The Snow Queen, by Hans Christian Andersen (2025)

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The Snow Queen was written by Hans Christian Andersen(1805-1875), and was translated from the Danish byM. R. James (1862-1936) as part of hisHans Andersen Forty-Two Stories (1930).

This ebook was produced by:David T. Jones, Mark Akrigg& the Online Distributed Proofreading Teamat http://www.pgdpcanada.net

A Tale in Seven Stories

by

Hans Christian Andersen

(from Hans Andersen Forty-Two Stories [1930],translated by M. R. James)

STORY THE FIRST

Which tells of the looking-glass and the bits of it

Attention, please, we're going to begin. When we've got to the end ofthe story we shall know more than we do now. There was a wicked troll.He was one of the very worst sort—he was the devil. One day he was ina very temper, for he had made a looking-glass which had thisproperty: that everything good and pretty that was reflected in itshrivelled away in it to almost nothing, but everything that was nogood and looked ugly came out plain and showed even worse than it was.The most beautiful landscapes looked like boiled spinach in the glass,and the best of men grew hideous, or else stood on their heads and hadno stomachs. Their faces were so distorted that they couldn't berecognized, and if anyone had a freckle, you could be sure it wouldspread all over his nose and mouth. It was extra-ordinarily funny, thedevil said. If a kind pious thought passed through a man's mind, therecame such a grimace in the glass that the troll-devil couldn't butlaugh at his clever invention. Everyone who attended the troll school(for he kept a troll school) spread the news all about that a miraclehad come to pass: you could now see, they said, what the world andmankind really looked like. They ran about everywhere with the glass,and at last there wasn't a country or a person left who hadn't beendistorted in it. After that they decided to fly up to heaven itselfand make fun of the angels and of God. The higher they flew with theglass, the more it grimaced, till they could scarcely keep hold of it.Up and up they flew, nearer to God and His angels, and then the glassquivered so fearfully with grimacing that it fell out of their handsand was dashed on the ground below, where it broke into hundreds ofmillions, billions, and even more pieces; and that very thing madematters worse than before, for some of the bits were hardly as big asa grain of sand, and these flew all about in the wide world, and whenthey got into peoples' eyes, they stuck there, and the people eithersaw everything crooked or else had only eyes for what was wrong inanything; for every little splinter of the glass had kept the samepower that the whole glass had. Some people even got a little bit ofthe glass into their hearts, and that was horrible, for the heartbecame just like a lump of ice. Some of the pieces were so big thatthey were used for window glass, but it didn't pay to look at yourfriends through those window-panes. Other pieces were made intospectacles, and that was a bad business, if people put on thosespectacles in order to see correctly and judge rightly. The evil onelaughed till he split, it tickled him so. But out in the world littlebits of glass were still flying about in the air.

Now we are to hear all about it.

STORY THE SECOND

A Little Boy and a Little Girl

In the big town, where there are so many houses and people that thereisn't room enough for everybody to have a little garden, and where inconsequence most people have to content themselves with flowers inpots, there were two poor children who had a garden somewhat biggerthan a flower-pot. They weren't brother and sister, but they were asfond of each other as if they had been. Their parents were nearneighbours, living in two attics, where the roof of the one housetouched the other, and the gutter ran along the eaves: a small windowin each house faced the other; you had only to step across the gutterand you could get from one window to the other.

The parents had, each of them, a large wooden box outside the window,and in it grew kitchen herbs which they used, and also a little rosetree; there was one in each box, and they flourished wonderfully. Thenthe parents thought of putting the boxes across the gutter in such away that they reached almost from the one window to the other andreally looked like two bunches of flowers. The pea plants hung downover the boxes, and the rose trees put out long branches and twinedabout the windows and bent over to meet each other, and made almost atriumphal arch of leaves and blossoms. The boxes were very high up,and the children knew they must not climb up into them, but they wereoften allowed to get out to meet each other and sit on their littlestools beneath the roses, and there they used to play very happily.

In winter, of course, that pleasure was gone. The windows were oftenquite frozen over; but then they would heat copper pennies on thestove, and then put the hot pennies on the frosty pane, and there camea beautiful peep-hole, as round as round, behind which peeped out ablessed little kind eye, one out of each window; the little boy's andthe little girl's. He was called Kay and she Gerda. In summer theycould get to each other with a single jump, in winter they had firstto go down a lot of stairs and then up a lot of stairs, while the snowcame drifting down outside.

"Those are the white bees swarming," said the old grandmother.

"Have they got a queen too?" asked the little boy—for he knew thatthe real bees have one. "Indeed, they have," said grandmother, "sheflies where they swarm thickest; she is the biggest of them all, andshe never stays still on the ground, but flies up again into the blackcloud. Many a winter night she flies through the streets of the townand peeps in at the windows, and then they freeze into wonderfulpatterns like flowers."

"Yes, I've seen that," said both the children; and they knew it wastrue. "Can the Snow Queen get in here?" asked the little girl.

"Let her come!" said the boy, "and I'll put her on the hot stove andshe'll melt." But grandmother stroked his hair and told them storiesabout other things.

In the evening, when little Kay was at home, and half undressed, heclimbed up on the stool by the window and peeped through the littlehole. A few snowflakes were falling outside, and one of them, thebiggest of them all, remained lying in a corner of one of theflower-boxes. This flake grew larger and larger, and at last turnedinto the complete shape of a lady, dressed in the finest white gauze,which seemed to be made out of millions of star-shaped flakes. She wasvery pretty and delicate, but she was of ice, blinding, dazzling ice;yet she was alive. Her eyes gazed out like two bright stars, but therewas no rest or quietness in them. She nodded towards the window andbeckoned with her hand. The little boy was frightened and jumped downoff the stool; and then it seemed as if a large bird flew past thewindow.

Next day was clear and frosty, and then came a thaw, and after thatcame spring-time, and the sun shone and the green buds peeped forth;the swallows built their nests, the windows were open, and thechildren sat once more in their little garden high up in the gutter inthe topmost story.

That summer the roses blossomed as never before. The little girl hadlearnt a hymn in which there was something about roses, and at themention of them she thought of her own, and she sang the hymn to thelittle boy and he sang it too.

The little ones held each other by the hand and kissed the roses andgazed into God's bright sunshine and spoke to it as if the child Jesuswere there. What lovely summer days were those, and how blessed it wasto be out among the fresh rose bushes, which seemed as if they wouldnever leave off blossoming!

Kay and Gerda were sitting looking at a picture book with beasts andbirds in it, and then—just as the clock in the great church tower wasstriking five—Kay said, "Oh! Something pricked my heart, and I'vejust got something in my eye!"

The little girl put her arm round his neck, and he winked his eye, butno, there was nothing to be seen. "I think it's gone," he said, but itwasn't. It was one of those tiny bits that were broken off the glass,the troll-glass—you remember about that—that horrid glass which madeeverything great and good that was reflected in it become mean andugly, while the evil nasty things came out, and every blemish wasplain to be seen. Poor Kay! He had got a piece of it right into hisheart, which would soon be like a lump of ice. For the moment itwasn't doing any harm; still, there it was.

"What are you crying for?" he asked. "It makes you look horrid!There's nothing the matter with me. Ugh!" he called out suddenly."That rose there's worm-eaten! And look at that other, it's allcrooked. Rotten roses they are, after all, like the boxes they'rein." With that he gave the box a hard kick and pulled off the tworoses. "What are you doing, Kay?" cried the little girl; and when hesaw she was frightened, he pulled off a third rose, and ran in at hisown window, leaving dear little Gerda. Later, when she brought him thepicture book, he said, "it was only fit for babies", and whengrandmother told them stories, he was always breaking in with a "But".And if he could he would follow her about with spectacles on andimitate her talking; it was exactly like, and made people laugh. Verysoon he could imitate the walk and talk of everybody in their street.Everything that was odd or not nice about them Kay could mimic, andpeople said, "That boy's got an uncommon wit, to be sure". But it wasthe bit of glass he had got in his eye and the bit he had in hisheart; and so it came about that he would tease even little Gerda, wholoved him with all her heart. The games he played were quite differentnow: they were very clever. One winter day, when the snow-flakes weredrifting down, he brought a big magnifying glass and held out thecorner of his blue jacket and let the flakes fall on it.

"Now look through the glass, Gerda," he said; and there was everyflake made much bigger, and looking like a beautiful flower or aten-pointed star: lovely it was to see. "Look how clever it is," saidKay, "it's much more interesting than the real flowers are; andthere's not a single thing wrong with them, they're perfectlyaccurate—if only they didn't melt."

A little later Kay came in with big mittens on, and his sledge hung onhis back; he shouted to Gerda, right in her ear, "I've got leave todrive in the big square where the others are playing," and he was off.

Out there in the square the boldest of the boys often used to tietheir sledges to a farmer's cart and drive a good long way with it. Itwas excellent fun. At the height of their sport a large sledge cameby; it was painted white all over, and in it was someone wrapped in ashaggy white fur and wearing a shaggy white cap. This sledge drovetwice round the square, and little Kay made haste and tied his ownlittle sledge to it, and drove off with it. Faster and faster it went,into the next street. The driver turned his head and nodded to Kay ina friendly way; it seemed as if they knew each other. Every time Kaythought of loosing his sledge the driver nodded again, so Kay stayedwhere he was: and they drove right out through the town gate. Thenthe snow began to fall so thick that the boy couldn't see his handbefore him as he drove on; and he hastily loosed the rope so as to letgo of the big sledge. But it made no difference, his little trap heldfast to it, and it went like the wind. He called out loudly, but noone heard, and the snow drifted down and the sledge flew onward.Sometimes it made a bound as if it were going over ditches or fences.He was in a dreadful fright; he tried to say the Lord's Prayer, but hecould only remember the multiplication table.

The snow-flakes grew bigger and bigger, till at last they looked likelarge white hens; suddenly they parted, the big sledge pulled up, andthe person who was driving in it rose. The fur and the cap were all ofsnow: it was a lady, tall and slender, shining white—the Snow Queen.

"We have travelled well," said she; "but you mustn't freeze. Creepinto my bearskin." She put him beside her in the sledge, and he feltas if he were sinking into a snow-drift. "Are you still cold?" sheasked, and kissed him on the forehead. Ugh! it was colder than ice,and struck straight to his heart—which itself was almost a lump ofice. He felt as if he was dying, but only for a moment: then all wasright, he didn't notice the cold about him any more.

"My sledge! Don't leave my sledge behind!" that was the first thing heremembered: so it was tied on to one of the white hens, which flewafter them with the sledge on its back. Once more the Snow Queenkissed Kay, and he had forgotten little Gerda and grandmother andeveryone at home.

"No more kisses now," said she, "or I should kiss you to death." Kaylooked at her; very pretty she was; a cleverer, fairer face he couldnot imagine. She didn't seem now to be of ice, as she was when she satoutside the window and beckoned him. In his eyes she was perfect, andhe felt no fear. He told how he knew mental arithmetic, and withfractions, too, and the area of the country, and how many inhabitants,and she smiled all the time, till he thought that what he knew didn'tcome to much. He gazed up into the immense spaces of the air, and sheflew on with him, flew high among the dark clouds, and the storm windwhistled and roared as if it were singing old ballads. Over forest andlake they flew, over sea and land: below them the cold blast whistled,the wolves howled, the snow sparkled; above them flew the blackcawing crows, but over all shone the moon, large and bright; and byits light Kay watched through the long long winter night; by day heslumbered at the feet of the Snow Queen.

STORY THE THIRD

The Flower Garden of the Old Woman who knew Magic

But how fared little Gerda when Kay came back no more? Where could hebe? Nobody knew, nobody could tell. The boys could only say they hadseen him tie his little sledge to another fine large one which haddriven down the street and out at the town gate. Nobody knew where hewas. Many tears were shed; sore and long did little Gerda weep. Thenthey said he was dead, drowned in the river that ran past the town.Dark indeed and long were those winter days.

Then came spring with warmer sunshine.

"Kay is dead and gone," said little Gerda.

"I don't believe it," said the Sunshine.

"He's dead and gone," said she to the swallows.

"I don't believe it," they answered, and at last little Gerda didn'tbelieve it either.

"I'll put on my new red shoes," she said one morning early, "the onesKay has never seen, and I'll go down to the river and ask about him."

It was quite early. She kissed her old grandmother as she slept, puton the red shoes, and went out of the gate to the river, quite alone.

"Is it true that you have taken my little playfellow? I'll give my redshoes if you'll give him back to me."

The waves, she thought, nodded in a queer fashion; so she took her gayred shoes, the most precious thing she had, and threw them both intothe river, but they fell close into the bank, and the little wavescarried them straight back to her on shore. It seemed that the riverwould not take the most precious thing she had because it had not gotlittle Kay. But she thought she hadn't thrown the shoes far enoughout, so she climbed into a boat that lay in the rushes, and went outto the further end of it and threw out the shoes. But the boat wasnot moored fast, and with the movement she made it floated away fromthe shore. She noticed this and made haste to get out, but before shecould get back the boat was more than a fathom away, and began todrift more quickly along. Little Gerda was very much frightened andbegan to cry; but nobody heard her except the sparrows, and theycouldn't carry her ashore; but they flew along the bank and sang, asif to comfort her: "Here we are, here we are!" The boat was carrieddownstream; little Gerda sat still, in her stockinged feet; her littlered shoes floated behind, but couldn't reach the boat, which was nowtravelling faster.

Both banks were very pretty, with beautiful flowers, old trees, andsloping fields with sheep and cows; but never a man was to be seen.

"Perhaps the river will carry me to little Kay," thought Gerda. Thisput her in better spirits, and she stood up and for many hours gazedat the pretty green banks. At last she came to a large cherry orchard,in which was a little house with quaint blue and red windows, and forthe rest a thatched roof, and outside two wooden soldiers, who wereshouldering arms for everyone who came sailing by. Gerda called tothem, thinking they were alive: but very naturally they didn't answer.She came quite near them; the river carried the boat straight towardsthe shore. Gerda called out yet louder, and then there came out of thehouse an old old woman, supporting herself on a crooked stick. She hada large sun-hat on, painted with the most splendid flowers.

"Poor dear little child," said the old woman, "how ever did you getout here on this great big river, far out into the wide world?" Andwith that the old woman stepped into the water and hooked her stickfast to the boat and pulled it ashore and lifted little Gerda out.Gerda was glad to be on dry land again, but still she was a littleafraid of the strange old woman. "Come now, and tell me who you are,and how you got here," she said. And Gerda told her everything; andthe old woman shook her head and said, "Hm, hm!" And when Gerda hadtold her everything and asked if she had seen little Kay, the womansaid he hadn't passed that way, but he would come, sure enough, andshe wasn't to be worried, but must taste her cherries, and look at herflowers, that were prettier than any picture book and could each ofthem tell a whole story. Then she took Gerda by the hand, and theywent into the little house, and the old woman locked the door.

The windows were placed very high up, and the glass in them was redand blue and yellow. The daylight shone very oddly through them, withall their colours; but on the table were the most beautiful cherries,and Gerda ate as many as she liked, for she was allowed to; and whileshe was eating, the old woman combed her hair with a gold comb, andthe hair curled and shone lovely and yellow about her kind littleface, the round face that looked like a rose.

"I've been longing for a sweet little girl like you," said the oldwoman, "you'll see how well we two shall get on," and all the time shewas combing little Gerda's hair Gerda was forgetting more and more herfoster brother Kay: for the old woman was skilled in witchcraft, butshe wasn't a wicked witch, she only used witchcraft a little, for herown pleasure, and just now she wanted very much to keep little Gerda.In order to do so, she went out into the garden and stretched out herhooked stick towards all the rose bushes: and though they were allblooming beautifully, they all sank down into the black earth and youcouldn't see where they had been. The old woman was afraid that whenGerda saw the roses she would think of her own roses, and thenremember little Kay and run away.

Then she took Gerda out into the flower garden. Dear me! Whatfragrance and beauty there was there. All the flowers one could thinkof, flowers belonging to every season, stood there in their fullbloom; no picture book could be more gaily coloured and pretty. Gerdajumped for joy and played about till the sun set behind the tallcherry trees. Then she was given a lovely bed with red silk pillowsthat were stuffed with blue violets, and there she slept and dreamt asbeautiful dreams as any queen on her wedding day.

Next day she played among the flowers again in the hot sunshine; andso many days went by. Gerda knew every flower, but, many as there wereof them, she thought that one was missing, but she didn't know which.Then, one day she was sitting looking at the old woman's sun-hat withthe flowers painted on it, and the prettiest of all that were therewas a rose. The old woman had forgotten to take it away from her hatwhen she got rid of the others in the garden. It only shows what comesof not having your wits about you. "Why!" said Gerda, "aren't thereany roses?" And she ran in among the beds and looked and looked, butthere were none to be found. Then she sat down and cried; but her hottears fell exactly on the spot where a rose tree had sunk down, andwhen the tears wetted the ground the tree rose up all at once,blossoming just as when it sank down, and Gerda threw her arms roundit and kissed the roses, and thought of the beautiful ones at home,and with them of little Kay.

"Oh, how I have been dawdling," said the little girl. "I was to findKay—don't know where he is?" she asked the roses, "do you think he'sdead and gone?" "Dead he isn't," said the roses. "We've been down inthe ground where all the dead people are, but Kay wasn't there."

"Thanks, thanks," said little Gerda, and went off to the other flowersand looked into their cups and asked: "Do you know where little Kayis?"

But every one of the flowers was standing in the sun and dreaming itsown story or life and of these little Gerda heard ever so many; butnone of them knew anything about Kay.

What said the tiger lily?

"Do you hear the drum! boom! boom! There are only two notes! Boom!Boom! Hark to the women's dirge! Hark to the cry of the priests! Inher long red robe the Indian woman stands on the pyre, and the flamesrise round her and her dead husband; but the woman is thinking of theliving one who stands there in the circle, of him whose eyes burnhotter than the flames, the fire of whose eyes pierces nearer herheart than the flames which will quickly burn her body to ashes. Canthe heart's flame perish in the flames of the pyre?"

"I don't understand that in the least," said little Gerda.

"That's my story," said the tiger lily.

What says the bindweed?

"High above the narrow field-path hangs an ancient castle. Thickevergreens grow about the old red walls, leaf on leaf, away up to thebalcony, and there stands a fair maiden. She bends over the parapetand looks down upon the road. No rose hangs fresher on its spray thanshe, no apple blossom borne by the breeze from its tree floats moregracefully. How her costly silken kirtle rustles! Cometh he not?"

"Is it Kay you mean?" asked little Gerda.

"I'm only talking of my story, my dream," the bindweed answered.

What says the little snowdrop?

"Between the trees the long board hangs in the ropes. It's a swing:two pretty little girls—their frocks white as snow, and long greensilk ribbons fluttering from their hats—are sitting and swinging.Their brother, who is bigger than they, is standing up in the swing,with his arm round the ropes to steady himself, for in one hand he hasa little saucer and in the other a clay pipe, and he's blowing soapbubbles. To and fro goes the swing, and the bubbles float with lovelychanging colours; the last one is still hanging to the pipe-stem andswaying in the breeze; on goes the swing. The little black dog, aslight as the bubbles, stands on his hind legs and wants to get intothe swing too; it flies past, he tumbles down, and barks, and isangry. They laugh at him—the bubbles burst. A swinging plank, awaving picture in foam! That is my song."

"I suppose it's very pretty, what you're talking about, but you say itso sadly, and you never mention Kay."

What do the hyacinths say?

"There were three fair sisters, delicate and fine; the robe of one wasred, the second's was blue, and the third's all white. Hand in handthey danced by the still lake in the bright moonlight. They were noelfin maidens, but of the children of men. There came a waft offragrance, and the maidens vanished in the forest. Stronger grew theperfume. Three coffins, wherein the three fair maidens lay, glidedfrom the depths of the forest, glided over the lake. Fireflies flewround them like tiny evening lamps. The dancing maidens, do theyslumber or are they dead? The scent of the flowers tells that they aredead. The evening bell rings out over the dead."

"You make me quite wretched!" said little Gerda. "Your scent is sostrong, I can't help thinking of the dead maidens. Oh, dear! Is littleKay really dead? The roses have been down in the ground and they say'No'."

"Ding, dong!" rang out the hyacinth bells. "We're not ringing forlittle Kay, we don't know him, we're only singing our own song, theonly one we know."

So Gerda went to the buttercup, shining out from among its brilliantgreen leaves. "You're a bright little sun," said Gerda; "tell me ifyou know where I can find my playfellow." The buttercup shone veryprettily and looked back at Gerda. What song, now, could the buttercupsing? Not one about Kay, at any rate.

"In a little yard God's sun was shining warm on the first day ofspring; its beams crept down the neighbour's white wall; close by grewthe first yellow flowers, shining like gold in the hot sunbeams. Theold grandmother was out of doors in her chair; her prettygrand-daughter, the poor servant maid, came home upon a short visit,and gave her grandmother a kiss. There was gold, beautiful gold inthat blessed kiss, gold on the lips, gold in the heart, gold up therein the early morn. Look, that's my little story," said the buttercup.

"Oh, my poor old granny!" sighed Gerda. "Yes, she must be longing forme, and unhappy about me, as she was about little Kay. But I'll soonbe home again and bring Kay with me. It's no good asking the flowers;they only know their own song and tell me nothing." So she tucked upher little frock to run the quicker. But the narcissus hit against herleg as she jumped over it, and she stopped and looked at the tallflower and asked: "Do you happen to know anything?" And she stoopeddown to it; and what did it say?

"I can see myself! I can see myself!" said the narcissus. "Oh, howstrong my scent is! Up in the little garret stands a littleballet-girl half dressed—standing first on one leg she is, then onboth, and kicking out at the whole world—she's only an illusion.She's pouring water out of a teapot on to a bit of stuff that she'sholding; it's her stays. Cleanliness is a good thing. The white frockhangs on its peg, it too has been washed in the teapot and dried onthe roof. She puts it on, and a saffron yellow kerchief about herneck, which makes the dress shine whiter. Legs up in the air! Look howshe stands on a stalk! I can see myself, I can see myself!"

"I don't care about that in the least," said Gerda, "it's no usetelling me that." So she ran to the border of the garden; the door waslocked, but she twisted at the rusty staple till it came away, and thedoor flew open, and then out ran little Gerda barefoot into the wideworld. Thrice she looked back, but there was nobody coming after her.At last she could run no further, and sat down on a big stone, andwhen she looked about her, why, summer was over and it was lateautumn. You couldn't see that inside that beautiful garden, wherethere was always sunshine and flowers of all seasons bloomed.

"Good heavens! How I have dawdled!" said the Gerda. "It's autumn now.I daren't rest a minute!" So she got up and went on.

Oh, how bruised and tired were her little feet, and how cold and rawit was all round! The long leaves of the willow were pale yellow, andthe mist dripped off them in waterdrops; one leaf after another fell,and only the sloe bush had kept its fruit—sour fruit that dried upyour mouth. Oh, how grey and dismal it was out in the wide world!

STORY THE FOURTH

A Prince and Princess

Gerda had to rest herself again. And there, hopping over the roadright in front of where she sat, was a large crow. For a long time ithad sat and looked at her with its head on one side, and now it said,"Kra, Kra—Goo'day, Goo'day!"—it couldn't say it any better, but itmeant very kindly by the little girl, and asked where she was goingall alone in the wide world. The words "all alone" Gerda understoodvery well, and felt how much they meant; so she told the crow all thestory of her life and asked if it had seen Kay. The crow nodded verythoughtfully, and said, "Maybe, maybe." "What? Do you think you have?"the little girl cried, and almost squeezed the crow to death, shekissed it so hard.

"Gently! Gently!" said the crow. "I think it may be little Kay, but ifso, he's quite forgotten you for the Princess."

"Does he live with a Princess?" asked Gerda.

"Yes, listen," said the crow, "but I find it so hard to talk yourspeech. If you can understand crow-talk I can tell you better."

"No, I haven't learnt it," said Gerda, "but Granny knew it, and knewP-talk too. I wish I'd learnt it."

"Doesn't matter," said the crow, "I'll tell you as well as I can, butI shall make a poor business of it." So it told what it knew.

"In the kingdom where we are now there lives a Princess who isexceedingly clever; besides, she's read all the newspapers in theworld and forgotten 'em again, she's so clever. The other day she wassitting on her throne, which isn't much fun after all, people say; andshe happened to hum a song which was 'Heigh-ho for a husband!' 'Why,there's something in that,' said she, and she made up her mind tomarry; only she would have a husband who knew how to answer when youtalked to him, one that didn't merely stand there and lookdistinguished; that's very dull. So she had all the court ladiesdrummed up, and when they heard what she wanted, they were delighted.'I do like that,' they said, 'we were just thinking something of thesort the other day.' Now you may be sure every word I'm telling you istrue,' said the crow, 'for I've got a sweetheart who's tame and goeseverywhere about the palace, and she told me the whole thing.' Ofcourse, the sweetheart was a crow too, for crow seeks his mate, andthe mate's always a crow.

"The newspapers came out immediately with a border of hearts and thePrincess's monogram, and you could read there how it was open to anygood-looking young man to come up to the palace and speak with thePrincess, and the one that spoke so you could see he was at homethere, and talked the best, the Princess would take him for husband.Yes, indeed," said the crow, "you may take it from me, as sure as Isit here, the people came streaming in: there was a crowd and acommotion, but nothing came of it, either the first day or the second.They could all of them talk well enough while they were out in thestreet, but when they came in by the palace gate and saw the guards insilver, and footmen in gold, all up the stairs, and the big halls alllighted up, they were flabbergasted, and when they stood in front ofthe throne where the Princess was sitting, they couldn't think ofanything to say but the last word she had said, and she didn't careabout hearing that over again. It was just as if the people in therehad got snuff into their stomachs and were stupefied till they got outinto the street again, and they could talk. There was a row of themreaching right away from the town gate to the palace. I went theremyself to look at it," said the crow. "They got hungry and thirstytoo, but they got nothing from the palace, not even so much as a glassof luke-warm water. Some of the cleverest, to be sure, had brought abit of bread and butter with them, but they didn't give theirneighbours any: they thought to themselves: 'Just let him look hungryand the Princess won't have him.'"

"But Kay, little Kay," asked Gerda. "When did he come? Was he amongall those people?" "Give me time, give me time! Now we are getting tohim. It was the third day, and there came a little fellow withouthorse or carriage, marching quite cheerfully straight up to thepalace. His eyes shone like gems and he had lovely long hair, but hisclothes were shabby."

"It was Kay," Gerda cried out joyfully. "Oh, then I've found him!" Andshe clapped her hands.

"He had a little bundle on his back," the crow said.

"Ah, that must have been his sledge," said Gerda, "for he went offwith his sledge." "It might quite well be that," said the crow. "Ididn't look very close at it, but I know from my tame sweetheart thatwhen he came in at the palace gate and saw the lifeguards in silverand the footmen in gold all up the stairs, he wasn't in the leasttaken aback, but nodded and said to them: 'It must be dull standing onthe stairs. I'd sooner go in.' The halls were shining with lights, andprivy councillors and excellencies were walking barefoot and carryinggolden dishes; it was enough to make anybody feel solemn. His bootscreaked dreadfully loud, but he wasn't frightened a bit." "That'scertainly Kay," said Gerda. "I know he'd got some new boots, I heardthem creak in Granny's room."

"Yes, creak they did," said the crow, "and as bold as could be hewalked straight into the Princess, who was sitting on a pearl as bigas a spinning-wheel, and all the court ladies with their maids andtheir maids' maids, and all the courtiers with their men and theirmen's men, who keep a page, were stationed all around, and the nearerthey stood to the door the prouder they looked: the men's men's page,who always wears slippers, can hardly be looked at, he's so proudstanding there at the door."

"That must be frightening," said little Gerda, "and yet Kay won thePrincess!"

"If I hadn't been a crow I'd have taken her myself, though I amengaged. He spoke, it seems, every bit as well as I do when I speakcrow-talk, so my tame sweetheart tells me. He was cheerful andnice-looking. He hadn't come courting at all, but only to hear thePrincess's conversation, and he thought well of it, and she thoughtwell of him."

"Oh, yes! Certainly it's Kay," said Gerda. "He was clever: he knewmental arithmetic with fractions. Oh, won't you take me into thepalace?"

"It's easy enough to say that," said the crow, "but how are we tomanage it? I must talk to my tame sweetheart about it, she's sure tobe able to advise us; for I must tell you that a little girl like youwill never be allowed to come right in."

"Oh, yes, I shall," said Gerda. "When Kay hears I'm here, he'll comeout directly and fetch me." "Well, wait for me here at the stile,"said the crow, and put his head on one side and flew off. Only when itwas dark did the crow come back. "Rax! rax!" said he. "She sends youher best compliments, and here's a small loaf for you which she tookfrom the kitchen: there's lots of bread there, and I'm sure you'rehungry. It's not possible for you to get into the palace: why, you'rebarefoot, and the guards in silver and the footmen in gold wouldn'tallow it; but don't cry, you shall get in all the same. My sweetheartknows of a little backstair that leads to the bedroom, and she knowswhere she can get the key."

They went into the garden, up the great avenue where one leaf afteranother was falling; and when the lights in the palace were put outone by one the crow led little Gerda across to a back door which stoodajar.

Oh, how Gerda's heart beat with anxiety and longing! She felt as ifshe was going to do something wrong, yet all she wanted was to know ifit was little Kay; why, it must be he; she imagined so vividly hisclever eyes and his long hair; she could actually see how he wouldsmile when they were sitting at home beneath the roses. He would, ofcourse, be overjoyed to see her and to hear what a long way she hadcome for his sake, and how everyone at home had grieved when he didn'tcome back. How anxious and how glad she was!

They were now at the stairs: a little lamp was burning in a stand: inthe middle of the floor stood the tame crow, turning her head this wayand that, and contemplating Gerda, who curtsied as her grandmother hadtaught her to do.

"My betrothed has spoken most charmingly of you, my little lady," saidthe tame crow, "and your biography, as we may call it, is also verytouching. If you will take the lamp, I will lead the way. We shall goby the shortest way, where we shall meet no one."

"I think someone is coming after us," said Gerda. Something camerushing by, as it were shadows passing along the wall, horses withfluttering manes and slender legs, huntsmen and lords and ladies onhorseback.

"They're only dreams," said the crow, "they come and fetch theQuality's thoughts out a-hunting, and it's a good thing; you can lookat them in bed all the better. Only let me see, if you come to honourand distinction, that you bear a thankful heart."

"Oh, there's no use talking about that," said the crow from theforest.

They now entered the first chamber, which was of rose-red satin withworked flowers on the walls; here the dreams were already darting pastthem, but they went so quick that Gerda could not manage to see theQuality. Each chamber was handsomer than the last, it was enough tobewilder anyone; and now they were in the bedchamber. The roof of thiswas made like a palm tree with leaves of glass—costly glass—and inthe middle of the floor there hung from a thick stem of gold two beds,each made to look like a lily; one was white, and in it lay thePrincess; the other was red, and there it was that Gerda must look forlittle Kay. She bent aside one of the red leaves, and there she saw abrown neck—oh, it was Kay. She called his name aloud and held thelamp over him. The dreams dashed back into the room, galloping—hewoke, turned his head, and—it wasn't little Kay.

The Prince was only like him in the neck, but he was young andhandsome, and out of the white lily bed the Princess peeped and askedwhat was the matter. Then little Gerda burst into tears and told herwhole story and all that the crows had done for her.

"Poor little dear!" said the Prince and the Princess, and they praisedthe crows and said they were not at all displeased with them, but allthe same they mustn't do it again. Meanwhile they should be rewarded."Would you like to go free?" the Princess asked, "or would you like apermanent situation as court crows, with everything that is dropped inthe kitchen?"

Both crows bowed and asked for permanent situations, for they hadtheir old age in mind, and, said they, "It's a very good thing to havesomething in store for the old man". That was their phrase. The Princegot up out of his bed and let Gerda sleep in it, and he couldn't domore than that! She clasped her little hands and said: "How kindpeople and animals are." And then she shut her eyes and sleptdeliciously. All the dreams came flying back, and now they looked likeangels of God, and they were drawing a little sledge, and in it satKay, nodding to her: but it was all only dreams, and so it was goneagain as soon as she woke up.

Next day she was dressed out in silk and velvet from top to toe andinvited to stay at the palace and enjoy herself; but she begged onlyto have a little carriage and horse, and a pair of little boots, andshe would drive out again into the wide world and find Kay. She wasgiven both boots and a muff, and was dressed out very nicely, and whenshe was to set off a new carriage of pure gold drew up at the door.The arms of the Prince and Princess shone like a star on it. Thecoachmen and servants and outriders (there were outriders too) woregold crowns. The Prince and Princess helped her into the carriagethemselves and wished her the best of luck. The forest crow, who wasnow married, went with her for the first twelve miles, sitting besideher, for he couldn't stand being driven backwards. The other crowstood in the doorway and flapped her wings; she couldn't come withthem, for she was suffering from a headache since she had obtained apermanent situation and too much to eat. Inside, the coach had aprovision of sugar twists, and inside the seat was fruit andgingerbread nuts. "Good-bye, good-bye!" shouted the Prince andPrincess. Little Gerda cried, and the crow cried, and so it went forthe first few miles. Then the crow said, "Good-bye" and that was thehardest parting. He flew up into a tree and flapped his black wings aslong as he could see the carriage, that shone as bright as thesunshine.

STORY THE FIFTH

The Little Robber Girl

They were driving through the dark forest, but the coach shone like ablaze, and dazzled the eyes of the robbers and they couldn't stand it."It's gold, it's gold!" they shouted, and dashed out and seized thehorses, killed the little postilions and the coachman, and theservants, and dragged little Gerda out of the carriage.

"She's fat, she's dainty, she's been fed up with nut kernels," saidthe old robber woman, who had a long coarse beard and eye-brows thathung down over her eyes; "she's as good as a little house-lamb; aha,how good she'll taste!" With that she drew her bright knife, and itshone frightfully.

"Ow!" said the old hag all at once. She'd been bitten in the ear byher own little daughter, who was hanging on her back, and was so wildand rough as never was. "Nasty brat!" said her mother, and had no timeto kill Gerda.

"She shall play with me," said the little robber girl, "she will giveme her muff and her nice frock and sleep with me in my bed." She gaveher mother another bite, so that the old hag jumped in the air andtwisted right round, and all the robbers laughed and said: "Look ather dancing with her young 'un."

"I'm going to go in the coach," said the little robber girl, and shemust and would have her way, so spoilt and obstinate she was. She andGerda sat in it and drove over stumps and thorn-bushes, deep into theforest. The little robber girl was as big as Gerda, but stronger,broader in the shoulders and dark-skinned. Her eyes were quite blackand had a rather sorrowful expression. She put her arm about littleGerda and said: "They shan't kill you as long as I don't get crosswith you: of course, you're a Princess?"

"No," said little Gerda, and told her everything that had happened toher, and how fond she was of little Kay. The robber girl looked at hervery gravely and nodded her head and said: "They shan't kill you evenif I do get cross with you; I'll do it myself." And she dried Gerda'seyes and put both her hands into the pretty muff that was so soft andwarm.

The coach stopped. They were in the court of a robber's castle. It hadsplit from top to bottom. Ravens and crows flew out of the holes inthe wall, and the big bulldogs, each of which looked as if he couldswallow a man, leapt high in the air but didn't bark, for they weren'tallowed to. In the great old sooty hall a large fire was burning inthe middle of the stone floor; the smoke mounted to the vault and hadto find its own way out. A large copper was on the boil, with soup,and hares and rabbits were turning on the spit.

"You shall sleep to-night with me and all my pets," said the robbergirl. They had something to eat and drink, and then went off into acorner where straw and blankets were lying: up above, about a hundredpigeons were perched on laths and poles. They seemed to be all asleep,but they stirred a little when the girls came there.

"Those are all mine," said the little robber girl. She seized one ofthe nearest and held it by the legs and shook it till it flapped itswings. "Kiss it," she cried, buffeting Gerda in the face with it."There sit the wood rubbish," she went on, pointing behind a number ofslats nailed in front of a hole higher up. "Wood rubbish they are,those two. They'd fly off at once if they hadn't been locked up safe;and there's my own old sweetheart Bae." She pulled out a reindeer bythe horn: he had a bright ring of copper on his neck and was tetheredup. "We have to keep him tight too, else he'd go bounding away fromus. Every blessed night I tickle him in the neck with my sharp knife,and it frightens him awfully," and the little girl pulled a long knifeout of a crack in the wall and slid it along the reindeer's neck. Thepoor beast kicked out with his legs and the robber girl laughed, andthen pulled Gerda into bed with her.

"Do you want the knife with you when you go to sleep?" Gerda asked,looking at it rather nervously.

"I always sleep with my knife by me," said the little robber girl,"you never know what may happen. But now tell me again what you toldme about little Kay, and why you've come out into the wide world." SoGerda told it again from the beginning, and the wood-pigeons cooed upin their cage, and the other pigeons slept. The little robber girl puther arms round Gerda's neck, holding her knife in her other hand, andslept—you could hear her—but Gerda couldn't even shut her eyes; shedidn't know whether she was to live or die. The robbers sat round thefire and sang and drank, and the old hag turned head over heels. Itwas a frightful sight for the little girl to see.

Then the wood-pigeons said: "Coo, Coo! We have seen little Kay. Awhite hen was carrying his sledge, and he was sitting in the SnowQueen's carriage which was flying low above the forest where we lay inthe nest. She breathed on us young ones and all of them died but ustwo. Coo! Coo!" "What are you saying up there?" cried Gerda. "Wheredid the Snow Queen drive to? Do you know anything about it?"

"She drove to Lapland for sure, for there's always snow and ice there.Just ask the reindeer that's tied by the rope there."

"There is ice and snow, it's lovely and pleasant there," said thereindeer. "There you can run about free in the great shining valleys.The Snow Queen has her summer pavilion there, but her strong castle isup by the North Pole, on the island that's called Spitzbergen."

"Oh, Kay, dear little Kay!" sighed Gerda.

"Now just you lie still," said the robber girl, "else you'll get aknife in your belly." In the morning Gerda told her everything thewood-pigeons had said, and the little robber girl looked very grave,but nodded and said: "It's all one, it's all one. Do you know whereLapland is?" she asked the reindeer.

"Who should know better than I?" said the beast, his eyes dancing inhis head. "I was bred and born there, and it's there I used to boundover the snowfields."

"Look here," said the robber girl to Gerda, "all our menfolk are out,you see, but mother's here still and here she'll be; but later in themorning she'll drink out of the big bottle and have a little napafter; and then I'll do something for you." She jumped out of bed, ranacross to her mother and pulled her by the beard, and said, "Goodmorning to my own dear nanny goat". And her mother flipped her underthe nose till it turned red and blue, but it was all done out of pureaffection.

Well, when her mother had had a drink out of the bottle and was takinga little nap, the robber girl went to the reindeer and said: "I shouldawfully like to give you a lot more ticklings with my sharp knife, foryou're very funny when I do; but no matter for that, I'm going toloose your tether and help you off, so that you can run to Lapland.But you must put your best foot foremost and take the little girl forme to the Snow Queen's palace where her playfellow is. You've heardwhat she told me, for she talked quite loud enough, and you wereeavesdropping."

The reindeer jumped for joy. The robber girl lifted little Gerda upand had the forethought to tie her fast, and even give her a littlepad to sit on. "It don't matter," said she. "Here are your fur boots,for it'll be cold, but your muff I shall keep, it's much too pretty.All the same, you shan't be frozen. Here's my mother's big mittensthat reach up to your elbow, shove 'em on. Now your hands look justlike my ugly old mother's."

Gerda cried for joy.

"I hate your whimpering," said the little robber girl. "Why, you oughtto look really happy; and there's two loaves for you, and a ham, soyou shan't starve." Both these were tied to the reindeer's back. Thelittle robber girl opened the door, and called in all the big dogs,and then she cut the rope with her knife and said to the reindeer:"Off you go, but take good care of the little girl." Gerda stretchedout her hands in the big mittens to the robber girl, and said"Good-bye", and then the reindeer bounded off over bushes and stumpsthrough the great forest, over marsh and moor, as fast as ever hecould. The wolves howled and the ravens screamed. In the sky there wasa noise, "Fut, fut!" It seemed as if someone were sneezing red. "Thoseare my dear Northern Lights," said the reindeer, "look how theyshine." Faster and faster he ran, through day and night alike. Theloaves were eaten up and the ham too, and then—they were in Lapland.

STORY THE SIXTH

The Lapp Woman and the Finn Woman

They stopped at a small house, a wretched place it was. The roofreached down to the ground, and the door was so low that the familyhad to crawl on their stomachs when they wanted to get in or out.There was nobody at home but an old Lapp woman who stood roasting fishat an oil lamp, and the reindeer told her Gerda's story; but first hisown story, for he considered that was much more important; and Gerdawas so exhausted with the cold that she couldn't speak.

"Dear me, you poor dear creature!" said the Lapp woman. "You've got along way to run yet! You must travel more than four hundred miles,into Finmark, for there it is that the Snow Queen has hercountry-house and burns blue lights every blessed night. I'll write aword or two on a dry cod, for I haven't any paper, and give it you totake to the Finn woman up there: she can tell you more than I can." Soas soon as Gerda had got warm and had had something to eat and drink,the Lapp woman wrote a few words on a split cod and told Gerda to takegreat care of it, and then she tied her fast on the reindeer again,and off he bounded. "Fut, fut!" the noise went on in the sky, and allnight the loveliest blue Northern Lights burned there. And then theygot to Finmark and knocked at the Finn woman's chimney, for shehadn't a door.

There was such a heat inside that the Finn woman herself went almostnaked. She was stout and very thick made; she made haste to undolittle Gerda's clothes and took off her mittens and boots, otherwiseshe would have been too hot. She laid a piece of ice on the reindeer'shead, and then read what was written on the cod-fish. Three times overshe read it, and then knew it backwards, and she put the fish into thecooking pot, for it might just as well be eaten, and she never wastedanything.

Then the reindeer told, first, his own story, and then little Gerda's;and the Finn woman blinked her wise eyes, but said not a word.

"You are so clever," said the reindeer, "I know you can bind all thewinds of the world in a single thread, and when the skipper looses thefirst knot he gets a good wind, and if he looses the second it blowsstrong, and if he looses the third and the fourth there's a storm thatblows the forests down. Won't you give the little girl a drink, so shecan get the strength of twelve men and get the better of the SnowQueen?"

"Strength of twelve men!" said the Finn woman. "That would be just thething, to be sure!" She went over to a shelf and took out a largerolled-up skin which she unrolled; strange letters were written on it,and the Finn woman read in it till the water trickled down her brow.But the reindeer pleaded again so hard for little Gerda, and Gerdagazed at the Finn woman with such beseeching eyes full of tears thatshe began to blink her own eyes again, and drew the reindeer apartinto a corner, where she whispered to him, at the same time layingfresh ice on his head.

"Little Kay is with the Snow Queen, sure enough, and finds everythingafter his own wish and thought, and believes that it is the best placein the world: but that comes of his having a splinter of glass in hisheart and a little grain of glass in his eye. They must come out, orhe will never become human again, and the Snow Queen will keep herpower over him."

"But can't you give little Gerda something to take, so that she canget the better of it all?"

"I can give her no greater power than she has already! Don't you seehow great it is, how men and beasts alike are bound to serve her, andhow she has made her way so wonderfully in the world on her barefeet? She must not learn of her power from us; it lies in her heart,it lies in her being a dear innocent child. If she cannot win throughto the Snow Queen and rid little Kay of the glass, we cannot be of anyhelp. Ten miles from here begins the Snow Queen's garden, and you cancarry the little girl as far as that. Put her down by the large bushthat stands there in the snow with red berries on it. Don't make along jabber of it, and make haste back." Then the Finn woman liftedlittle Gerda up on to the reindeer, and he ran off as fast as hecould.

"Oh, I haven't got my boots, I haven't got my mittens!" cried littleGerda. She noticed it at once in the scorching cold. But the reindeerdared not stop, and he ran till he came to the large bush with the redberries, and then he put little Gerda down, kissed her on the mouth,and large limpid tears ran down over the beast's cheeks. Then he ranoff back again as hard as he could. There stood poor Gerda shoeless,without gloves, in the middle of fearful ice-cold Finmark.

She ran on as quick as she could, and then there appeared a wholeregiment of snowflakes. They had not fallen from the sky, for that wasquite clear and shining with the Northern Lights. These snowflakes ranalong the ground, and the nearer they came the larger they grew. Gerdaremembered how big and how wonderfully wrought they had looked, thattime when she looked at some snowflakes through the magnifying glass;but here they were quite of another sort in size and dreadfulness;they were alive, they were the Snow Queen's sentinels. They were ofthe strangest shapes. Some looked like great ugly hedgehogs, otherslike knots of snakes sticking their heads out and others again likelittle fat bears with bristling hair. All of them were glitteringwhite, and all were living snowflakes.

Then little Gerda began to say the Lord's Prayer, and so fierce wasthe cold that she could see her own breath coming out of her mouthlike a cloud of smoke. Thicker and thicker it grew, and shaped itselfinto little bright angels who grew larger and larger when they touchedthe ground. They all had helmets on their heads and spears and shieldsin their hands, and more and more of them came. By the time Gerda hadfinished saying her prayer there was a whole legion of them about her.They struck at the ugly snowflakes with their spears and broke theminto hundreds of bits, and little Gerda went safely and boldlyonwards. The angels chafed her hands and feet, and she felt the coldless, and on she went quickly towards the Snow Queen's palace.

But now we must see how little Kay's getting on. He certainly wasn'tthinking about little Gerda, and least of all that she was justoutside the palace.

STORY THE SEVENTH

What happened in the Snow Queen's Palace, and what happened afterthat

The walls of the palace were of drifted snow, and the windows anddoors of cutting wind. More than a hundred halls there were, all justas the snow had drifted. The largest was many miles long; all were litup with the bright Northern Lights, and they were vast, empty,ice-cold and shining. There was never any merrymaking there, never somuch as a little dance for the bears, when the storms could play forthem and the polar bears walk about on their hind legs and show theirpretty manners: never a nice little party to play slap-in-the-mouth,and rap-your-paws: never the least bit of a coffee party for the whitefox misses: empty, vast, cold it was in the halls of the Snow Queen.The Northern Lights sent up their flames with such accuracy that youcould mark exactly where they were at their highest point and when attheir lowest. In the midst of the endless, empty hall there was afrozen lake: it had cracked into thousands of pieces, but each piecewas so exactly similar to the next that it was like a conjuring trick.In the centre of this the Snow Queen would sit when she was at home,and say that she was seated in the mirror of intellect, and that itwas the only one and the best in the whole world.

Little Kay was quite blue with the cold, nay, almost black, but hedidn't notice it, for the Snow Queen had kissed the shivers out ofhim, and his heart was practically a lump of ice. He went aboutdragging a number of sharp-edged flat pieces of ice which he wasarranging in every possible pattern and trying to make something outof them: just as you and I have little flat bits of wood and arrangethem in patterns—a Chinese puzzle it's called. Kay too, went onmaking patterns of the most elaborate kind—the Intellectual IcePuzzle. To his thinking, these patterns were most remarkable and ofthe very greatest importance: this was the effect of the grain ofglass that was stuck in his eye. He put together patterns to form awritten word; but he never could succeed in putting out the exact wordthat he wanted, which was the word "Eternity". The Snow Queen hadsaid: "If you can find me that pattern, you shall be your own master,and I'll make you a present of the whole world, and a new pair ofskates." But he couldn't manage it. "Now I'm going to whisk off to thehot countries," said the Snow Queen. "I shall go and peep into theblack pots (those were the fiery mountains, Etna and Vesuvius they'recalled). I must whiten them a bit: that's my job, and, besides, it'llbe good for the lemons and vines. So off flew the Snow Queen, and Kaysat there all alone in the mile-long empty hall of ice, and gazed atthe bits of ice and thought and thought till he crackled; all stiffand still he sat, you would have thought he was frozen to death.

It was at that moment that little Gerda walked into the palace throughthe great gate that was made of the cutting wind: but she said herevening prayer, and at that the winds laid themselves down as it wereto sleep, and she entered the vast empty cold hall. And there she sawKay and knew him, and flew and caught him by the neck, and clasped himclose and cried: "Kay! Darling little Kay! So I've found you at last!"

But there he sat quite still and stiff and cold. Then little Gerdawept hot tears, which fell on his bosom and pierced through to hisheart and thawed that lump of ice and consumed the little bit of glassthat was there. He looked at her, and she sang the hymn:

Then Kay burst into weeping: he wept so that the grain of glass randown out of his eyes, and then he knew her and cried out in joy:"Gerda! Darling little Gerda! Wherever have you been all this time,and where have I been?" He looked about him. "How cold it is here, howempty it is and how big!" And he held fast to Gerda, and she laughedand cried with joy. It was all so happy that the very bits of icedanced about for joy; and when they were tired and lay down again,there they lay exactly in those letters which the Snow Queen had saidKay must make up, and if he did he should be his own master and shewould give him the whole world and a new pair of skates.

And Gerda kissed his cheeks and they became rosy; she kissed his eyesand they shone like hers; she kissed his hands and feet and he waswell and sound. The Snow Queen might come back as soon as she liked;his release was there, written in shining bits of ice.

They took each other by the hand and walked out of the great palace.They talked of grandmother and of the roses on the roof, and whereverthey went the winds lay still and the sun broke out; and when theyreached the bush with the red berries, there stood the reindeerwaiting for them, and he had another young doe with him, whose udderwas full, and it gave the little ones its warm milk and kissed them onthe mouth. Then the two carried Kay and Gerda, first to the Finnwoman, where they warmed themselves in the hot room and got directionsfor their journey home, and then to the Lapp woman, who had made newclothes for them and repaired Kay's sledge.

The reindeer and the doe bounded along beside them, and accompaniedthem to the boundary of the country. There the first green leaves werepeeping out, and there they took leave of the reindeer and the Lappwoman. "Good-bye!" said everybody: and now the first little birdsbegan to twitter, the forest had green buds on it—and out of it cameriding on a fine horse (which Gerda recognized, for it had beenharnessed to the gold coach) a young girl with a flaming red cap onher head and pistols at her side. It was the little robber girl, whohad got tired of staying at home and meant to go, first northwards andthen some other way if she didn't like it. She knew Gerda at once andGerda knew her, and they were delighted. "You're a cheerful sort ofchap to trapse about after!" said she to little Kay. "I'd like to knowif you're worth anyone's running to the other end of the world on youraccount!" But Gerda stroked her cheeks and asked after the Prince andPrincess.

"They've gone travelling abroad," said the robber girl. "And thecrow?" little Gerda asked.

"Oh, the crow's dead," she answered. "The tame sweetheart's a widow,and goes about with a bit of black worsted on her leg. She keeps up afearful whining about it, but it's all my eye. But now, tell me howyou got on, and how you managed to get hold of him." So Gerda and Kayboth told her all the story. "And Snip-Snap-snurre-basselurre!" saidthe robber girl, shook hands with them both, and promised that if evershe passed through their town she'd come up and pay them a visit; andthen she rode off, out into the wide world.

But Kay and Gerda went on, hand in hand: and as they went, beautifulspring was all about them with blossom and greenery. The church bellsrang out, and they saw the tall towers and the big town—the very onewhere they lived—and into it they came and away to theirgrandmother's door, and up the stairs and into the room, whereeverything stood where it did before, and the clock was saying "Tick,tick", and the hands turning round. But, just as they passed throughthe door they were aware that they were grown people. The roses in thegutter were flowering in at the open windows, and there were thelittle stools, and Kay and Gerda sat down each on their own, and heldeach other by the hand. They had forgotten the cold empty splendour ofthe Snow Queen's palace as if it were a dismal dream. Grandmother wassitting there in God's bright sunshine and reading aloud from theBible. "Except ye become as little children, ye shall in no wise enterthe Kingdom of Heaven."

And Kay and Gerda looked into each other's eyes, and all at once theyunderstood the old hymn:

There they both sat, grown up and yet children, children at heart; andit was summer, warm delightful summer.

[End of The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen, fromHans Andersen Forty-Two Stories, translated by M. R. James]