tinderbox Story: common questions

What is The Tinderbox about?
A soldier fetches an old tinderbox from a hollow tree for a witch, past three dogs with enormous eyes. He keeps the tinderbox and finds that striking it calls the dogs, who even carry a sleeping princess to visit him. The king is cross at first, but once he sees the dogs and hears his daughter, he agrees to the wedding.
Who wrote The Tinderbox?
Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875). It opened his very first book of fairy tales in 1835, alongside The Princess and the Pea.
Is The Tinderbox suitable for young children?
Andersen's original has the soldier behead the witch, nearly get hanged, and the dogs throw the king and queen into the air. Our retelling for ages 4–8 changes all of that: the witch simply runs off, and the king ends up laughing and giving his blessing.
Is there a Chinese version of The Tinderbox?
Yes. It is called 打火匣 (dǎ huǒ xiá). This page has our Chinese retelling with Mandarin narration next to the English one.

Source and how we retold it

By the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen, Fyrtøiet, the first story in his first collection of fairy tales (1835), now in the public domain. Our retelling follows the plot but softens it a great deal and uses no existing translation. In the original the soldier cuts off the witch's head; here she stamps her foot and runs off. In the original the soldier is sentenced to hang and the dogs toss the king and queen into the air; here the king sees the dogs, listens to his daughter and agrees to the wedding. The dogs' eyes, the magic of striking the tinderbox and the princess's night ride on the dog's back are all kept.

The narration on this page is AI-generated: the English is read by our narrator and the Chinese by our narrator. The audio files are labeled as AI-generated.

If you liked The Tinderbox Story, there are more stories in Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales. You can also read this one to your child in your own voice.

More Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales