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The scenario of the fairy tale "snow queen" in English. The Snow Queen. Comparison of translations of Hansen and "Soviet"

story one,

WHERE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE MIRROR AND ITS SHARDS

Let's start! When we reach the end of our history, we will know more than we do now. So, once upon a time there was a troll, feisty-preslying; Simply put, the devil. Once he was in a particularly good mood: he made such a mirror in which everything good and beautiful was utterly reduced, all the bad and ugly, on the contrary, appeared even brighter, it seemed even worse. The most beautiful lawns looked like boiled spinach in it, and the best of people looked like freaks, or it seemed that they were standing upside down, but they had no bellies at all! Faces were distorted to the point that it was impossible to recognize them; if someone had a freckle or a mole, it spread all over his face. The devil was terribly amused by all this. If a good, pious thought came to a person, then it was reflected in the mirror with an unimaginable grimace, so that the troll could not help laughing, rejoicing at his invention. All the students of the troll - he had his own school - talked about the mirror as if it were some kind of miracle.

Now only, - they said, - you can see the whole world and people in their true light!

And so they ran with the mirror everywhere; soon there was not a single country, not a single person who would not be reflected in it in a distorted form. Finally, they wanted to get to heaven to laugh at the angels and the creator himself. The higher they climbed, the more the mirror grimaced and writhed from grimaces; they could barely hold it in their hands. But then they got up again, and suddenly the mirror was so skewed that it escaped from their hands, flew to the ground and shattered. Millions, billions of its fragments, however, have done even more trouble than the mirror itself. Some of them were no more than a grain of sand, they scattered around the wide world, fell, it happened, into people's eyes, and so they remained there. A person with such a shard in his eye began to see everything upside down or to notice only the bad sides in every thing - after all, each shard retained the property that distinguished the mirror itself. For some people, the fragments hit right in the heart, and this was the worst: the heart turned into a piece of ice. Between these fragments there were also large ones, such that they could be inserted into window frames, but you should not look at your good friends through these windows. Finally, there were also such fragments that went into glasses, only the trouble was if people put them on in order to look at things more vigilantly and judge them more accurately! The evil troll laughed colic, so pleasantly tickled by the success of this invention. And many more fragments of the mirror flew around the world. We'll hear about it now!

Story two

BOY AND GIRL

In a big city, where there are so many houses and people that not everyone manages to fence off at least a small place for a garden, and where, therefore, most of the inhabitants have to be content with indoor flowers in pots, there lived two poor children, but they had a garden a little larger than a flower pot . They were not related, but they loved each other like brother and sister. Their parents lived in the attics of adjacent houses. The roofs of the houses almost converged, and under the ledges of the roofs there was a gutter that fell just under the window of each attic. It was worth, therefore, to step out of some window onto the gutter, and you could find yourself at the window of the neighbors.

My parents each had a large wooden box; in them grew onions, parsley, peas, and small bushes of roses, one in each, showered with marvelous flowers. It occurred to the parents to put these boxes on the gutter; thus, from one window to another stretched like two flower beds. Peas descended from the boxes in green garlands, rose bushes peeped through the windows and intertwined branches; something like a triumphal gate of greenery and flowers was formed. Since the boxes were very high and the children knew for sure that they should not be hung over the edge, the parents often allowed the boy and girl to walk to each other on the roof to visit and sit on a bench under roses. And what fun games they played here!

In winter, this pleasure ceased, the windows were often covered with ice patterns. But the children heated copper coins on the stove and applied them to the frozen panes - a wonderful round hole immediately thawed, and a cheerful, affectionate eye peered into it - each boy and girl, Kai and Gerda, looked out of their window. In the summer they could find themselves visiting each other with one jump, and in the winter they had to first go down many, many steps down, and then go up the same amount. Snowflakes fluttered outside.

It's white bees swarming! - said the old grandmother.

Do they also have a queen? - the boy asked; he knew that real bees always have a queen.

Eat! Grandma answered. - Snowflakes surround her in a dense swarm, but she is larger than all of them and never remains on the ground - she always rushes on a black cloud. Often at night she flies through the city streets and looks into the windows; that's why they are covered with ice patterns, like flowers!

Seen, seen! - the children said and believed that all this was the absolute truth.

Can't the Snow Queen come in here? - once asked the girl.

Let's try! - said the boy. - I'll put it on a hot stove, so it will melt!

But the grandmother patted him on the head and started talking about something else.

In the evening, when Kai was already at home and had almost completely undressed, about to go to bed, he climbed onto a chair by the window and looked into a small circle that had thawed out on the window glass. Snowflakes fluttered outside the window; one of them, a larger one, fell on the edge of a flower box and began to grow, grow, until at last it turned into a woman wrapped in the thinnest white tulle, woven, it seemed, from millions of snow stars. She was so lovely, so tender, all of dazzling white ice, and yet alive! Her eyes sparkled like stars, but there was neither warmth nor meekness in them. She nodded to the boy and beckoned him with her hand. The little boy was frightened and jumped off the chair; something like a large bird flashed past the window.

The next day there was a glorious frost, but then a thaw came, and then spring came. The sun was shining, the flower boxes were all green again, the swallows were nesting under the roof, the windows were opened, and the children could again sit in their little garden on the roof.

The roses have bloomed beautifully all summer. The girl learned a psalm, which also spoke of roses; the girl sang it to the boy, thinking about her roses, and he sang along with her:

The children sang, holding hands, kissed roses, looked at the bright sun and talked to it - it seemed to them that the infant Christ himself was looking at them from it. What a wonderful summer it was, and how good it was under the bushes of fragrant roses, which, it seemed, were supposed to bloom forever!

Kai and Gerda sat and examined a book with pictures - animals and birds; the big clock tower struck five.

Oh! the boy suddenly exclaimed. - I was stabbed right in the heart and something got into my eye!

The girl threw her arm around his neck, he blinked, but there seemed to be nothing in his eye.

It must have popped up! - he said.

But that's the point, it's not. Two fragments of the devil's mirror fell into his heart and into his eye, in which, as we, of course, remember, everything great and good seemed insignificant and ugly, and evil and bad grew, the shortcomings of each thing were immediately evident. Poor Kai! Now his heart should have turned into a piece of ice! The pain in the eye and in the heart has already passed, but the fragments themselves remained in them.

What are you crying about? he asked Gerda. - Wu! How ugly are you now! It doesn't hurt me at all! Ugh! he shouted suddenly. - This rose is sharpened by a worm! And that one is completely crooked! What ugly roses! No better than boxes in which they stick out!

And he, pushing the box with his foot, tore out two roses.

Kai, what are you doing? - the girl screamed, and he, seeing her fright, pulled out another one and ran away from pretty little Gerda through his window.

If after that the girl brought him a book with pictures, he said that these pictures are good only for babies; if the old grandmother told anything, he found fault with the words. Yes, if only this! And then he got to the point that he began to mimic her walk, put on her glasses and imitate her voice! It came out very similar, and it made people laugh. Soon the boy learned to imitate all the neighbors - he was very good at showing off all their oddities and shortcomings - and people said:

What a head this little boy has!

And the reason for everything was the fragments of the mirror that hit him in the eye and in the heart. That is why he even scoffed at the pretty little Gerda, who loved him with all her heart.

And his amusements have now become completely different, so sophisticated. Once in the winter, when it was snowing, he went out with a large burning glass and put the skirt of his blue jacket under the snow.

Look in the glass, Gerda! - he said.

Each snowflake seemed much larger under the glass than it actually was, and looked like luxury flower or a decagonal star. What a miracle!

See how well done! Kai said. - This is much more interesting than real flowers! And what precision! Not a single wrong line! Ah, if only they had not melted!

A little later, Kai appeared in big mittens, with a sled behind his back, shouted in Gerda's very ear: "I was allowed to ride in the square with other boys!" And running.

There were a lot of children on the square. Those who were more daring tied their sledges to the peasants' sledges and traveled quite far in this way. The fun went on and on. In the midst of it, a large sleigh, painted white, rolled up from somewhere. In them sat a man wrapped in a white fur coat and with the same hat on his head. The sleigh circled the square twice; Kai quickly tied his sled to them and rolled. The big sledges sped faster and then turned off the square into a side street. The man sitting in them turned around and nodded to Kai, as though he were familiar. Kai tried several times to untie his sleigh, but the man in the fur coat nodded to him, and he rode on. Here they are outside the city gates. Snow suddenly fell in flakes, it got so dark that not a single light could be seen all around. The boy hurriedly let go of the rope, which caught on the big sledge, but his sledge seemed to stick to the big sledge and continued to fly in a whirlwind. Kai screamed loudly - no one heard him! The snow was falling, the sledges were racing, diving in snowdrifts, jumping over hedges and ditches. Kai was trembling all over, he wanted to read the Our Father, but in his mind one multiplication table was spinning.

The snowflakes kept growing and finally turned into big white hens. Suddenly they scattered to the sides, the big sledge stopped, and the man sitting in it stood up. It was a tall, slender, dazzling white woman - the Snow Queen; and her fur coat and hat were made of snow.

Nice ride! - she said. But are you completely cold? Get into my coat!

And, placing the boy in her sleigh, she wrapped him in her fur coat; Kai seemed to sink into a snowdrift.

Are you still cold? she asked and kissed him on the forehead.

Wu! Her kiss was colder than ice, pierced him with cold through and through and reached the very heart, and it was already half icy. For a moment it seemed to Kai that he was about to die, but no, on the contrary, it became easier, he even completely stopped feeling cold.

My sled! Don't forget my sled! he said.

And the sledge was tied on the back of one of the white hens, which flew with them after the big sledge. The Snow Queen kissed Kai again, and he forgot Gerda, and his grandmother, and all the household.

I won't kiss you again! - she said. "Or I'll kiss you to death!"

Kai looked at her; she was so good! He could not have imagined a smarter, more charming face. Now she did not seem to him icy, as she had been sitting outside the window and nodding her head to him; now she seemed perfect to him.

He was not at all afraid of her and told her that he knew all four operations of arithmetic, and even with fractions, he knew how many square miles and inhabitants each country, and she only smiled in response. And then it seemed to him that he really knew little, and he fixed his eyes on the endless air space. At the same instant, the Snow Queen flew with him onto a dark lead cloud, and they rushed forward. The storm howled and groaned, as if singing old songs; they flew over forests and lakes, over fields and seas, under them cold winds blew, wolves howled, snow sparkled, black crows flew screaming, and above them shone a large clear moon. Kai looked at him all the long, long winter night - during the day he slept at the feet of the Snow Queen.

Story three

FLOWER BOARD OF A WOMAN WHO Knew How to Conjure

And what happened to Gerda when Kai did not return? Where did he go? No one knew this, no one could tell anything about him. The boys said only that they saw him tying his sledge to a large magnificent sledge, which then turned into an alley and drove out of the city gates. Nobody knew where he had gone. Many tears were shed for him; Gerda wept bitterly and for a long time. Finally, they decided that he had died, drowned in the river that flowed outside the city. The dark winter days dragged on for a long time.

But then spring came, the sun came out.

Kai is dead and will never come back! Gerda said.

I do not believe! Sunlight answered.

He died and will never return! she repeated to the swallows.

We don't believe! they answered.

In the end, Gerda herself stopped believing it.

I'll put on my new red shoes - Kai has never seen them yet, - she said one morning, - and I'll go to the river to ask about him.

It was still very early; she kissed her sleeping grandmother, put on her red shoes, and ran all alone out of town, straight to the river.

Is it true that you took my sworn brother? I'll give you my red shoes if you give it back to me!

And it seemed to the girl that the waves were somehow strangely nodding to her; then she took off her red shoes, her greatest jewel, and threw them into the river. But they fell right at the shore, and the waves immediately carried them to land - the river seemed not to want to take her jewel from the girl, since she could not return Kai to her. The girl, thinking that she had not thrown her shoes far enough, climbed into the boat, which was rocking in the reeds, stood on the very edge of the stern and again threw her shoes into the water. The boat was not tied and pushed off the shore. The girl wanted to quickly jump onto land, but while she was making her way from stern to bow, the boat had already swum a whole arshin and quickly rushed down the stream.

Gerda was terribly frightened and began to cry and scream, but no one except the sparrows heard her cries; the sparrows, however, could not carry her to land, and only flew after her along the shore and chirped, as if wishing to console her:

"We are here! We are here!"

The banks of the river were very beautiful; everywhere one could see the most wonderful flowers, tall, sprawling trees, meadows on which sheep and cows grazed, but nowhere was a single human soul to be seen.

“Maybe the river is taking me to Kai?” - thought Gerda, cheered up, stood on her nose and admired the beautiful green shores for a long, long time. But then she sailed to a large cherry orchard, in which there was a house with colored glass in the windows and a thatched roof. Two wooden soldiers stood at the door and saluted everyone who passed by with their guns.

Gerda screamed at them - she mistook them for the living - but they, of course, did not answer her. So she swam even closer to them, the boat approached almost to the very shore, and the girl screamed even louder. Out of the house came out, leaning on a stick, an old, very old woman in a big straw hat painted with wonderful flowers.

Oh, you poor little one! - said the old woman. - How did you get on such a big fast river and climbed so far?

With these words, the old woman entered the water, hooked the boat with her stick, pulled it to the shore and landed Gerda.

Gerda was very glad that she finally found herself on dry land, although she was afraid of someone else's old woman.

Well, let's go, but tell me who you are and how you got here? - said the old woman.

Gerda began to tell her about everything, and the old woman shook her head and repeated: “Hm! Hm! But now the girl had finished and asked the old woman if she had seen Kai. She replied that he had not yet passed here, but, probably, he would pass, so that the girl had nothing to grieve about yet - she would rather try cherries and admire the flowers that grow in the garden: they are more beautiful than those drawn in any picture book and everyone knows how to tell fairy tales! Then the old woman took Gerda by the hand, took her to her house and locked the door with a key.

The windows were high from the floor and all of multi-colored - red, blue and yellow - glass; from this the room itself was illuminated by some amazing bright, iridescent light. There was a basket of ripe cherries on the table, and Gerda could eat them as much as she liked; while she ate, the old woman combed her hair with a golden comb. Her hair was curly, and the curls surrounded the fresh, round, like a rose, little girl's face with a golden glow.

For a long time I wanted to have such a cute little girl! - said the old woman. - Here you will see how well we will live with you!

And she continued to comb the girl's curls, and the longer she combed, the more Gerda forgot her named brother Kai - the old woman knew how to conjure. She was not an evil sorceress and conjured only occasionally, for her own pleasure; now she really wanted to keep Gerda. And so she went into the garden, touched with her stick all the rose bushes, and as they stood in full bloom, they all went deep, deep into the ground, and there was no trace of them. The old woman was afraid that Gerda, at the sight of her roses, would remember her own, and then Kai, and run away.

Having done her job, the old woman took Gerda to the flower garden. The girl's eyes widened: there were flowers of all kinds, all seasons. What a beauty, what a fragrance! In all the world one could not find more colorful picture books, more beautiful than this flower garden. Gerda jumped for joy and played among the flowers until the sun went down behind the tall cherry trees. Then they put her in a wonderful bed with red silk feather beds stuffed with blue violets; the girl fell asleep, and she had such dreams as only a queen sees on her wedding day.

The next day Gerda was again allowed to play in the sun. So many days passed. Gerda knew every flower in the garden, but no matter how many there were, it still seemed to her that something was missing, but which one? Once she sat and looked at the old woman's straw hat, painted with flowers; the most beautiful of them was a rose - the old woman forgot to erase it. That's what distraction means!

How! Are there any roses here? - Gerda was surprised and immediately ran to look for them all over the garden; she searched and searched, but she never found one!

Then the girl sank to the ground and wept. Warm tears fell right on the spot where one of the rose bushes used to stand, and as soon as they wet the ground, the bush instantly grew out of it, just as fresh, blooming as before. Gerda wrapped her arms around him, began to kiss the roses and remembered those wonderful roses that bloomed at her house, and at the same time about Kai.

How I lingered! - said the girl. - I have to look for Kai! .. Do you know where he is? she asked the roses. - Do you believe that he died and will not return again?

He didn't die! the roses said. - After all, we were underground, where all the dead lie, but Kai was not among them.

Thank you! - said Gerda and went to other flowers, looked into their cups and asked: - Do you know where Kai is?

But each flower basked in the sun and was absorbed only in its own fairy tale or story; Gerda heard a lot, a lot of them, but not one of the flowers said a word about Kai.

What did the fiery lily tell her?

Do you hear the drum beat? Boom! Boom! The sounds are very monotonous: boom, boom! Listen to the mournful singing of women! Listen to the cry of the priests!.. An Indian widow is standing at the stake in a long red robe. The flame is about to engulf her and the body of her dead husband, but she thinks about the living - about the one who is standing here, about the one whose eyes burn her heart more than the flame that will now incinerate her body. Can the flame of a bonfire extinguish the flame of the heart?

I don't understand anything! Gerda said.

This is my fairy tale! - answered the fiery lily.

What did the bindweed say?

A narrow mountain path leads to an ancient knight's castle proudly towering on a rock. The old brick walls are thickly covered with ivy. Its leaves cling to the balcony, and on the balcony stands a lovely girl; she leaned over the railing and looked at the road. The girl is fresher than a rose, more airy than an apple blossom swayed by the wind. How her silk dress rustles! "Won't he come?"

Are you talking about Kai? asked Gerda.

I tell my story, my dreams! - answered the bindweed.

What did the little snowdrop say?

A long board swings between the trees - this is a swing. Two little girls are sitting on the board; their dresses are as white as snow, and long green silk ribbons flutter from their hats. The brother, older than them, stands on the swing behind the sisters, clinging to the ropes with his elbows; in one hand he has a small cup of soapy water, in the other a clay tube. He blows bubbles, the board sways, the bubbles fly through the air, shimmering in the sun with all the colors of the rainbow. Here is one hanging on the end of the tube and swaying from the wind. A little black dog, light as a soap bubble, stands up on its hind legs, and puts its front paws on the board, but the board flies up, the dog falls, yelps and gets angry. Children tease her, bubbles burst ... The board sways, foam scatters - that's my song!

She may be good, but you say all this in such a sad tone! And again, not a word about Kai! What will the hyacinths say?

Once upon a time there were three slender, airy beauties sisters. On one dress was red, on the other blue, on the third completely white. Hand in hand they danced in the clear moonlight by the still lake. They were not elves, but real girls. A sweet fragrance filled the air, and the girls disappeared into the forest. Here the aroma became even stronger, even sweeter ... Three coffins floated across the lake - they appeared from the forest thicket, the beautiful sisters lay in them, and fireflies fluttered around them like living lights. Are the girls sleeping or dead? The scent of the flowers says they are dead. The evening bell tolls for the dead!

You made me sad! Gerda said. - Your bells also smell so strong! .. Now dead girls do not go out of my head! Oh, is Kai dead too? But the roses were underground and they say that he is not there!

Ding dan! hyacinth bells rang out. - We're not calling for Kai! We don't even know him! We call our own ditty; we can't do anything else!

And Gerda went to the golden dandelion shining in the brilliant green grass.

You little bright sun! Gerda told him. - Tell me, do you know where I can look for my named brother?

Dandelion shone even brighter and looked at the girl. What song did he sing to her? Alas! And in this song not a word was said about Kai!

Early spring; The bright sun shines warmly on the small courtyard. Swallows hover near the white wall of the neighboring house. From the green grass, the first yellow flowers peep out, sparkling in the sun, like gold. An old grandmother came out to sit in the yard; her granddaughter, a poor maid, came from among the guests, and kissed the old woman warmly. A girl's kiss is more precious than gold - it comes straight from the heart. Gold on her lips, gold in her heart, gold in the sky in the morning! That's all! Dandelion said.

My poor grandmother! Gerda sighed. - How she misses me, how she grieves! No less than she grieved for Kai! But I'll be back soon and bring him with me. There is nothing more to ask the flowers - you will not achieve anything with them, they only know their songs!

And she tied her skirt up to make it easier to run, but when she wanted to jump over the narcissus, he whipped her legs. Gerda stopped, looked at the long flower and asked:

Maybe you know something?

And she leaned towards him, waiting for an answer.

What did the narcissist say?

I see myself! I see myself! Oh, how fragrant I am! .. High, high in a small closet, under the very roof, there is a half-dressed dancer. She now balances on one leg, then again stands firmly on both and tramples the whole world with them - she is, after all, a mere optical illusion. Here she is pouring water from a teapot onto some white piece of matter that she is holding in her hands. This is her corsage. Cleanliness is the best beauty! A white skirt hangs on a nail driven into the wall; the skirt was also washed with water from the kettle and dried on the roof! Here the girl is dressing and tying a bright yellow handkerchief around her neck, which sets off the whiteness of the dress even more sharply. Again one leg soars into the air! Look how straight it stands on the other, like a flower on its stalk! I see myself, I see myself!

Yes, I have little to do with this! Gerda said. - There is nothing for me to tell about it!

And she ran out of the garden.

The door was locked only with a latch; Gerda pulled the rusty bolt, he succumbed, the door opened, and the girl, barefooted, began to run along the road! She turned back three times, but no one pursued her. Finally, she got tired, sat down on a stone and looked around: the summer had already passed, it was late autumn in the yard, and in the old woman’s wonderful garden, where the sun always shone and flowers of all seasons bloomed, this was not noticeable!

God! How I lingered! After all, autumn is in the yard! There is no time for rest! - said Gerda, and again set off on her way.

Oh, how her poor, tired legs hurt! How cold and damp it was in the air! The leaves on the willows were completely yellowed, the fog settled on them in large drops and flowed down to the ground; the leaves fell off like that. One blackthorn stood all covered with astringent, tart berries. How gray and dreary the whole world seemed!

Story Four

PRINCE AND PRINCESS

Gerda had to sit down again to rest. A large raven jumped in the snow in front of her; he looked at the girl for a long, long time, nodding his head to her, and finally spoke:

Kar-kar! Hello!

He could not pronounce it more humanly than this, but, apparently, he wished the girl well and asked her where she was wandering in the wide world all alone? Gerda understood the words "alone and alone" perfectly and immediately felt all their meaning. Having told the raven all her life, the girl asked if he had seen Kai?

Raven shook his head thoughtfully and said:

May be!

How? Is it true? - exclaimed the girl and almost strangled the raven with kisses.

Be quiet, be quiet! - said the raven. - I think it was your Kai! But now he must have forgotten you and his princess!

Does he live with the princess? asked Gerda.

But listen! - said the raven. “But it’s terribly difficult for me to speak your way!” Now, if you understood like a crow, I would tell you about everything much better.

No, they didn't teach me that! Gerda said. - Grandma - she understands! It would be nice if I could too!

That is OK! - said the raven. I'll tell you what I can, even if it's bad.

And he told about everything that only he knew.

In the kingdom where you and I are, there is a princess who is so clever that it is impossible to say! She has read all the newspapers in the world and has already forgotten everything she has read - what a clever girl! Once she was sitting on the throne - and there's not much fun in it, as people say - and she sang a song: "Why shouldn't I get married?" “But indeed!” - she thought, and she wanted to get married. But for her husband, she wanted to choose a man who would be able to answer when they spoke to him, and not someone who would only know how to put on airs - it's so boring! And so they called all the ladies of the court with a drumbeat and announced to them the will of the princess. They were all very pleased and said: “This is what we like! We’ve been thinking about this ourselves recently!” All this is true! - added the raven. - I have a bride at court, she is tame, walks around the palace - I know all this from her.

His bride was a crow - after all, everyone is looking for a wife to match.

The next day all the newspapers came out with a border of hearts and with the monograms of the princess. It was announced in the newspapers that every young man of good appearance could come to the palace and talk with the princess; the one who will behave quite freely, as at home, and will be the most eloquent of all, the princess will choose her husband! Yes Yes! repeated the raven. - All this is as true as the fact that I am sitting here in front of you! People poured into the palace in droves, the crush was terrible, but nothing came of it either on the first or on the second day. On the street, all the suitors spoke perfectly, but as soon as they stepped over the palace threshold, saw the guards all in silver, and the lackeys in gold, and entered the huge, light-filled halls, they were dumbfounded. They will come up to the throne where the princess is sitting, and they will repeat only her last words, but she didn’t need that at all! It’s true, they were all definitely drugged with dope! But when they left the gate, they again acquired the gift of speech. From the very gates to the doors of the palace stretched a long, long tail of suitors. I have been there and seen it! The suitors wanted to eat and drink, but even a glass of water was not taken out of the palace. True, those who were smarter stocked up on sandwiches, but the thrifty ones did not share with their neighbors, thinking to themselves: “Let them starve, grow thin - the princess will not take them!”

Well, what about Kai, Kai? asked Gerda. - When did he come? And he came to marry?

Wait! Wait! Now we just got to it! On the third day, a little man appeared, not in a carriage, not on horseback, but simply on foot, and entered the palace directly. His eyes shone like yours; his hair was long, but he was poorly dressed.

It's Kai! Gerda rejoiced. - So I found it! And she clapped her hands.

Behind him was a knapsack! continued the raven.

No, it must have been his sleigh! Gerda said. - He left home with a sled!

Very possible! - said the raven. - I didn't get a good look. So, my fiancee told me that when she entered the palace gates and saw the guards in silver, and the lackeys in gold on the stairs, he was not at all embarrassed, nodded his head and said: “It must be boring to stand here, on the stairs, I'd rather go into the rooms!" The halls were all flooded with light; the nobles walked about without boots, carrying golden dishes - it could not have been more solemn! And his boots creaked, but he was not embarrassed by this either.

It must be Kai! exclaimed Gerda. - I know he was wearing new boots! I myself heard how they creaked when he came to his grandmother!

Yes, they creaked in order! continued the raven. - But he boldly approached the princess; she sat on a pearl the size of a spinning wheel, and all around stood the ladies of the court and gentlemen with their maids, the maids of the maids, the valets, the servants of the valets and the servant of the valet servants. The farther one stood from the princess and closer to the doors, the more important, haughty he kept himself. It was impossible even to look at the servant of the valet servants, who was standing at the very door, without fear, he was so important!

That's fear! Gerda said. - Did Kai still marry the princess?

If I weren't a raven, I would marry her myself, even though I'm engaged. He entered into a conversation with the princess and spoke as well as I do when I speak crow - so, at least, my bride told me. In general, he behaved very freely and nicely and declared that he had not come to woo, but only to listen to the smart speeches of the princess. Well, now, he liked her, she liked him too!

Yes, yes, it's Kai! Gerda said. - He's so smart! He knew all four operations of arithmetic, and even with fractions! Oh, take me to the palace!

It's easy to say, - answered the raven, - but how to do it? Wait, I'll talk to my fiancee, she'll come up with something and advise us. Do you expect to be let into the palace straight out like that? Why, they don't let girls like that in there!

They'll let me in! Gerda said. - If only Kai would hear that I'm here, now he would come running after me!

Wait for me here by the grate! - said the raven, shook his head and flew away.

He returned quite late in the evening and croaked:

Kar, Kar! My bride sends you a thousand bows and this little loaf. She stole it in the kitchen - there are a lot of them, and you must be hungry! .. Well, it’s not so easy for you to get into the palace: you’re barefoot - guards in silver and lackeys in gold will never let you through. But don't cry, you'll still get there. My fiancee knows how to get into the princess's bedroom from the back door, and knows where to get the key.

And so they made their way into the garden, went along the long avenues strewn with yellowed autumn leaves, and when all the lights in the palace windows went out one by one, the raven led the girl through a small half-open door.

Oh, how Gerda's heart beat with fear and joyful impatience! She was definitely going to do something bad, and she only wanted to know if her Kai was here! Yes, yes, he is right here! She so vividly imagined his intelligent eyes, long hair, smile ... How he smiled at her when they used to sit side by side under rose bushes! And how happy he will be now when he sees her, hears what a long journey she decided on for him, learns how all the household grieved for him! Ah, she was just beside herself with fear and joy.

But here they are on the landing of the stairs; a lamp burned on the closet, and a tame crow sat on the floor and looked around. Gerda sat down and bowed, as her grandmother taught.

My fiancé told me so many good things about you, Miss! said the tame crow. - Your vita Life (lat.).- as it is customary to put it - also very touching! Would you like to take a lamp, and I will go ahead. You can safely go, here we will not meet anyone!

And I think someone is following us! - said Gerda, and at the same moment some shadows rushed past her with a slight noise: horses with fluttering manes and thin legs, hunters, ladies and gentlemen on horseback.

These are dreams! said the tame crow. “They come here so that the thoughts of high people are carried away to hunt. So much the better for us - it will be more convenient to consider sleeping! I hope, however, that by entering in honor you will show that you have a noble heart!

There is something to talk about! Needless to say! - said the forest raven.

Then they entered the first room, all covered with pink satin, woven with flowers. Dreams flashed past the girl again, but so quickly that she did not even have time to look at the riders. One room was more magnificent than the other - just taken aback. Finally they reached the bedroom: the ceiling looked like the top of a huge palm tree with precious crystal leaves; from the middle of it descended a thick golden stalk, on which hung two beds in the form of lilies. One was white, the princess slept in it, the other was red, and Gerda hoped to find Kai in it. The girl slightly uncurled one of the red petals of the blanket and saw a dark blond nape. It's Kai! She called him by name loudly and held the lamp close to his face. Dreams rushed away with noise; the prince woke up and turned his head... Ah, it wasn't Kai!

The prince looked like him only from the back of his head, but he was just as young and handsome. A princess looked out of a white lily and asked what happened. Gerda wept and told her whole story, mentioning also what the ravens had done for her.

Oh you poor thing! - said the prince and princess, praised the crows, announced that they were not at all angry with them - only let them not do this in the future - and even wanted to reward them.

Do you want to be free birds? the princess asked. - Or do you want to take the position of court ravens, on the full content of the kitchen leftovers?

Raven and crow bowed and asked for a position at the court - they thought about old age and said:

It's good to have a sure piece of bread in old age!

The prince got up and gave his bed to Gerda; there was nothing more he could do for her. And she folded her little hands, thought: “How kind all people and animals are!” She closed her eyes and fell asleep sweetly. The dreams again flew into the bedroom, but now they looked like God's angels and carried Kai on a small sledge, who nodded his head to Gerda. Alas! All this was only in a dream and disappeared as soon as the girl woke up.

The next day she was dressed from head to toe in silk and velvet and allowed to remain in the palace as long as she wished. The girl could live and live happily ever after, but she spent only a few days and began to ask that they give her a cart with a horse and a pair of shoes - she again wanted to start looking for her named brother in the wide world.

They gave her shoes, and a muff, and a wonderful dress, and when she said goodbye to everyone, a golden carriage drove up to the gate with the coats of arms of the prince and princess shining like stars; the coachman, footmen, and postilions—she was given postilions too—were wearing small golden crowns on their heads. The prince and princess themselves put Gerda into the carriage and wished her a happy journey. The forest raven, who had already managed to get married, accompanied the girl for the first three miles and sat in the carriage next to her - he could not ride with his back to the horses. A tame crow sat on the gate and flapped its wings. She did not go to see Gerda off because she had suffered from headaches ever since she got a position at court and ate too much. The carriage was crammed full of sugar pretzels, and the box under the seat was full of fruit and gingerbread.

Goodbye! Goodbye! the prince and princess shouted.

Gerda began to cry, and so did the crow. So they rode the first three miles. Then the raven said goodbye to the girl. It was a hard parting! The raven flew up into the tree and flapped its black wings until the carriage, shining like the sun, disappeared from view.

Story five

LITTLE Rogue

Here Gerda drove into a dark forest, but the carriage shone like the sun, and immediately caught the eye of the robbers. They could not stand it and flew at her, shouting: “Gold! Gold!" They grabbed the horses by the bridle, killed the little postilions, the coachman and the servants, and pulled Gerda out of the carriage.

Look, what a nice, fat little thing. Nuts fed! - said the old robber woman with a long stiff beard and shaggy, hanging eyebrows. - Fatty, what is your lamb! Well, what will it taste like?

And she drew a sharp, shining knife. Here is the horror!

Ay! she suddenly shouted: she was bitten on the ear by her own daughter, who was sitting on her neck and was so unbridled and willful that it was a pleasure!

Oh, you mean girl! - screamed the mother, but did not have time to kill Gerda.

She will play with me! - said the little robber. - She will give me her muff, her pretty dress and will sleep with me in my bed.

And the girl again bit her mother so that she jumped and spun on the spot. The robbers laughed.

Look how he rides with his girl!

I want to get in the carriage! - the little robber screamed and insisted on her own - she was terribly spoiled and stubborn.

They got into the carriage with Gerda and rushed over the stumps and over the bumps into the thicket of the forest. The little robber was as tall as Gerdu, but stronger, broader in the shoulders and much darker. Her eyes were completely black, but somehow sad. She hugged Gerda and said:

They won't kill you until I'm angry with you! Are you a princess?

No! - the girl answered and told what she had to experience and how she loves Kai.

The little robber looked at her seriously, nodded her head slightly, and said:

They won't kill you even if I get angry with you - I'd rather kill you myself!

And she wiped away Gerda's tears, and then hid both her hands in her pretty, soft and warm muff.

Here the carriage stopped; they entered the courtyard of the robber's castle. He was covered in deep cracks; crows and crows flew out of them; huge bulldogs jumped out from somewhere; they looked so ferocious, as if they wanted to eat everyone, but they didn’t bark - it was forbidden.

In the middle of a tall hall with dilapidated, soot-covered steppes and a stone floor, a fire was burning; the smoke rose to the ceiling and had to find its own way out; soup was boiling in a large cauldron over the fire, and hares and rabbits were roasting on skewers.

You will sleep with me right here, near my little menagerie! said the little robber girl to Gerda.

The girls were fed and watered, and they went to their corner, where straw was laid out, covered with carpets. More than a hundred pigeons sat on perches higher up; they all seemed to be asleep, but when the girls approached they stirred slightly.

All mine! - said the little robber girl, grabbed one pigeon by the legs and shook it so that it beat its wings. - Kiss him! she shouted, poking the dove in Gerda's face. - And here sit the forest rascals! she continued, pointing to two pigeons sitting in a small depression in the wall, behind a wooden grate. - These two are forest rascals! They must be kept locked up, otherwise they will fly away quickly! And here is my dear old man! - And the girl pulled the horns of a reindeer tied to the wall in a shiny copper collar. - He, too, must be kept on a leash, otherwise he will run away! Every evening I tickle him under the neck with my sharp knife - he is so afraid of death!

With these words, the little robber pulled out a long knife from a crevice in the wall and ran it along the deer's neck. The poor animal bucked, and the girl laughed and dragged Gerda to the bed.

Do you sleep with a knife? Gerda asked her, glancing at the sharp knife.

Always! - answered the little robber. - How do you know what might happen! But tell me again about Kai and how you set out to wander the wide world!

Gerda told. Caged wood pigeons cooed softly; the other doves were already asleep; the little robber wrapped one arm around Gerda's neck - she had a knife in the other - and began to snore, but Gerda could not close her eyes, not knowing whether they would kill her or let her live. The robbers sat around the fire, sang songs and drank, and the old robber woman tumbled. It was terrible to look at this poor girl.

Suddenly the wood pigeons cooed:

Kurr! Kurr! We saw Kai! A white hen carried his sled on her back, and he sat in the Snow Queen's sleigh. They flew over the forest when we chicks were still in the nest; she breathed on us, and everyone died, except for the two of us! Kurr! Kurr!

What are you saying? exclaimed Gerda. Where did the Snow Queen go?

She flew, probably, to Lapland - there is eternal snow and ice there! Ask the reindeer what is leashed here!

Yes, there is eternal snow and ice, a miracle, how good! - said the reindeer. - There you jump at will on the endless sparkling icy plains! There will be a summer tent of the Snow Queen, and her permanent palaces - at the North Pole, on the island of Svalbard!

Oh Kai, my dear Kai! Gerda sighed.

Lie still! - said the little robber. - Or I'll stab you with a knife!

In the morning Gerda told her what she had heard from wood pigeons. The little robber girl looked seriously at Gerda, nodded her head and said:

Well, so be it!.. Do you know where Lapland is? she then asked the reindeer.

Who knows if not me! - answered the deer, and his eyes sparkled. - There I was born and raised, there I jumped on the snowy plains!

So listen! said the little robber girl to Gerda. - You see, all our people are gone; one mother at home; after a while she will take a sip from a large bottle and take a nap - then I will do something for you!

Then the girl jumped out of bed, hugged her mother, pulled her beard and said:

Hello my little goat!

And her mother gave her nose clicks, so that the girl's nose turned red and blue, but all this was done lovingly.

Then, when the old woman took a sip from her bottle and began to snore, the little robber went up to the reindeer and said:

It would be possible to make fun of you for a long, long time! It hurts so hilariously you twitch when you are tickled by a sharp knife! Well, so be it! I will untie you and set you free. You can run away to your Lapland, but for this you must take this girl to the Snow Queen's palace - her named brother is there. Surely you heard what she said? She spoke quite loudly, and you always have ears on top of your head.

The reindeer jumped for joy. The little robber put Gerda on it, tied her tightly for safety's sake, and slipped a soft cushion under her to make it more comfortable for her to sit.

So be it, - she then said, - take back your fur boots - it will be cold! And I’ll keep the clutch for myself, it hurts so good! But I will not let you freeze; here are mother's huge mittens, they will be up to your elbows! Put your hands in them! Well, now you have hands like my ugly mother!

Gerda wept for joy.

I can't stand it when they whine! - said the little robber. - Now you have to look fun! Here's two loaves and a ham for you so you don't starve to death!

Both were tied to a deer. Then the little robber opened the door, lured the dogs into the house, cut the rope with which the deer was tied with her sharp knife, and said to him:

Well, live! Look at the girl!

Gerda held out her hands to the little robber in huge mittens and said goodbye to her. The reindeer set off at full speed through stumps and bumps, through the forest, through swamps and steppes. The wolves howled, the crows croaked, and the sky suddenly zafukala and threw out pillars of fire.

Here is my native northern lights! - said the deer. - Look how it burns!

Story six

LAPLAND AND FINCA

Oh you poor fellows! said the Laplander. - You still have a long way to go! You'll have to travel over a hundred miles before you get to Finnmark, where the Snow Queen lives in her country house and lights blue sparklers every evening. I will write a few words on dried cod - I have no paper - and you will take it to a Finnish woman who lives in those parts and will be able to teach you what to do better than I can.

When Gerda warmed up, ate and drank, the Laplander wrote a few words on dried cod, ordered Gerda to take good care of her, then tied the girl to the back of a deer, and he rushed off again. The sky again fukalo and threw out pillars of wonderful blue flame. So the deer ran with Gerda to Finnmark and knocked on the Finnish chimney - she didn’t even have doors.

Well, the heat was in her home! The Finn herself, a short, dirty woman, went about half-naked. She quickly pulled off all the dress, mittens and boots from Gerda - otherwise the girl would be too hot - she put a piece of ice on the deer's head and then began to read what was written on the dried cod. She read everything from word to word three times, until she memorized it, and then she put the cod into the cauldron - after all, the fish was good for food, and nothing was wasted with the Finn.

Then the deer told first his story, and then the story of Gerda. Finka blinked her intelligent eyes, but did not say a word.

You are such a wise woman! - said the deer. - I know that you can tie all four winds with one thread; when the skipper unties one knot, a fair wind blows, unties another, the weather breaks out, and unties the third and fourth, such a storm rises that it breaks trees into chips. Will you prepare for the girl such a drink that would give her the strength of twelve heroes? Then she would have defeated the Snow Queen!

The strength of twelve heroes! Finn said. - Well, advice!

With these words, she took a large leather scroll from the shelf and unfolded it: on it stood some amazing writing; The Finn began to read them and read them until her sweat broke out.

But the deer again began to ask for Gerda, and Gerda herself looked at the Finn with such pleading eyes full of tears that she blinked again, took the deer aside and, changing the ice on his head, whispered:

Kai is indeed with the Snow Queen, but he is quite pleased and thinks that he cannot be better anywhere. The reason for everything is the fragments of the mirror that sit in his heart and in his eye. They must be removed, otherwise he will never be a man and the Snow Queen will retain her power over him.

But can you help Gerda somehow destroy this power?

Stronger than it is, I can't make it. Don't you see how great her power is? Don't you see that both people and animals serve her? After all, she walked around half the world barefoot! It's not for us to borrow her strength! Her strength is in her heart, in her sweet, innocent baby heart. If she herself cannot penetrate into the halls of the Snow Queen and extract the fragments from Kai's heart, then we will not help her even more! Two miles from here begins the Snow Queen's garden. Take the girl there, let her down by a large bush covered with red berries, and, without delay, come back!

With these words, the Finn planted Gerda on the back of a deer, and he rushed to run as fast as he could.

Hey, I'm without warm boots! Hey, I'm not wearing gloves! cried Gerda, finding herself in the cold.

But the deer did not dare to stop until he ran to a bush with red berries; then he let the girl down, kissed her on the very lips, and large brilliant tears rolled from his eyes. Then he shot back like an arrow. The poor girl was left alone in the bitter cold, without shoes, without mittens.

She ran forward as fast as she could; a whole regiment of snow flakes rushed towards her, but they did not fall from the sky - the sky was completely clear, and the northern lights were blazing on it - no, they ran along the ground straight at Gerda and, as they approached, became larger and larger. Gerda remembered the big snowflakes under the magnifying glass, but these were much bigger, scarier, of the most amazing shapes and forms, and all alive. These were the advance detachments of the Snow Queen's army. Some resembled large ugly hedgehogs, others - hundred-headed snakes, others - fat bear cubs with tousled hair. But they all sparkled with the same whiteness, they were all living snowflakes.

Gerda began to read "Our Father"; it was so cold that the girl's breath immediately turned into a thick fog. This fog thickened and thickened, but then small, bright angels began to stand out from it, which, having stepped on the ground, grew into large formidable angels with helmets on their heads and spears and shields in their hands. Their number kept increasing, and when Gerda finished her prayer, a whole legion formed around her. The angels took the snow monsters on spears, and they crumbled into thousands of snowflakes. Gerda could now boldly go forward; the angels stroked her arms and legs, and she was no longer so cold. Finally, the girl reached the halls of the Snow Queen.

Let's see what Kai was doing at that time. He did not think about Gerda, and least of all about the fact that she was standing in front of the castle.

Story Seven

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE HALLS OF THE SNOW QUEEN AND WHAT HAPPENED THEN

The walls of the halls of the Snow Queen were swept by a blizzard, the windows and doors were done by violent winds. Hundreds of huge, aurora-lit halls stretched one after another; the largest stretched for many, many miles. How cold, how deserted it was in those white, brightly shining halls! Fun never came here! If only occasionally a bear party would be held here with dances to the music of the storm, in which polar bears could distinguish themselves with grace and the ability to walk on their hind legs, or a game of cards with quarrels and fights was made, or, finally, little white gossips agreed to talk over a cup of coffee chanterelles - no, it never happened! Cold, deserted, dead! The northern lights flashed and burned so regularly that it was possible to calculate with accuracy at what minute the light would increase and at what time it would weaken. In the middle of the largest deserted snow hall was a frozen lake. Its ice cracked into a thousand pieces, even and marvelously regular. In the middle of the lake stood the throne of the Snow Queen; on it she sat when she was at home, saying that she was sitting on the mirror of the mind; in her opinion, it was the only and best mirror in the world.

Kai turned completely blue, almost turned black from the cold, but did not notice this - the kisses of the Snow Queen made him insensitive to the cold, and his very heart became a piece of ice. Kai fiddled with flat, pointed ice floes, laying them in all sorts of frets. After all, there is such a game when figures are put together from wooden planks, it is called "Chinese puzzle". Kai also folded various intricate figures from ice floes, and this was called the "ice game of the mind." In his eyes, these figures were a miracle of art, and putting them together was an occupation of the first importance. This was because he had a shard of a magic mirror in his eye! He put together whole words from ice floes, but he could not put together what he especially wanted - the words "eternity". The Snow Queen said to him: "If you add this word, you will be your own master, and I will give you all the world and a pair of new skates." But he couldn't put it down.

Now I'm off to warmer climes! The Snow Queen said. - I'll look into the black cauldrons!

Cauldrons she called the craters of the fire-breathing mountains - Vesuvius and Etna.

I'll bleach them a little! It's good for lemons and grapes!

And she flew away, and Kai was left alone in the boundless deserted hall, looking at the ice floes and thinking, thinking, so that his head was cracking. He sat motionless, as if lifeless. You might think he was cold.

At this time, Gerda entered the huge gate, made by violent winds. She recited the evening prayer, and the winds subsided as if asleep. She freely entered the huge deserted ice hall and saw Kai. The girl immediately recognized him, threw herself on his neck, hugged him tightly and exclaimed:

Kai, my dear Kai! Finally I found you!

But he sat still the same motionless and cold. Then Gerda wept; her hot tears fell on his chest, penetrated into his heart, melted his icy crust and melted the fragment. Kai looked at Gerda, and she sang:

Roses are blooming... Beauty, beauty!

We will soon see the Christ child.

And Kai suddenly burst into tears and cried so long and so hard that the shard flowed out of his eye along with the tears. Then he recognized Gerda and was very happy.

Gerda! My dear Gerda! Where have you been for so long? Where was I myself? And he looked around. - How cold it is here, deserted!

And he clung tightly to Gerda. She laughed and cried with joy. Yes, the joy was such that even the ice floes began to dance, and when they got tired, they lay down and made up the very word that the Snow Queen asked Kai to compose; having folded it, he could become his own master, and even receive from her as a gift the whole world and a pair of new skates.

Gerda kissed Kai on both cheeks, and they again bloomed with roses, kissed his eyes, and they shone like her eyes; kissed his hands and feet, and he again became vigorous and healthy.

The Snow Queen could return at any time, - his free one lay there, written in shiny ice letters.

Kai and Gerda, hand in hand, walked out of the deserted ice halls; they walked and talked about their grandmother, about their roses, and violent winds subsided on their way, the sun peeped through. When they reached a bush with red berries, the reindeer was already waiting for them. He brought with him a young deer mother, her udder was full of milk; she made Kai and Gerda drunk with them and kissed them right on the lips. Then Kai and Gerda went first to the Finn, warmed up with her and found out the way home, and then to the Lapland; she sewed them a new dress, repaired her sleigh and went to see them off.

The reindeer couple also accompanied the young travelers to the very border of Lapland, where the first greenery was already breaking through. Here Kai and Gerda said goodbye to the reindeer and the Lapland girl.

Bon Voyage! - the escorts shouted to them.

Here is the forest in front of them. The first birds sang, the trees were covered with green buds. A young girl in a bright red cap and with pistols in her belt rode out of the forest to meet the travelers on a magnificent horse. Gerda immediately recognized both the horse - it had once been harnessed to a golden carriage - and the girl. It was a little robber; she was tired of living at home, and she wanted to go to the north, and if she didn’t like it, to other places. She also recognized Gerda. That was joy!

Look, you're a tramp! she said to Kai. - I would like to know if you are worthy of being followed to the ends of the world!

But Gerda patted her on the cheek and asked about the prince and princess.

They've gone to foreign lands! - answered the young robber.

And a raven with a raven? asked Gerda.

The forest raven is dead; the tame crow was left a widow, walks with black hair on its leg and complains about fate. But all this is nothing, but you better tell me what happened to you and how you found him.

Gerda and Kai told her about everything.

Well, that's the end of the story! - said the young robber, shook hands with them and promised to visit them if she ever came to their city. Then she went on her way, and Kai and Gerda went on theirs. They walked, and spring flowers bloomed on their road, grass turned green. Then the bells rang out, and they recognized the bell towers of their native town. They climbed the familiar stairs and entered the room, where everything was the same as before: the clock ticked the same way, the hour hand moved the same way. But, passing through the low door, they noticed that during this time they had managed to become adults. Blooming rose bushes peered through the open window from the roof; right there were their highchairs. Kai and Gerda each sat down on their own and took each other's hands. The cold, desolate splendor of the Snow Queen's halls was forgotten like a heavy dream. Grandmother sat in the sun and loudly read the Gospel: “Unless you are like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven!”

Kai and Gerda looked at each other and only then understood the meaning of the old psalm:

Roses are blooming... Beauty, beauty!

Soon we will see the baby Christ!

So they sat side by side, both already adults, but children in heart and soul, and outside it was a warm, fertile summer!

The Snow Queen.

Characters:

storyteller
Gerda
The Snow Queen
granny
The King's Counselor
Gentleman Crow
lady crow
Prince
Princess
The Old Robber Woman
The Little Robber Girl
reindeer
5 robbers
The servant

Scene 1

(The storyteller is sitting on the pillows in front of the fireplace)

storyteller: If it were not for me, you would never learn what happened to a boy called Kay. But silence. Let's begin.

(A poor room, a fireplace, 2 armchairs, rose bushes)

Gerda: Hello boys and girls! This is my brother. We live here, in this little house with our Granny. My name is Gerda.

Kay: And my name is Kay.

Gerda: What's it?

Kay: The stairs are creaking.

Gerda: Oh yes! They are cracking.

Kay: Here is our granny. Why is she knocking? Keep quite! Let's frighten her.

Gerda: All right!

(The children are running around the room trying to hide.)

Kay: Bow-wow-wow!

Gerda: Miaow-miaow!

Man: What's going on in this house? Why are you shouting? You silly children!

Gerda: We are very sorry! We thought you were our granny.

Kay: granny!

Gerda: Our granny!

granny: My dear children!

Man: Good evening, ma'am!

granny: Good evening Sir! What can I do for you? Who are you?

Man: I "m the King" s Counselor! I want to buy the roses.

granny: Do you like flowers?

Man: No, I hate them.

granny: Why do you want to buy them then?

Man: I buy rares. In winter flowers are rare! Here are ten pounds for your roses.

granny: I am not going to sell the roses. We like them very much.

Gerda: Yes, we love them.

Man: Thirty pounds:

granny: No!

Man: Fifty:

granny: No!

Man: I "m the King" s Counselor! I "m very rich! I sell ice. I know the Snow Queen! I can buy anything!

granny: They are not for sale.

Man: You are a crazy old woman!

Kay: Don't shout at our Granny! She is so kind!

Man: Well, I "m leaving! I"ll take revenge! I "ll tell the Snow Queen about you!

Kay: What an angry man!

Gerda: Granny, who is the Snow Queen?

(The sounds of mysterious music)

granny: The Snow Queen lives in the North! She is very beautiful but very cruel!

(The sounds of the blizzard)

(The Snow Queen appears)

The Snow Queen: Have you seen the Mystic Queen

Riding in her limousine

Over hills and dales till morning.

If you like I'll take you there

Find some colors you can wear.

Colors that you"ve only seen while sleeping.

Kay: Oh! Who are you?

S.Q.: I am the Snow Queen. good evening!

granny: good evening! Sit down, please!

S.Q.: No! It is very hot for me! You are very nice but old and poor. And you have two children. And I am very rich but alone. So, I "ll take this boy from you!

Kay: What? granny! I don't want to go with her!

Gerda: granny! Don't give Kay to her!

S.Q.: Kay! You "ll be my son! You will live in the beautiful palace!

Kay: I don't want!

(The Snow Queen touches Kay with her magic wand. The frightful music sounds.)

Kay: Ha-ha-ha! How fat and funny you are!

Gerda: What's the matter?

granny: I don't recognize you!

Kay: I don "t want to live in this poor house! I am leaving. Goodbye!

Scene 2

Gerda: I am very tired! I have been looking for Kay for so long! But I must go on and find my brother!

(Gerda sings a sad song.)

Lady Crow: Caw! Caw! Caw! Good morning, young lady!

Gerda: good morning!

G. Crow: Where are you going, young lady?

Gerda: I am looking for my brother Kay.

G.&L. crow: Caw! Caw! Caw!

G. Crow: It "s the name of our prince! Go with us and you" ll see your brother!

L. Crow: Let's go!

Gerda: Oh thank you very much.

(In the palace. Prince and princess are playing horses.)

Prince: Stop playing this game, Elsa! I "m tired of being a horse. Let's play another game.

Princess: Let's play hide-and-seek!

Prince: OK. You hide and I "ll count to twenty!

(Princess is running around the room. Shes Gerda and shrieks)

Princess: Who is there?

Prince: Is it a rat?

Princess: It's a girl and two crows.

Prince: What are you doing here, young lady? Why are you crying?

Gerda: I am Gerda. I "m crying because you are not my brother. He was carried by the Snow Queen! I thought he was here!

Prince: Don "t cry! We" ll help you! Where are you going?

Gerda: I "m going to the North. I must find the Snow Queen!

Princess: It's a long way!

Prince: We'll give you a carriage!

Princess: And I "ll give you a coat, a muff and boots. Give my clothes to Gerda!

(Servants come and bring the clothes.)

Gerda: Thank you very much!

Scene 3

storyteller: Everything is right! Gerda is going in the carriage. The poor boy will be saved. Quite! What's there? Robbers!

(The robbers appear on the stage and perform the robbers" dance.)

(A camp of robbers in the forest. An old woman is near the fire. The robbers have brought Gerda.)

Robber 1: Look what we've got!

Robber 2: Here is a gold carriage!

Robber 3: And this is the girl from the carriage!

Old Woman Robber: How nice she is! I think she will be very tasty!

Gerda: Don't kill me, please! Let me go!

Robber 4: What a silly girl! Ha-ha-ha!

Robber 5: You'll be killed!

Gerda: Dear Robbers! Please let me go! Kay will die without me!

Old Woman Robber: I'm going to eat you!

Little Robber Girl: Don "t touch her! She will be mine! She will play with me! Give me your muff and your hat! What" s your name?

Gerda: I "m Gerda. You can take my clothes but I" ll be cold when I get to the Snow Queen.

Little Girl Robber: No! You won "t go there! You will live with me! Look what I" ve got! Come, come here quickly!

(The Reindeer appears)

Little Girl Robber: Gerda, look how funny he is!

(She touches the reindeer with a knife.)

Gerda: Don't do it, please!

Little Robber Girl: Why? I like the way it trembles all over.

Gerda: May I ask him a question?

Little Robber Girl: Yes, you may.

Gerda: Tell me, deer! Did you live in the North?

reindeer: Oh yes!

Gerda: Have you ever seen the Snow Queen?

reindeer: Yes, I have. Once she passed me! She had a little boy with her! He was white with cold. She called him Kay.

Gerda: He has seen her. He is my brother. Dear girl! Let me go! I must save Kay! He will die in the North.

reindeer: Do let her go! I "ll take Gerda to the Snow Queen" s Kingdom.

Little Girl Robber: All right! There is nothing to be done. I won't give you your muff! I like it. Kiss me.

Gerda: Thank you girl!

reindeer: thank you!

Little Robber Girl: Good Luck Gerda!

Gerda: Goodbye! Goodbye!

Scene 4

(The storyteller is sitting on the pillows in front of the fireplace.)

Story teller: Oh how sad I am! Poor Gerda! She is riding on the Reindeer. Help her save Kay!

Gerda: Is this the kingdom of the Snow Queen?

reindeer: Yes, it is. I can "t go farther. You must remember, the Snow Queen is very cruel and it is very difficult to get into her palace!

Gerda: I must go there! Thank you, my dear friend!

(In the palace: Kay is on the icy throne.)

Gerda: Kay, Kay! Are you frozen? Answer me!

Kay: Hush, Gerda! You are bothering me!

Gerda: Dear Kai! It "s me, Gerda! You didn't even say to me: "Glad to see you!"

Kay: Glad to see you.

Gerda: You sound so cold. Are you really my brother?

Kay: I am really Kay. I am very busy. I must make the word out of icicles.

Gerda: Kay, let's go home. It's spring there. The sky is blue, the sun is shining, the birds are singing.

(She weeps and embraces Kay.)

Kay: I am cold, Gerda. Is it you? What's the matter? I can walk!

Gerda: Let's go! We will get home.

Scene 5

(The same room as in the first scene.)

Little Robber Girl: Can you hear? The stairs are creaking!

Gentleman Crow: They are coming!

Little Robber Girl: Granny, look, it's Gerda!

Prince: Look, it's Kay!

Princess: Granny, look, they are both here!

G.&L. crow: Welcome home!

granny: My dear children! You are back at last!

snow queen: You must give this boy back to me at once or I "ll turn you into ice.

Man: I'll crack you into pieces.

Gerda: Nobody is afraid of you here!

snow queen: Oh, we'll see!

Little Robber Girl: You can wave your arms, your legs and your tail, but we won't give Kay to you!

Kay: Go away, you two! We are not afraid of you. Thank you, dear friends!

Exists in the Hansen translation, but is absent in the "Soviet".

Added/Changed in "Soviet" translation

Story one

THE MIRROR AND ITS SHARDS

HISTORY FIRST,

IN WHICH TELLS ABOUT THE MIRROR AND ITS SHARDS.

Let's start! When we reach the end of our history, we will know more than we do now. Now. So, there lived a troll, feisty-preslyayuschey; it was himselfevil, wicked, real devil. Once he was in a particularly good mood: he made such a mirror in which everything good and beautiful was utterly reduced, nowhere else, but yet worthless bad and ugly , on the contrary, actedso it bulged, it was done more brighter seemed even worse. most lovelydisgusting. The most beautiful landscapes looked like boiled spinach in it, and the best of people looked like freaks, or it seemed as if they were standing upside down, and they had no bellies at all! The faces were so distorted that it was impossible not to recognize them; happen, and if someone had a freckle or a mole on his face, , then be calm - she spread all over her face. The devil was terribly amused by all this. Good, pious humanspread over the nose and lips. And if a person had a kind thought, she was reflected in the mirror unimaginable grimace, sosuch a stubbornness that troll couldn't help laughingand rolled with laughter rejoicing at his cunning invention. All students

The students of the troll - and he had his own school - told about the mirror, as about some kind of miracle.

Now to all that a miracle happened: now only, - they said, - you can see the whole world and people in their real true light!

And here they are. They ran all over the place with a mirror everywhere; , and soon there was not a single country, not a single person who would not be reflected in it in a distorted form.

Finally, they wanted to reach the sky to laugh at the angels and the creator himself.. The higher they climbed, the more the mirror grimaced and writhed; so that they could barely hold it in their hands. But here they are got up again andsoared so high suddenly the mirror is so distorted before distorted by grimaces that it escaped from their hands, flew to the ground and broke to smithereens. Millions into millions, billions of his pieces made, however,, and that's why it happened even more trouble than the mirror itself.. Some of them were no more than grains of sand, scatteredfragments, with a grain of sand in size, scattering in the wide world, it happened, they fell into people's eyes and, and so they remained there. A man, however, with such a splinter in his eye, began to see everything inside out or to notice in every thing only bad sides only bad - after all, each fragment retained the property which distinguished the mirror itself. the entire mirror. For some people, the fragments hit right in the heart, and this was the worst of all: the heart turned into a block of ice. Were between these fragments among the Shards and large , such that they could be inserted- they were inserted into window frames, but even through these windows it was not worth looking at your good friends. Finally, there were such fragments that went to glasses, only trouble was if peopleand it was bad if such glasses put on them for the purpose of looking at things andin order to see better and correctly to judge them rather! And the evil troll laughed to the point of colic, the success of this invention tickled him so pleasantly. But things.

The evil troll was bursting with laughter - this idea amused him so much. A many more fragments of the mirror flew around the world. . Let's hear about them. !

Story two

HISTORY SECOND.

BOY AND GIRL.

In a big city, where there are so many houses and people that not everyone and everyone manages to fence off at least a small place for a garden, and where, therefore,there is enough space for at least a small garden, and therefore most of the inhabitants have to be content with indoor flowers in pots, there lived two poor children, but they also had a garden a little larger than a flower pot. They were not related brother and sister but they loved each other like brother and sister.

Their parents lived in attics of adjoining houses.closets under the roof in two neighboring houses. The roofs of the houses almost converged, and under the ledges of the roofs there was a gutter, which fell just under the window of each attic. It was worth, therefore, to step out of some window onto the gutter, and you could find yourself at the window of the neighbors.and between them stretched a gutter. It was here that attic windows from each house looked at each other. One had only to step over the gutter, and one could get from one window to another.

Parents had a large wooden box each; , they grew roots growing herbs for spices and small pink rose bushes - - one in each one at a time, showered with wonderful flowers.box, overgrown. It occurred to the parents to put these boxes at the bottom of the gutters; thus fromacross the gutter, so from stretching from one window to the other like two flower beds. Peas green garlands descended from boxes green garlands peas, rose bushes looked into the windows and intertwined branches ; something like a triumphal gate of greenery and flowers was formed. Since the boxes were very high and the children knew for sure that they were not allowed to climb them, parents often. Parents allowed a boy with a girl and a girl to visit each other on the roof to visit and sit on a bench under roses. And what fun games they played here!How wonderful they played here!

In winter this pleasure ceased, the windowsWinter put an end to this joy. Window often covered with ice patterns. Butcompletely frozen, but the children heated copper coins on the stove stove and applied them to the frozen glass - and immediately a wonderful round round hole thawed, and a cheerful, affectionate eye looked out into it - each looked out of his window, a boy and a girl, Kai and Gerda . In the summer they could find themselves visiting each other with one jump, and in the winter they had to first go down many, many steps down, and then go up the same amount. There was snow in the yard.

It's white bees swarming! said the old grandmother.

Do they also have a queen? the boy asked; He . He knew real bees had one.

Eat! Grandma answered. - Snowflakes surround her in a dense swarm, but she is larger than them all and never stays on the groundsits down on the ground forever worn on in a black cloud. Often at night she flies through the city streets and looks into the windows; , that's why they are covered with icy frosty patterns, like flowers.

Seen, seen! - the children said and believed that all this was the absolute truth.

A this is where the snow queen can't enter here? once asked? the girl asked.

Let -ka just try! - said - answered the boy. - I'll put her on a warm stove, so she will melt! .

But the grandmother patted him on the head and started talking about something else.

In the evening, when Kai was already at home and had almost completely undressed, about to go to bed, he climbed onto a chair by the window and looked into a small circle thawed on the window pane. Snowflakes fluttered outside the window; one snowflake. One of them, the larger one, fell on the edge of the flower box and began to grow, grow, until at last it turned into a woman wrapped in the thinnest white tulle, woven, it seemed, from millions of snow stars. She was so lovely, so tender, all but made of ice, of dazzling white sparkling ice, and yet alive! Her eyes sparkled like shone like two clear stars, but there was neither warmth nor meekness in them. rest. She nodded to the boy and beckoned him with her hand. Little boy Kai was frightened and jumped off the chair; . And something like a big bird flashed past the window.

Next day there was a glorious frost, but then it becameit was clear and frosty, but then came thaw, and then came spring . The sun was shining, the flower boxes were all green again, the swallows were nesting under the roof, the windowscame. The sun shone, the greenery peeped through, the swallows built their nests. Window dissolved, and children could again sit in their little garden on the roof. in the gutter above all floors.

The roses have bloomed beautifully all summer. The girl learned a psalm, which also spoke of roses; the girl sang it to the boy, thinking about her roses, and he sang along with her:

The roses were in full bloom that summer. Children sang, holding hands, kissing roses They looked at the clear sun and talked to it - it seemed to them that the infant Christ himself was looking at them from it. What a wonderful thing it wasand enjoy the sun. Oh what a wonderful summer, and how nice it was under the rose bushes fragrant roses that which seemed to be bound to bloom and bloom forever!

Once Kai and Gerda Gorda were sitting and looking at a book with pictures - animals and birds; on . The big clock tower struck five.

Ay! the boy suddenly exclaimed. I'm Kai. - I was stabbed right in the heart, and something got into my eye!

The girl wrapped her arms around his neck, he blinked blinked frequently, but there was nothing in the eye as if there was nothing.

Must have popped up! , - he said.

But that's the point, it's not. Two fragments hit him in the heart and in the eye.But it wasn't. These were just fragments of the devil's mirror, in which, as we Of course, we remember that everything great and good seemed insignificant and ugly, while evil and bad things were reflected even more clearly, the bad sides of each thing came out even more sharply.spoke at the beginning.

Poor Kai! Now the heart of his heart was to turn into become like a piece of ice! . Pain in the eye and in the heart already passed, but the most fragments remained in them.

About what are you crying? he asked Gerda. — Wu! How ugly are you now! It doesn't hurt me at all! Ugh ! he suddenly shouted. — Ehow ugly you are! he suddenly shouted. — Won that rose is sharpened by a worm! . And that one is completely crooked! . What ugly roses! No better than boxes in which they stick out! .

And he, pushing, kicked the box with his foot, pulled out two and plucked both roses.

Kai, what are you doing? ! cried the girl Gerda, and he, seeing her fright, pulled out another rose and ran away from pretty sweet little Gerda through his window.

Will it bring after him girlnow to him Gerda a picture book, he said he would say that these pictures are good only for babies; if the old woman told something, the old grandmother, he found fault - he would find fault with her words. Yes, if only this! And then he even got to the point that he began to mimic her walk, put on her glasses and imitate her voice!, speak in her voice. It came out very similar and made people laugh.and people laughed. Soon the boy Kai learned to mimic all the neighbors - he. He knew how to put on display all their oddities and shortcomings, and people said:

What a head this little boy has!

Amazingly talented kid!

And the reason for everything was the fragments of the mirror that hit him in the eye and in the heart. That's why he even mimicked the pretty, pretty little Gerda, who, after all, she loved him with all her heart.

And his amusements have now become completely different, so sophisticated. Once in the winter, when it was snowing, he appeared with a large incendiary magnifying glass and substituted the skirt of his blue jacket under the snow.

Look in the glass, Gerda! , - he said.

Each snowflake seemed much larger under the glass than it actually was, and looked like a magnificent flower or a ten-pointed star. What a miracle! It was so beautiful!

See how cleverly crafted! Kai said. - This is far - Much more interesting than real flowers! And what precision! Not a single wrong line! Ah, if only they had not melted!

A little later, Kai appeared in big mittens, with a sled behind his back, shouted into Gerda's ear:

- "I was allowed to ride in a large area with other boys!!" - And running.

There were a lot of children on the square. Those who were more daring, tied their sledges to peasant sleighs and went so far enough. The fun went on and on.rolled far away. It was kind of fun. In the midst of his fun in the square. large sleighs painted white appeared. sat in them the man who is gonesomeone wrapped up in a white fur coat and the same hat. in the same hat. The sleigh circled around the square twice: . Kai quickly tied his sled to them and rolled. The big sleigh raced faster and then turned off the square into a side street. The man who sat in them turned around and nodded amiably and affably to Kai, as if he were an acquaintance. Kai several times tried to untie his sledge, but the man in the fur coat kept nodding to him, and he rode on. continued to follow him.

So they drove out of the city gates. The snow suddenly fell in flakes, it was so dark that not a single light could be seen all around.and it became dark, even gouge out your eyes. The boy hurriedly let go of the rope, which caught hold of the big sledge, but his sledge seemed to be rooted to the big sledge and continued to fly like a whirlwind. Kai screamed loudly - no one heard him! . The snow was falling, the sled raced, diving into snowdrifts, jumpingsnowdrifts, jumping through hedges and ditches. Kai was trembling , wanted to read "Our Father", but in his mind one multiplication table was spinning. .

The snowflakes kept growing and finally turned into big white hens. . Suddenly they scattered to the sides, the big sledge stopped, and the man sitting in it stood up. It was a tall, slender, dazzling white woman - the Snow Queen; and her fur coat and hat were made of snow.

Nice ride! - she said. But are you completely cold? Get in - get into my fur coat!

And, having put the boy in her sleigh, she wrapped him in her bearskin coat; . Kai seemed to sank into a snowdrift sank.

Are you still cold? she asked and kissed him on the forehead.

Wu! Her kiss was colder than ice, it pierced him with cold through and through and reached the very heart, and it was already half ice. For one minute it seemed to Kai that just about a little more - and he would die, but no … But only for a minute, and then On the contrary, he felt better, so well that he even completely stopped feeling cold.

My sled! Don't forget my sled! he said.

And the sled was tiedSledge tied on the back of one of the white hens, which, and she flew with them after the big sleigh. The Snow Queen kissed Kai again, and he forgot Gerda, and his grandmother, and all the household.

More I won't kiss you! , - she said. - And not not I'll kiss you to death! .

Kai looked at her; . How beautiful she was! A smarter, prettier faceFaces are smarter and prettier he couldn't imagine. Now she did not seem to him icy, as when she sat outside the window and nodded to him. head; now she seemed perfect to him. .

At the same moment, the Snow Queen soared with him to dark lead black cloud and they sped forward.. The storm howled and groaned, as if singing ancient songs; they flew over forests and lakes, over seas and solid ground; under themland; chilly winds cold winds blew beneath them, wolves howled, snow sparkled, black crows flew with a cry, and above them shone a large clear moon. Kai looked at him all the long, long winter night - and during the day he slept at the feet of the Snow Queen.

Story three

STORY THREE.

FLOWER BOARD OF A WOMAN WHO KNEW TO CONDUCT.

And what happened to Gerda when Kai did not return? Where did he go? Nobody knew it, nobody could nothing to say about him. give an answer.

The boys said only that they saw him tying his sledge to a large magnificent sledge, which then turned into an alley and drove out of the city gates. Nobody knew where he had gone.

Many tears were shed over him for him; Gerda wept bitterly and for a long time. Finally, they decided that Kai had died, drowned in a river that flowed outside the city. The dark winter days dragged on for a long time.

But then spring came, the sun came out the sun.

Kai is dead and will never come back! Gerda said.

I do not believe! Sunlight answered.

He died and will never return! she repeated to the swallows.

We don't believe! they answered.

In the end, Gerda herself stopped believing it.

I'll put on my new red shoes. - (Kai has never seen them before), - she said one morning, - yes, I’ll go to the river to ask about him. by the river.

It was still very early; she . She kissed her sleeping grandmother, put on her red shoes and ran all alone out of town, straight to the river.

Is it true that you took my sworn brother? Gerda asked. - I'll give you my red shoes if you give it back to me! !

And it seemed to the girl that the waves were somehow strangely nodding to her; Then . Then she took off her red shoes , your first jewel,- the most precious thing she had, - and threw them into the river. But they fell just at the very shore, and the waves immediately carried them to land, back - as if the river did not want to take her jewel from the girl, since she could not return Kai to her. The girl, however, thought that she had not thrown her shoes far enough, climbed into the boat, rocking in the reeds, stood on the very edge of the stern and again threw her shoes into the water. The boat was not tethered and pushed off her push went away coast. The girl wanted to quickly jump out onto the land, but while she was making her way from stern to bow, the boat was already moved away from the beret by a whole arshin completely swam away and quickly swept downstream.

Gerda was terribly frightened and began to cry and scream, but no one except the sparrows heard her cries; sparrows. The sparrows, however, could not transfer her to land and only flew after her along the coast and chirped, as if wishing to console her: "

We are here! We are here! "

"Maybe the river is carrying me to Kai?" - thought Gerda, cheered up, stood on her toe and admired the beautiful green shores for a long, long time.

But then she sailed to a large cherry orchard in which a house huddled with colored glass windows and under thatched roof. , with red and blue glasses in the windows. Two wooden soldiers stood at the door and saluted everyone who passed by with their guns.

Gerda screamed at them - she mistook them for the living - but they, of course, did not answer her. So she swam even closer to them, the boat approached almost to the very shore, and the girl screamed even louder. Came out of the house leaning on a stick, an old, old woman with a stick, in a big straw hat painted with wonderful flowers.

Oh you poor baby! poor child! said the old woman. - How and how did you get on such a big fast river and climbed so far?

With these words, the old woman entered the water, hooked the boat with her stick, pulled it to the shore and landed Gerda.

Gerda was very glad that she finally found herself on land, although she was afraid of a stranger, an unfamiliar old woman.

Come on, let's go, tell me who you are and how you got here? , said the old woman.

Gerda began to tell her about everything, and the old woman shook her head, and repeated: “Hm! Hm!" But when the girl had finished and, she asked the old woman if she had seen Kai. She replied that he had not yet passed here, but, surely, he would pass, so that the girl had nothing to grieve about yet - let Gerda it would be better to taste cherries and admire the flowers that grow in the garden: they are more beautiful than those drawn in any picture book, and everyone knows how to tell fairy tales!.. Then the old woman took Gerda by the hand, took her to her house and locked the door with a key.

The windows were high from the floor and all of multi-colored - red, blue, blue and yellow - glass; from this the room itself was illuminated by some amazing bright, iridescent light. On the table stood a basket full of wonderfully ripe cherries, and Gerda could eat them as much as she liked; . And while she ate, the old woman combed her hair with a golden comb. Hair curled, curls and curls golden glow surrounded by fresh sweet, friendly, round, like a rose, the girl's face golden glow .

For a long time I wanted to have such a cute little girl! said the old woman. “You’ll see how well we’ll live together with you!” !

And she continued to comb the girl's curls, and the longer she combed, the more Gerda forgot her named brother Kai - the old woman knew how to conjure. She not Only she was not an evil sorceress and conjured only occasionally, for her own pleasure; now she really wanted to keep Gerda. And so she went into the garden, touched with her stick all the rose bushes, and those, as they stood in full bloom, so they all went deep, deep into the ground, and there was no trace of them left. The old woman was afraid that Gerda, at the sight of her roses, would remember her own, and then Kai, and run away. from her.

Having done my thing Then the old woman took Gerda to the flower garden. The girl's eyes widened: there were flowers of all kinds, all seasons. What a beauty, what a fragrance!Oh, what a fragrance there was, what beauty: a variety of flowers, and for every season! In the whole world one could not find books with pictures more colorful, more beautiful than this flower garden. Gerda jumped for joy and played among the flowers until the sun went down behind the tall cherry trees. Then they laid her in a wonderful bed with red silk duvet covers stuffed with blue violets; girl . The girl fell asleep, and she had such dreams as only a queen sees on her wedding day.

The next day Gerda was again allowed to play in the sun. in a wonderful flower garden in the sun. So many days passed. Gerda now knew every flower in the garden, but no matter how many there were, it still seemed to her that something was missing, but what? Once ? And once she sat and looked at the old woman's straw hat, painted with flowers; , and the most beautiful of them was just a rose, - the old woman forgot to erase it. when she sent live roses underground. That's what distraction means!

How! Are there any roses here? - said Gerda and immediately ran look for them all over the garden - there is not a single one!into the garden, looked for them, looked for them, but did not find them.

Then the girl sank to the ground and wept. Warm tears fell right on the spot where one of the rose bushes used to stand, and as soon as they moistened the ground, the bush instantly grew out of it, just as fresh and blooming as before. Gerda obvila

Gerda wrapped her arms around him, began to kiss the roses and remembered those wonderful roses that bloomed at her house, and at the same time about Kai.

How I lingered! the girl said. - I have to look for Kai! .. Don't you know where he is? she asked the roses. Do you believe it is true that he died and will not return again?

He didn't die! - said - answered the roses. “We were under the earth, where all the dead lie, but Kai was not among them.

Thank you! - said Gerda and went to other flowers, looked into their cups and asked: - Don't you know where Kai is?

But each flower basked in the sun and thought only of its own fairy tale or story; . Gerda heard a lot of them, but not one of the flowers said a word about Kai.

What did the fiery lily tell her?

Do you hear the drum beat? Boom! Boom! The sounds are very monotonous: boom, boom! Listen to the mournful singing of women! Listen to the cries of the priests!.. An Indian widow is standing at the stake in a long red robe. The flames are about to engulf her and the body of her dead husband, but she thinks about the living - about the one who is standing here, about the one whose eyes burn her heart more than the flame that will now incinerate her body. Can the flame of the heart be extinguished in the flame of a fire!

I don't understand anything! Gerda said.

This is my fairy tale! replied the fiery lily.

What did the bindweed say?

A narrow mountain path leads to an ancient knight's castle proudly towering on a rock. The old brick walls are thickly covered with ivy. Its leaves cling to the balcony, and on the balcony stands a lovely girl; she leaned over the railing and looked at the road. Girl fresh roses, airy wind-swept flower of an apple tree. How her silk dress rustles! "Will he not come?"

Are you talking about Kai? Gerda asked.

I tell my story, my dreams! - answered the bindweed.

What did the little snowdrop say?

A long board swings between the trees - this is a swing. Two little girls are sitting on the board; their dresses are as white as snow, and long green silk ribbons flutter from their hats. The older brother kneels behind the sisters, leaning against the ropes; in one hand he holds a small cup of soapy water, in the other a clay tube. He blows bubbles, the board sways, the bubbles fly through the air, shimmering in the sun with all the colors of the rainbow. Here is one hanging on the end of the tube and swaying from the wind. A little black dog, light as a soap bubble, stands up on its hind legs, and puts its front paws on the board, but the board flies up, the dog falls, yelps and gets angry. Children tease her, bubbles burst ... The board sways, foam scatters - this is my song!

She may be good, but you say all this in such a sad tone! And again, not a word about Kai! What will the hyacinths say?

Once upon a time there were two slender, airy beauties sisters. On one dress was red, on the other blue, on the third completely white. Hand in hand they danced in the clear moonlight by the still lake. They were not elves, but real girls. A sweet fragrance filled the air, and the girls disappeared into the forest. Now the aroma became even stronger, even sweeter - three coffins floated out of the thicket of the forest; in them lay the beauties of the sister, and around them fluttered, like living lights, fireflies. Are the girls sleeping, or are they dead? The scent of flowers saysThen Gerda went to a dandelion shining in the brilliant green grass.

It was the first spring day, the sun was warm and shone so welcomingly on the small courtyard. Its rays glided over the white wall of the neighboring house, and near the very wall peeped the first yellow flower, it sparkled in the sun, like gold. An old grandmother came out to sit in the yard. Here her granddaughter, a poor servant, came from among the guests and kissed the old woman. A girl's kiss is more precious than gold - it comes straight from the heart. Gold on her lips, gold in her heart, gold in the sky in the morning! That's all! Dandelion said.

My poor grandmother! Gerda sighed. “That's right, she misses me and grieves as she grieved for Kai. But I'll be back soon and bring it with me. There is nothing more to ask the flowers - you won’t get any sense from them, they know what they say! And she ran to the end of the garden.

The door was locked, but Gerda shook the rusty bolt for so long, What died. The evening bell tolls for the dead!

You made me sad! Gerda said. “Your bells smell so strong too!.. Now I can’t get dead girls out of my head!” Oh, is Kai dead too? But the roses were underground and they say that he is not there!

Ding dan! hyacinth bells chimed. We are not calling over Kai! We don't even know him! We call our own ditty; we don't know the other one!

And Gerda went to the golden dandelion shining in the brilliant green grass.

You little bright sun! Gerda told him. “Tell me, do you know where I can look for my named brother?”

Dandelion shone even brighter and looked at the girl. What song did he sing to her? Alas! And in this song not a word was said about Kai!

Early spring; The bright sun shines warmly on the small courtyard. Swallows hover near the white wall adjoining the neighbors' yard. From the green grass, the first yellow flowers peep out, sparkling in the sun, like gold. An old grandmother came out to sit in the yard; her granddaughter, a poor maid, came from among the guests, and kissed the old woman warmly. A girl's kiss is more precious than gold - it comes straight from the heart. Gold on her lips, gold in her heart. That's all! Dandelion said.

My poor grandmother! Gerda sighed. How she misses me, how she grieves! No less than she grieved for Kai! But I'll be back soon and bring him with me. There is nothing more to ask the flowers - you will not achieve anything from them, they only know their songs!

And she tied her skirt up to make it easier to run, but when she wanted to jump over the narcissus, he whipped her legs. Gerda stopped, looked at the long flower and asked:

Maybe you know something?

And she leaned towards him, waiting for an answer. What did the narcissist say?

Yes, I have little to do with this! Gerda said. “There is nothing for me to tell about it!

And she ran out of the garden.

The door was locked only with a latch; Gerda pulled the rusty bolt, it gave way he succumbed, the door opened, and the girl, barefooted, began to run along the road! . She looked back three times, but no one pursued her.

Finally she got tired, sat down on a stone and looked around I looked around: the summer had already passed, it was late autumn in the yard, eh. Only in the wonderful garden of the old woman, where the sun always shone and flowers of all seasons bloomed, this was not noticeable.

God! How I lingered! After all, autumn is in the yard! There is no time for rest! said Gerda, and set off again.

Oh, how her poor, tired legs ached! How cold and damp it was in the air! Leavesaround! long leaves the willows turned completely yellow, the fog settled on them in large drops and flowed down to the ground; the leaves fell off like that. Only one blackthorn stood all covered with astringent, tart berries. How gray and dreary the whole world seemed! world!

Story Four

HISTORY FOUR.

PRINCE AND PRINCESS .

Gerda had to sit down again to rest. A large raven was hopping in the snow right in front of her; . For a long time he looked watched for a long time at the girl, nodding her head, and finally spoke and said:

Kar-kar! Hello!

He speaks cleaner than this He could not speak more humanly, but apparently he wished the girl well and asked her where she was wandering in the wide world alone ? Gerda understood the words "alone and alone" perfectly and immediately felt all their meaning.. What is "alone", Gerda knew very well, she experienced it herself. Having told the raven all her life, the girl asked if he had seen Kai? .

Raven shook his head thoughtfully and said:

Maybe, maybe! May be!

How ? ! Is it true? - exclaimed the girl and almost strangled the raven with kisses She kissed him so hard.

Be quiet, be quiet! said the raven. - I think that - I think it was your Kai! . But now he must have forgotten you and his princess!

Does he live with the princess? Gerda asked.

But listen! , said the raven. “But it’s terribly difficult for me to speak your way!” . Now, if you understood like a crow, I would tell you about everything much better.

No, they didn't teach me that. ! , Gerda said. - Grandma - she understands! It would be nice if I could too!- What a pity!

- Well , Nothing ! , said the raven. - I'll tell you , as best I can, albeit badly.

And he told about everythingAll, What only myself knew.

- In the kingdom where we are with you, there is a princess, such a clever woman that it is impossible to say! She readread all the newspapers in the world and already forgot all that in them I read it - what a clever one! Once somehow satis sitting she is on the throne , - and that's the fun after all, notnot so much much like People They say People , - And hummedhums song: "Why and Shouldn't I get married?" "But really!" she thought, and she wanted to get married. But she wanted to choose yourself the kind of person who With knew how to answer when with him behind they say, and not someone who would only know how to put on airs - it's so boring! And so convened drumming convene all courtiers yes, they announcedladies, announce them the will of the princess. They were all very pleased and said:They were all so happy!"That's what we like! - They say. — We ourselves have been thinking about this recently!" All this is the true truth! - added the raven. - I have a bride at court , she - manual , walking around the palace, -crow, it is from her that I know all this.

His bride was a crow - after all, everyone is looking for a wife to match.

- The next day all the newspapers came out with a border of hearts and with the monograms of the princess. INAnd in newspapers was declared that every young man is pleasant appearanceappearance can come to the palace and talk to the princess : ; the one who will keep himself quite freelyat ease like at home, and will be the most eloquent of all, the princess will choose yourself to husbands ! . Yes Yes! repeated the raven. - All this is as true as the fact that I am sitting here in front of you ! . People shaft rushed to the palace shaft, let's go, went hustle and bustle but it didn't make any senseyes all to no avail neither on the first nor on the second day. On the street all the suitors spokeThey say Great, but it costbut worth it them to step over the palace threshold, to see the guard all in silver , d and lackeys in gold and enterto come in into huge, light-filled halls , How- And their took take aback . beret. They will approach the throne where the princess sits, and repeat onlyfor her her recentsame words, but it's not at all for her th it was necessary ! right, all of them. Well, exactly spoiled them, drunk on dope! A that's coming outcome out beyond the gate , They - again acquiredwill gain the gift of the word. From gate to door palace stretched a long, long tail of suitors. I myself there was there and saw ! The suitors wanted to eat and drink, but even a glass of water was not taken out of the palace. True, those who were smarter stocked up on sandwiches, but the thrifty no longer shared with their neighbors, thinking to themselves: “Let them starve, grow thin - the princess will not take them! .

- Well, what about Kai, Kai? Gerda asked. - When did he come? And he came to marry? ‘

- Wait! Wait! NowHere We just got to him! On the third day a little man appeared, not in a carriage, not on horseback, but simply on foot, and straight has entered to the palace. Eyes its glitteredglitter like yours ; , hair he had long, Butthat's just dressed he was poor.

- It's Kai! Gerda rejoiced. — So II found it! — AndAND she clapped her hands.

- He had a bag on his back. ! , continued the raven.

- No, it's true, they were his sleigh!sled! Gerda said. - He left from Houseshome with sled ! .

- Very Maybe!May be! said the raven. - I didn't get a good look.- I didn't look too hard. Well, my fiancee told me me that, enteringhow he entered at the palace gates and seeingsaw guards in silver, and on the stairsall over the stairs lackeys in gold, He not a bit embarrassed noddedonly head nodded and said, "It must be boring to stand here , on the stairs , , come in I am better I will enter to the rooms!" HallsA All werehalls flooded with light ; the nobles were pacing. Privy Councilors and their Excellencies are pacing without boots spreading golden dishes smash, - more solemn it was impossible! And his boots creaked, but he was not embarrassed by this either.nowhere! His boots creak terribly, but he doesn't care.

- This , maybe,Maybe Kai! - exclaimed- exclaimed Gerda. “I know he was wearing new boots!”— I know he was wearing new boots. I myself heard how they creaked when he came to his grandmother ! .

- Yes, they did creak in order ! , continued the raven. But he boldly approached the princess ; she. She sat on a pearl the size of a spinning wheel, and the ladies of the court stood around and gentlemen with their maids, maidservants maids, valets,and maids maids and cavaliers with servants valets and a servant of valetsand servants servants . , and those again have servants. How furthercloser Who someday stood from the princess and closer to the doors, more importantly, he held himself more haughtily.turned up his nose higher. On a minion valet servantsservants servants standing at the very door, it was impossible even to look without fearshiver - he was so important!

- That's fear! Gerda said. Did Kai marry the princess after all?

“If I weren’t a raven, I would marry her myself, even though I’m engaged. He enteredstarted with the princess V conversation and spoke as good as me when I talkno worse than me crow-like , at least , mine told me manual bride. He kept at all very freely and nicely, and declared that he had come not to woo, but only , listen to the clever speeches of the princess. Well, he liked her, she liked him too ! .

- Yes , - yes, it's Kai! Gerda said. - He's so smart! He knew all four operations of arithmetic, and even with fractions! Oh, take me to the palace!

- It's easy to say - answeredanswered crow, - yes how is itdifficult do ? . Wait, I'll talk to minemy bride, she will come up with something and advise us. Do you think that they will let you into the palace right like that? Why, they don't let girls like that in!

- They'll let me in! Gerda said. — If onlyWhen Kai heardwill hear that I'm here He Now would come runningwill come running follow me ! .

- Wait for me here. , at the grate ! , - said the raven, shook his head and flew away.

He returned quite late in the evening and croaked:

- Kar, Kar! My bride sends you a thousand bows and this one small loaf. She pulled him off Von the kitchen - there are a lot of them, and you must be hungry! .. Well, you won’t get into the palace: you’re barefoot - the guards in silver and the lackeys in gold will never let you through. But don't cry, you'll still get there. My fiancee knows how to get into the princess's bedroom from the back door. , And knows where to get the key.

And so they entered the garden, went along the long avenues, strewn with yellowed autumn leaves, and when all the lights in the palace windows went outWhere in sequence autumn leaves fell, and when the lights in the palace went out, the raven held the girl in small half-open door.door.

Oh, how Gerda's heart beat with fear and joyful impatience! She is exactlyExactly she was going to do something bad, and she only wanted to know if her Kai was here! Yes, yes, he is right here! SheGerda so vividly imagined his intelligent eyes, long hair, smile...howAnd How he smiled at her when they used to sit side by side under the rose bushes ! . And how happy he will be now when he sees her, hears what a long journey she decided on for him, learns how all the household grieved for him! Ah, she was just beside herself with fear and joy . !

But here they are on the landing of the stairs ; on. On a lamp burned in the closet, and a tame crow sat on the floor and looked around. Gerda sat down and bowed, as her grandmother taught.

- My fiancé told me so many good things about you, freken!young lady! said the tame crow. - Your vita (- And your life translated from Latin. - Ed.) - as it is commonly expressed - also very touching! Would you like to take a lamp, and I will go ahead. We'll take the straight road, we won't meet anyone here ! .

- And it seems to me behind us someone is coming behind us! , - said Gerda, and at the same moment some shadows rushed past her with a slight noise: horses with flying manes and thin legs, hunters, ladies and gentlemen on horseback.

- These are dreams! said the tame crow. “They come here to let the minds of high people go hunting. So much the better for us - , it will be more convenient to consider sleeping ! I hope, however, that by entering in honor you will show that you have a grateful heart! .

- There is something to talk about here! Needless to say! said the forest raven.

Then they entered the first room, all coveredwhere the walls were upholstered pink satin woven with flowers. Dreams flashed past the girl again, but so quickly that she did not have time to And look at the riders. One room was better than the other — just taken aback., so there was something to be confused about. Finally they reached the bedroom : ceiling. Ceiling resembled the top of a huge palm tree with precious crystal leaves; from the middle of it descended a thick golden stalk, on which hung two beds in the form of lilies. One was white, the princess slept in it, the other was red, and Gerda hoped to find Kai in it. The girl slightly uncurled one of the red petals and sawsaw dark blond nape. It's Kai! She called him by name loudly and held the lamp close to his face. Dreams rushed away with noise : ; the prince woke up and turned his head... Ah, it wasn't Kai!

The prince looked like him only from the back of his head, but he was just as young and handsome. A princess looked out of a white lily and asked what happened. Gerda burst into tears and told her whole story. historianhistory, mentioning also what the ravens had done for her.

- Oh, you poor thing! - said the prince and princess, praised the ravens, announced that they were not at all angry with them - only let them not do this in the future - and even wanted to reward them.

- Do you want to be free birds? the princess asked. “Or do you want to take the position of court ravens, fully supported from kitchen leftovers?”

Raven with crow bowed and asked for positions at court , - They. They thought about old age and said:

- It's good to have a sure piece of bread in old age!

The prince got up and gave his bed to Gerda ; - there was nothing more he could do for her. And she folded little handspens and thought: "How kind all men and animals are!" - closed eyeseyes and fell asleep sweetly. Dreams flew into the bedroom again, but now they were like God's angels and they carried Kai on a small sleigh, who nodded his head to Gerda. Alas ! All, All it was only in a dream and disappeared as soon as the girl woke up.

The next day she was dressed from head to toe in silk and velvet and allowed to remain in the palace. , as much as she wants.

The girl could live and live happily ever after, but she stayed only a few days and began to ask for a horse-cart and a pair of shoes , - she again wanted to set off in search of her named brother in the wide world.

They gave her shoes, a muff, and a wonderful dress, and when she said goodbye to everyone, she drove up to the gate golden coach of pure gold with the coats of arms of the prince and princess shining like stars ; : at the coachman, footmen And , postilions - to her gave to her and postilions - small golden crowns flaunted on their heads.

The prince and princess themselves put Gerda into the carriage and wished her a happy journey.

The forest raven, who had already managed to get married, accompanied the girl for the first three miles and sat in the carriage next to her. , - he couldn't go sitting back to horses back. . A tame crow sat on the gate and flapped its wings. She did not go to see Gerda off because she suffered from headaches. , since then , how she got a position at court and ate too much. Coach was crowded was filled with sugar pretzels, and a drawer under the seat filled with fruits and gingerbread.

- Goodbye! Goodbye! shouted the prince and princess.

Gerda cried, the crow - Same. So they went firstThrough three miles . Here said goodbye to the girl and the raven. It was hard parting!parting! The raven flew up into the tree and flapped its black wings until the carriage, shining like the sun, disappeared from view.

Story five

HISTORY FIVE.

LITTLE Rogue .

Here Gerda drove into a dark forest, Butin which the robbers lived; coach glitteredburned How Sunfever, she cut the eyes of the robbers, And immediately caught the eye of the robbers. Theythey simply Not withstood and swooped down on her shouting: "could bear it.

- Gold! Gold! "Caughtthey shouted, seizing horses by the bridle, killed the little postilions, coachmen and servants, and pulled Gerda out of the carriage.

- Look , what a cute little fat . ! Nuts fed! - said the old robber woman with a long stiff beard and shaggy, hanging eyebrows. - Fatty, what is your lamb! Well, what will it taste like?

And she pulled out a sharp , sparkling knife. HereWhich horror!

- Ay! - shoutedLee! - screamed she suddenly: she was bitten on the ear by her own daughter, who was sitting behind her and was so unbridled and willful that Just any !

. - Oh, you mean girl! - screamed the mother, but killed b ". Gerda didn't have time.

- She will play with me ! , said the little robber. - She will give me her muff, her pretty dress and will sleep with me in my bed.bed.

And the girl again bit her mother so that she jumped and spun on one place. The robbers laughed : .

- Look , How jumpsdancing with your girl!

- I want to sitWant into the carriage! cried the little robber girl, and insisted on her own - she was terribly spoiled and stubborn.

They got into the carriage with Gerda and rushed over the stumps and By bumps in the thicket of the forest.

The little robber was as tall as Gerdu, but stronger, broader in the shoulders and much darker. Her eyes were completely black, but somehow sad. She hugged Gerda and said:

- They won't kill you until I'm angry with you. ! . Are you a princess?

- No ! , - the girl answered and told what she had to experience and how she loves Kai.

The little robber looked seriously onpa her, slightly nodded head and said:

- They won't kill you even if I And If I get angry with you, I'd rather kill you myself!

And she wiped away Gerda's tears, and then hid both hands in her pretty , soft And warm muff.

Here the carriage stopped: they moved inmoved in and in the yard of the robber's castle.

He was covered in huge cracks; crows and crows flew out of them ; where. Where huge bulldogs jumped out , it seemed that each of them could not swallow a person, but they only jumped high And they looked so fiercely, as if they wanted to eat everyone, but barkingeven no barking - it was forbidden.

In the middle of a huge hall , with dilapidated, soot-covered walls and stone floors , fire blazed ; smoke. Smoke rose to the ceiling and himself had to look for a way out ; above. Above soup boiled like fire in a huge cauldron, and hares and rabbits were roasted on skewers.

- You will sleep with me right here, near my little menagerie ! , said the little robber girl to Gerda.

The girls were fed and watered, and they went to their corner, where straw was laid out, covered with carpets. sat higher on perchespoles over a hundred pigeons ; All. All they seemed to be asleep, but when the girls approached they stirred slightly.

All mine!- Veemoy! said the little robber girl, seizing one of the pigeons by the legs and shaking it so that it fluttered its wings. - Kiss him! she called by pokingand poked dove Gerda right in the face. - And here sit the forest rascals ! , she went on, pointing to two pigeons sitting in a small depression in the wall, behind a wooden lattice. - These two are forest rascals ! . They must be kept locked up, otherwise they will fly away quickly! And here is my dear old man! And the girl pulled by the horns of a reindeer tied to the wall in a shiny copper collar. “He, too, must be kept on a leash, otherwise he will run away!” Every evening I tickle him under the neck with my sharp knife - he deathto death afraid of it ! .

With these words, the little robber pulled out a long knife from a crevice in the wall and ran it along the deer's neck. The poor animal bucked, and the girl laughed- Are you And dragged Gerda to bed.

- Are you sleeping with a knife Gerda asked her squinting at a sharp knife .

- Always! answered the little robber. - How to know- You never know what can happen! Butbecome! Well, tell me again about Kai and how you started wandering the world ! .

Gerda told. Forest pigeons in a cage quietly - cooed; the other pigeons were already sleeping ; small. Small the robber wrapped one arm around Gerda's neck - she had a knife in the other - and began to snore, but Gerda could not close her eyes, not knowing whether they would kill her or leave her alive. The robbers sat around the fire, sang songs and drank, and the old robber woman tumbled. It was terrible to look at this poor girl.

Suddenly the wood pigeons cooed:

- Kurr! Kurr! We saw Kai! A white hen carried his sled on her back, and he sat in the Snow Queen's sleigh. They flew over the forest when we chickschicks still lay in the nest ; she. She breathed on us, and everyone died, except for the two of us ! . Kurr! Kurr!

- What are you saying ? ! exclaimed Gerda. Where did the Snow Queen go? Do you know?

She must have flown- Maybe, to Lapland , - there - after all there eternal snow and ice ! . Ask the reindeer what is leashed here ! .

- Yes, there is eternal snow and ice. , miracle. Miracle how good! said the reindeer. - There you jump at will on boundlesshuge sparkling icy plains ! . The Snow Queen's summer tent will be spread there, and her permanent palaces will be at the North Pole, on the island of Svalbard. .

- Oh Kai, my dear Kai! Gerda sighed.

- lie still ! , said the little robber. - Not that I I'll stab you with a knife!

In the morning Gerda told her what she had heard from wood pigeons. The little robber girl looked seriously at Gerda, nodded her head and said:

- Well, so be it! .. Do you know where Lapland is? she then asked the reindeer.

- Who knows if not me! - answered the deer, and his eyes sparkled. - There I was born and raised, there I jumped on the snowy plains ! .

- So listen ! , said the little robber girl to Gerda. - You see, all of us are gone. ; , one mother at home; after a while she will take a sip from a large bottle and take a nap - , then I'll do something for you ! .

Then the girl jumped out of bed, hugged her mother, pulled her beard and said:

- Hello, my little goat!

And the mother gave her clicks on the nose, the girl's nose turned red and blue, but all this was done lovingly.

Then whenAnd so the old woman took a sip from her bottle and began to snore, A the little robber went up to the reindeer and said:

- For a long time -for a long time I could make fun of you! It hurts you being hilarioushilarious being tickled with a sharp knife ! . Well, so be it! I will untie you and set you free. You can haveCan run away to your Lapland, but for this you must for this to be attributed totake to Palace of the Snow Queen Here this girl , - there is her named brother ec. . Surely you heard what she said? She said enough loudly, and you always have ears on top of your head.

Reindeer so jumped for joy. SmallAnd little the robber put Gerda on him, tied her tightly , for the sake of caution, andfor fidelity and even slipped a soft one under her small pillowpillow to make it more comfortable for her to sit.

- So be it, - she said then, - take back your fur boots - will it's cold ! will! And I'll leave the clutch for myself, it hurts good ! . But I won't let you freeze ; : here are huge mother's mittens my mother, they will reach you to the very elbows ! . Put your hands in them! Well, now your hands are like mine ugly mother!mother's ugly.

Gerda wept for joy.

- I can't stand it when they whine! said the little robber. - Now you have to look fun!Now you should be happy. Here's two more loaves and a ham for you ! What? I suppose, to Not you willhad to starve ! .

Both were tied to a deer.

Then the little robber opened the door, lured the dogs into the house, cut the rope with her sharp knife, whichwhich a deer was tied, and she said to him:

- Well, live! Take care look girl!girl.

Gerda held out both hands to the little robber in huge mittens and said goodbye to her. The reindeer set off at full speed through the stumps and bumps , through the forest, through swamps and steppes. The wolves howled, the crows croaked, and the sky suddenly zafukalo and threw out pillars of fireWolves howled, crows croaked.

Phew! Phew! — was suddenly heard from the sky, and it seemed to sneeze with fire.

- Here is my native northern lights! the deer said. - Look how it burns !

. And he ran on, not stopping day or night. The loaves were eaten, the ham too, and lo Gerda found herselfthey found themselves in Lapland.

Story six

HISTORY SIX.

LAPLAND AND FINCA .

The deer stopped at the pitiful huts; roofshacks. Roof descended to the very ground, and the door was so low that people had to crawl through it on all fours.

At home there was an old Lapland woman who was frying fish by the light of a fat lamp. The reindeer told the Laplander the whole story of Gerda, but first he told his own - it seemed to him much more important.

Gerda was so numb from the cold that she could not speak.

- Oh, you poor fellows! said the Laplander. “You still have a long way to go!” Gotta make a hundred miles With too muchextra miles until you get to FinnmarkFinland where the Snow Queen lives in her country house and lights blue sparklers every evening. I will write couplesome words on dried cod - I have no paper - AAnd you will demolish hermessage a Finn who lives in those places and is better than I will be able to teach you what to do.

When Gerda warmed up, ate and drank, the Laplander wrote couplesome words on dried cod, ordered Gerda to take good care of her, then tied the girl to the back of a deer, and he rushed off again. Sky

Phew! Phew! - was heard again fukalo and threw outfrom the sky, and it began to throw pillars of wonderful blue flame. So the deer ran with Gerda and up to FinnmarkFinland and knocked on the Finnish chimney - she didn’t even have doors - .

Well, the heat was in her home! Finn herself, short dirtythick a woman walking half naked. She quickly pulled off Gerda All dress, mittens and boots - , otherwise the girl would be too hot, - put a piece of ice on the deer's head and then began to read what was written on the dried cod.

She read everything from word to word three times until she memorized it AndA then she put the cod into the cauldron - after all, the fish was good for food, and the Finns did not waste anything in vain.

Then the deer told first his story, and then the story of Gerda. Finca flashed her smart eyes,eyes, but she didn't say a word.

- You are such a wise woman. ! … the deer said. - I know that you can tie all four winds with one thread; when the skipper unties one knot, a fair wind blows, unties another, the weather breaks out, and unties the third and fourth, such a storm rises that it breaks the trees to pieces. Won't you make for a girl such a drinksuch a drink, which would give her the strength of twelve heroes? Then she would have defeated the Snow Queen!

- The strength of twelve heroes! Finn said. - Yes , a lot of this makes sense!is it any use!

With these words, she took a large leather scroll from the shelf and unfolded it: what stood on ithe was covered in what-That amazing letters; Finnishamazing writing.

finca began to read them and read until her sweat prob.hail rolled from her forehead.

The deer again began to ask for Gerda, and Gerda herself looked at the Finn with such pleading eyes full of tears that she blinked again, took the deer aside and, changing the ice on his head, whispered:

- Kai is indeed with the Snow Queen, but he is quite satisfied and thinks that he cannot be better anywhere. The reason for everything is the fragments of the mirror that sit in his heart and in his eye. They must be removed otherwise he will never be human The Snow Queen will retain her power over him.

- ButA Not By Can you give Gerda HowWhat someday destroy this powersomething that will make her the strongest?

- Stronger than it is, I can not make it. Don't you see how great her power is? You do not see that both people and animals?animals? After all, she walked around half the world barefoot! It's not for us to borrow her strength ! Strength is in , her sweet, innocent baby heart.the strength in her heart is that she is an innocent sweet child. If she herself cannot penetrate into the halls of the Snow Queen and extract Kai from the heart fragmentssplinter then we can't help her! Two miles from here begins the Snow Queen's garden. Take the girl there, lower it by the big bush, coveredsprinkled red berries, and without delay, come back ! .

With these words finca plantedplanted Gerda on the back of a deer, and he rushed to run as fast as he could.

- Hey, I'm without warm boots! Hey, I'm not wearing gloves! cried Gerda, finding herself in the cold.

But the deer did not dare to stop until he ran to a bush with red berries. ; here. Here he lowered the girl, kissed her in the most lips, and from the eyeson the cheeks rolled him , large shiny tears. Then he shot back like an arrow.

The poor girl was left alone - alone, in the bitter cold, without shoes, without mittens.

She ran forward as fast as she could ; towards. Towards a whole regiment of snowflakes rushed over to her, but they did not fall from the sky - the sky was quite clear, and onV German blazedblazed northern lights , , - no, they ran across the ground right to Gerda and , as it approaches, got bigger and bigger.

Gerda remembered the big beautiful flakes under incendiarymagnifying glass, but these were much larger, scarier , the most amazing types and forms and everyone is alive.

These were advanced detachmentssentinels troops of the Snow Queen.

Some resembled large ugly hedgehogs, others hundred-headedhundred-headed snakes, others - fat cubs with disheveleddisheveled wool. But they all sparkled with the same whiteness, they were all living snowflakes.

However Gerda began to read "Our Father"; it was so cold that the girl's breath immediately turned into a thick fog. This fogwalked boldly All thickenedforward And thickened, but now small, bright angels began to stand out from it, which, having stepped on the ground, grew into large formidable angels with helmets on their headsforward And spears and shields in hand. Their number kept increasing, and when Gerda finished her prayer, a whole legion formed around her. The angels took the snow monsters on spears, and they crumbled into thousands of snowflakes. Gerda could now boldly go forward; the angels stroked her arms and legs, and she was no longer so cold. Finally girlfinally reached the halls of the Snow Queen.

Let's see what didwas at that time Kai.with Kai. He did not think of Gerda, and least of all that she standing in front of the castle.so close to him.

Story Seven

WHAT'S HAPPENEDSTORY SEVEN.

WHAT'S HAPPENED IN THE HALLS OF THE SNOW QUEEN AND WHAT HAPPENED THEN .

The walls of the halls of the Snow Queen were swept by a blizzard, the windows and doors were done by violent winds. Hundreds of huge, aurora-lit halls stretched one after another;The walls of the halls were blizzards, the windows and doors were violent winds. More than a hundred halls stretched here one after the other as a blizzard swept them. All of them were illuminated by northern lights, and the largest stretched for many, many miles. How cold, how deserted it was in those white, brightly shining halls! Fun never came here ! If only a rare bear party would be held here. Bear balls have never been held here dancing to the music of the storm, Von which polar bears could be distinguished by grace and the ability to walk on their hind legs , or a party was formed; parties never formed in cards with quarrels and fight, or finally agreedfight, did not converge for a conversation over a cup of coffee white chanterelle gossips - no, it never happened!gossips.

Cold, deserted dead!grandiose! The Northern Lights flashed and burned so correctly that one could with precisionexactly calculate at what minute the light will intensify And , in which weaken.will fade. in the middle of the biggest desertdesert the snowy hall was a frozen lake. The ice cracked on it into a thousand pieces, evensuch identical and correct marvelously.that it seemed like some kind of trick. In the middle of the lake stood the throne of the Snow Queen; on it she satsitting snow queen when she was at home, saying that she was sitting on the mirror of the mind; in her opinion, it was the only and best mirror in the world.in the world.

Kai turned completely blue, almost turned black from the cold, but did not notice it. , - the kisses of the Snow Queen made him insensitive to the cold, and his very heart became a pieceit was like a piece ice. Kai fiddled with flat, pointed ice floes, laying them in all sorts of frets. There is such a game — - folding figures from wooden planks, - which is called "Chinese puzzle".Chinese puzzle. That's Kai also folded various intricate figures , only from ice floes, and it was called " icy mind game ". . In his eyes, these figures were a miracle of art, and folding them was an occupation. firstparamount importance. This was due to the fact that a fragment of a magic mirror sat in his eye. ! He folded. He folded such figures, from ice floes andwhich were obtained whole words, but could not put together what he especially wanted - the word "eternity". The Snow Queen said to him: "If you add this word, you will be your own master, and I will give you all the world and a pair of new skates." But he couldn't put it down.

- Now I will fly to warmer climes. ! , The Snow Queen said. - I'll look into black cauldrons ! .

boilersSo she called the craters of the fire-breathing mountains - Etna and Vesuvius and Etna. .

And she- I'll whiten them a little. It's good for lemons and grapes.

She flew away, and Kai was left alone in the boundless deserted hall, looking at the ice floes and thinking, thinking, so that his head was cracking. He was sitting on one place - , so pale, motionless, as if inanimate.non-residential. One might think that he at all frozen.

At that time, through the great gate, done by violent winds,which were violent winds, Gerda entered. She recited the evening prayer, andAnd in front of her the winds subsided, as if asleep. She free entered a huge deserted ice hall and saw Kai. girl nowShe immediately recognized him, threw herself on his neck, hugged him tightly and exclaimed:

- Kai, my dear Kai!Kai! Finally I found you!

But he sat still the same motionless and cold. ThenAnd then Gerda wept; her hot tears fell on his chest, penetrated into his heart, melted his ice crust and melted, melted splinter. Kai looked at Gerda and she sang:

Roses are blooming... Beauty, beauty!

We will soon see the Christ child.

KaiAnd suddenly burst into tears and cried so long and so strongly that the shard flowed out of the eye along with tears. Then he recognized Gerda and Very rejoiced . :

- Gerda! Darling my Gerda!.. Where have you been for so long? Where was I myself?

And he looked around. How cold it is here, deserted!

And he clung tightly to Gerda. SheAnd she laughed and cried with joy. Yes, it was such a joy.And it felt so wonderful that even the ice floes began to dance, and when they got tired, they lay down and made up the very word that the Snow Queen asked Kai to compose ; having folded. Having folded him, he could become his own master , and even to receive from her as a gift the whole world and a pair of new skates.

Gerda kissed Kai on both cheeks, and they again bloomed roses,blush like roses; kissed his eyes and they shone like her eyesshone; kissed his hands and feet, and he again became vigorous and healthy.

The Snow Queen could return anytime , - his freestyleholiday pay lay there, written in glittering ice letters.

Kai and Gerda left hand in hand desert ice halls ; They. They walked and talked about grandma, oh their roses, that bloomed in their garden, And on their wayIn front of them violent winds subsided, peeped Sun. When did theySun. And when they reached a bush with red berries, where the reindeer was already waiting for them. He brought with him a young deer mother, her udder was full of milk; she made Kai and Gerda drunk with them and kissed them right on the lips. Then

Kai and Gerda went first to the Finn, warmed themselves with her and found out the way home, and then - to Lapland ; that. Ta I sewed a new dress for them, repaired my sleigh and went to see them off.

Deer I'm a couple Same saw off the youngsaw off the young travelers up to the very border of Lapland, where the first greenery was already breaking through. Here Kai and Gerda said goodbye to deerhim and with Lapland.

- Bon Voyage! the escorts called out to them.

Here is the forest in front of them. The first ones sang birdiesbirds the trees were covered with green buds. A young girl in a bright red cap rode out of the forest to meet the travelers on a magnificent horse. and with a gunwith pistols behind the belt.

Gerda immediately recognized both the horse - it had once been harnessed to a golden carriage - and the girl. It was a little robber ; she was tired of living at home, and she wanted to go to the north, and if she didn’t like it, to other places. .

She also recognized Gerda. That was joy!

- Look you , tramp! she said to Kai. — wantedwanted would Ito me to know if you are worth being followed to the ends of the world ! ?

But Gerda patted her on the cheek and asked about the prince and princess.

- They went to foreign lands ! , answered the young robber.

- A raven with a crow? ? Gerda asked.

- The forest raven is dead; the tame crow was left a widow, walks with black hair on its leg and complainslaments to fate. But all this is nothing, but you better tell me what happened to you and how you found him.

Gerda and Kai told her about everything.

Well, that's the end of the story! - said the young robber, shook hands with them and promised to visit them if she ever stopped by to them V their city.

Then she went on her way, and Kai and Gerda - his.

They walked, and on their roadway spring flowers bloomed, green grass.grass. There was a bell ringing, and they recognized the bell towers of their native town.cities. They climbed the familiar stairs and entered the room, where everything was the same as before: ticked the same way watch , say "tic- So the hour hand moved.", the hands moved across the dial. But as they passed through the low door, they noticed that managed to do during this timehave become completely adults people. .

Blooming rose bushes peered through the open window from the roof; right there were their highchairs. Kai and Gerda each sat on their own And , took each other's hands . Cold, and cold, desert splendor of the halls of the Snow Queen was forgotten by themforgotten like a heavy dream. Grandmother sat in the sun and loudly read the Gospel: "Unless you are like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven!"

Kai and Gerda looked at each other and only then understood the meaning of the old psalm:

Roses are blooming... Beauty, beauty!

We will soon see the Christ child.

So they sat side by side, both already adults, but children in heart and soul, and in the yard stood summer, warm , fertile summer !

Hans Christian Andersen

The Snow Queen

A fairy tale in seven stories

Translation by Anna and Peter Ganzen.

THE MIRROR AND ITS SHARDS

Story one

Let's start! When we reach the end of our history, we will know more than we do now. So, once upon a time there was a troll, feisty-preslying; it was the devil himself. Once he was in a particularly good mood: he made such a mirror in which everything good and beautiful was utterly reduced, everything worthless and ugly, on the contrary, appeared even brighter, it seemed even worse. The most beautiful landscapes looked like boiled spinach in it, and the best of people looked like freaks or seemed to be standing upside down and without bellies! Faces were distorted to the point that it was impossible to recognize them; if someone had a freckle or a mole on his face, it spread all over his face. The devil was terribly amused by all this. A kind, pious human thought was reflected in the mirror with an unimaginable grimace, so that the troll could not help laughing, rejoicing at his invention. All the students of the troll - he had his own school - talked about the mirror as if it were some kind of miracle.

Now only, - they said, - you can see the whole world and people in their true light! And they ran with the mirror everywhere; soon there was not a single country, not a single person who would not be reflected in it in a distorted form. Finally, they wanted to get to heaven to laugh at the angels and the Creator himself. The higher they climbed, the more the mirror grimaced and writhed from grimaces; they could barely hold it in their hands. But then they got up again, and suddenly the mirror was so skewed that it escaped from their hands, flew to the ground and shattered. Millions, billions of its fragments, however, have done even more trouble than the mirror itself. Some of them were no more than a grain of sand, scattered around the wide world, fell, it happened, into people's eyes, and so they remained there. A person with such a shard in his eye began to see everything upside down or to notice in every thing only its bad sides, because each shard retained the property that distinguished the mirror itself. For some people, the fragments hit right in the heart, and this was the worst: the heart turned into a piece of ice. There were large ones between these fragments, such that they could be inserted into window frames, but it was not worth looking at your good friends through these windows. Finally, there were also such fragments that went on glasses, only the trouble was if people put them on in order to look at things and judge them more correctly! And the evil troll laughed to the point of colic: the success of his invention tickled him so pleasantly. But many more fragments of the mirror flew around the world. Let's listen!

BOY AND GIRL

Story two

In a big city, where there are so many houses and people that not everyone and everyone manages to fence off at least a small place for a garden, and where therefore most of the inhabitants have to be content with indoor flowers in pots, there lived two poor children, but they had a garden larger than a flower pot. They were not related, but they loved each other like brother and sister. Their parents lived in the attics of adjacent houses. The roofs of the houses almost converged, and under the ledges of the roofs there was a gutter that fell just under the window of each attic. It was worth, therefore, to step out of some window onto the gutter and you could find yourself at the window of the neighbors. My parents each had a large wooden box; roots grew in them and small rose bushes (one in each), showered with wonderful flowers. It occurred to the parents to put these boxes across the gutters - in this way, from one window to another stretched like two rows of flowers. Peas descended from the boxes in green garlands, rose bushes peeped through the windows and intertwined branches; something like a triumphal gate of greenery and flowers was formed. Since the boxes were very high and the children knew for sure that they were not allowed to climb on them, the parents often allowed the boy and girl to visit each other on the roof and sit on a bench under roses. And what fun games they had here!

In winter, this pleasure ceased: the windows were often covered with ice patterns. But the children heated copper coins on the stove and applied them to the frozen panes - a wonderful round hole immediately thawed, and a cheerful, affectionate eye peered into it - each boy and girl looked out of their window: Kai and Gerda. In summer, in one jump, they could find themselves visiting each other, and in winter, they had to first go down many, many steps down, and then climb the same number up. There was snow in the yard. "It's the swarming white bees!" said the grandmother. “Do they also have a queen?” asked the boy; he knew real bees had one. -- Eat! Grandma answered. - Snowflakes surround her in a dense swarm, but she is larger than all of them and never remains on the ground - forever rushes on a black cloud. Often at night she flies through the city streets and looks into the windows; that's why they are covered with ice patterns, like flowers! - Seen, seen! - said the children and believed that it was all true. "Can't the Snow Queen come in here?" asked the girl. - Let him try! said the boy. - I'll put her on a warm stove, so she will melt! But the grandmother patted him on the head and started talking about something else. In the evening, when Kai was already at home and had almost completely undressed, about to go to bed, he climbed onto a chair by the window and looked into a small circle thawed on the window pane. Snowflakes fluttered outside the window; one of them, a larger one, fell on the edge of a flower box and began to grow, grow, until, finally, she turned into a woman wrapped in the thinnest white tulle, woven, it seemed, from millions of snow stars. She was so lovely, so tender - all of dazzling white ice and yet alive! Her eyes sparkled like stars, but there was neither warmth nor meekness in them. She nodded to the boy and beckoned him with her hand. The little boy was frightened and jumped off the chair; something like a large bird flashed past the window. The next day there was a glorious frost, but then there was a thaw, and there came the red spring. The sun was shining, the flower boxes were all green again, the swallows were nesting under the roof, the windows were opened, and the children could again sit in their little garden on the roof. The roses have bloomed beautifully all summer. The girl learned a psalm, which also spoke of roses; the girl sang it to the boy, thinking about her roses, and he sang along with her: The roses in the valleys are already blooming, the Christ Child is with us here! The children sang, holding hands, kissed roses, looked at the clear sun and talked to it: it seemed to them that the infant Christ himself was looking at them from it. What a wonderful summer it was and how good it was under the bushes of fragrant roses, which, it seemed, were supposed to bloom forever! Kai and Gerda sat and examined a book with pictures - animals and birds; the big clock tower struck five. -- Ai! the boy suddenly exclaimed. “I was stabbed right in the heart, and something got into my eye!” The girl threw her arm around his neck, he blinked his eyes, but nothing was visible in any of them. "Must have jumped out!" -- he said. But that's the point, it's not. Two fragments of the devil's mirror fell into his heart and into his eye, in which, as we, of course, remember, everything great and good seemed insignificant and ugly, and evil and evil was reflected even brighter, the bad sides of each thing came out even sharper. Poor Kai! Now his heart should have turned into a piece of ice! The pain in the eye and in the heart has already passed, but the fragments themselves remained in them. - What are you crying about? he asked Gerda. -- Wu! How ugly you are now! It doesn't hurt me at all! Ugh! he then shouted. - This rose is sharpened by a worm! And that one is completely crooked! What ugly roses! No better than boxes in which they stick out! And he, pushing the box with his foot, tore out two roses. - Kai, what are you doing? cried the girl, and he, seeing her fright, snatched another one and ran away from pretty little Gerda through his window. If after that the girl brought him a book with pictures, he said that these pictures are good only for babies; if his grandmother told him anything, he found fault with the words. Yes, at least one of these! And then he got to the point that he began to mimic her walk, put on her glasses and imitate her voice! It came out very similar and made people laugh. Soon the boy learned to imitate all the neighbors too - he was very good at showing off all their oddities and shortcomings, and people said: - What a head this little boy has! And the reason for everything was the fragments of the mirror that hit him in the eye and in the heart. That is why he even mimicked the pretty little Gerda, who loved him with all her heart. And his amusements have now become completely different, so sophisticated. Once in the winter, when a snowball was fluttering, he came with a large burning glass and put the skirt of his blue jacket under the snow. “Look through the glass, Gerda!” -- he said. Each snowflake seemed much larger under the glass than it actually was, and looked like a magnificent flower or a ten-pointed star. What a miracle! See how well done! Kai said. “This is much more interesting than real flowers!” And what precision! Not a single wrong line! Ah, if only they had not melted! A little later, Kai appeared in big mittens, with a sled behind his back, shouted in Gerda's very ear: "I was allowed to ride on a large area with other boys!" -- And running. There were a lot of children on the square. Those who were more daring tied their sledges to the peasants' sledges and thus rolled quite far. The fun went on and on. In the midst of it, large sleighs painted white appeared on the square. In them sat a man, all gone in a white fur coat and a similar cap. The sleigh circled the square twice; Kai quickly tied his sled to them and rolled. The big sledges sped faster and then turned off the square into a side street. The man sitting in them turned around and nodded to Kai, as though he were familiar. Kai several times tried to untie his sledge, but the man in the fur coat nodded to him, and he continued to ride. Here they are outside the city gates. Snow suddenly fell in flakes, it got so dark that not a single light could be seen all around. The boy hurried to let go of the rope, which caught hold of the big sledge, but his sledge seemed to be rooted to the big sledge and continued to fly like a whirlwind. Kai screamed loudly - no one heard him! The snow was falling, the sledges were racing, diving in snowdrifts, jumping over hedges and ditches. Kai was trembling all over, he wanted to read "Our Father", but in his mind one multiplication table was spinning. The snowflakes kept growing and finally turned into big white hens. Suddenly they scattered to the sides, the big sledge stopped, and the man sitting in it stood up. It was a tall, slender, dazzling white woman - the Snow Queen; both her fur coat and her hat were made of snow. - Have a nice ride! -- she said. “But you are completely cold. Get into my coat! And, placing the boy in her sleigh, she wrapped him in her fur coat; Kai seemed to sink into a snowdrift. - Are you still cold? she asked and kissed him on the forehead. Wu! Her kiss was colder than ice, pierced him with cold through and through and reached the very heart, and it was already half icy. For one minute it seemed to Kai that he was about to die, but, on the contrary, it became easier, he even completely stopped feeling cold. - My sleds! Don't forget my sleigh! he thought first of all about the sled. And the sledge was tied on the back of one of the white hens, which flew with them after the big sledge. The Snow Queen kissed Kai again, and he forgot Gerda, and his grandmother, and all the household. "I won't kiss you again!" -- she said. "Or I'll kiss you to death!" Kai looked at her - she was so pretty! He could not have imagined a smarter, more charming face. Now she did not seem to him icy, as she had been sitting outside the window and nodding her head to him; now she seemed perfect to him. He was not at all afraid of her and told her that he knew all four operations of arithmetic, and even with fractions, he knew how many square miles and inhabitants each country, and she only smiled in response. And then it seemed to him that he really knew little, and he fixed his eyes on the endless air space. At the same moment, the Snow Queen flew with him onto a dark lead cloud, and they rushed. The storm howled and groaned as if singing old songs; they flew over forests and lakes, over seas and solid land; below them cold winds blew, wolves howled, snow sparkled, black crows flew with a cry, and above them shone a large clear moon. Kai looked at him all the long, long winter night - during the day he slept at the feet of the Snow Queen.

FLOWER BOARD OF A WOMAN WHO Knew How to Conjure

Story three

And what happened to Gerda when Kai did not return? And where did he go? Nobody knew it, nobody could tell anything about him. The boys said only that they saw him tying his sledge to a large magnificent sledge, which then turned into an alley and drove out of the city gates. Nobody knew where he had gone. Many tears were shed for him; Gerda wept bitterly and for a long time. Finally, they decided that he had died, drowned in the river that flowed outside the city. The dark winter days dragged on for a long time. But then spring came, the sun came out. Kai is dead and will never come back! said Gerda. -- I do not believe! Sunlight answered. He is dead and will never come back! she repeated to the swallows. - We don't believe it! they replied. In the end, Gerda herself stopped believing it. - I'll put on my new red shoes: Kai has never seen them yet, - she said one morning, - and I'll go to the river to ask about him. It was still very early; she kissed her sleeping grandmother, put on her red shoes, and ran all alone out of town, straight to the river. “Is it true that you took my sworn brother?” I'll give you my red shoes if you give it back to me! And it seemed to the girl that the waves were somehow strangely nodding to her; then she took off her red shoes, her first jewel, and threw them into the river. But they fell right on the shore, and the waves immediately carried them to land - the river seemed not to want to take her best jewel from the girl, since she could not return Kai to her. The girl thought that she had not thrown her shoes very far, climbed into the boat, which was rocking in the reeds, stood on the very edge of the stern and again threw the shoes into the water. The boat was not tied and pushed off the shore. The girl wanted to quickly jump onto land, but while she was making her way from stern to bow, the boat had already moved a whole arshin from the shore and quickly rushed downstream. Gerda was terribly frightened and began to cry and scream, but no one except the sparrows heard her cries; the sparrows, however, could not carry her to land, and only flew after her along the coast and chirped, as if wishing to console her: "We are here! We are here!"

The boat was carried further and further away; Gerda sat quietly, in nothing but stockings; her red shoes followed the boat, but could not overtake her. The banks of the river were very beautiful - everywhere you could see the most wonderful flowers, tall sprawling trees, meadows on which sheep and cows grazed, but nowhere was a human soul to be seen. "Maybe the river is taking me to Kai!" - thought Gerda, cheered up, got to her feet and admired the beautiful green shores for a long, long time. But then she sailed to a large cherry orchard, in which there was a house with colored glass in the windows and a thatched roof. Two wooden soldiers stood at the door and saluted everyone who passed by with their guns. Gerda shouted to them: she mistook them for the living, but they, of course, did not answer her. So she swam even closer to them, the boat approached almost to the very shore, and the girl screamed even louder. Out of the house came out, leaning on a stick, an old, very old woman in a big straw hat painted with wonderful flowers. “Oh, you poor little one! said the old woman. - How did you get on such a big, fast river and climbed so far? With these words, the old woman entered the water, hooked the boat with her stick, pulled it to the shore and landed Gerda. Gerda was very glad that she finally found herself on dry land, although she was afraid of someone else's old woman. “Well, let’s go, but tell me who you are and how you got here?” said the old woman. Gerda began to tell her about everything, and the old woman shook her head and repeated: "Hm! hm!" But now the girl had finished and asked the old woman if she had seen Kai. She replied that he had not yet passed here, but, surely, he would pass, so that the girl had nothing to grieve about yet - she would rather try cherries and admire the flowers that grow in the garden: they are more beautiful than those drawn in any picture book and everyone knows how to tell stories! Then the old woman took Gerda by the hand, took her to her house and locked the door with a key. The windows were high from the floor and all of multi-colored - red, blue and yellow - glass; in accordance with this, the room itself was illuminated by some surprisingly bright, iridescent light. There was a basket of wonderful cherries on the table, and Gerda could eat them as much as she liked; while she ate, the old woman combed her hair with a golden comb. Her hair curled in curls and surrounded the fresh, round, like a rose, little girl's face with a golden glow. "I've wanted to have such a pretty girl for a long time!" said the old woman. "You'll see how well we'll get on with you!" And she continued to comb the girl's curls, and the longer she combed, the more Gerda forgot her named brother Kai: the old woman knew how to conjure. She was not an evil sorceress and conjured only occasionally, for her own pleasure; now she really wanted to keep Gerda. And so she went into the garden, touched with her stick all the rose bushes, and as they stood in full bloom, they all went deep, deep into the ground, and there was no trace of them. The old woman was afraid that Gerda, at the sight of the roses, would remember her own people, and then Kai, and run away from her. Having done her job, the old woman took Gerda to the flower garden. The girl's eyes widened: there were flowers of all kinds and all seasons. What a beauty, what a fragrance! In all the world one could not find more colorful picture books, more beautiful than this flower garden. Gerda jumped for joy and played among the flowers until the sun went down behind the tall cherry trees. Then they put her in a wonderful bed with red silk feather beds stuffed with blue violets; the girl fell asleep, and she had such dreams as a queen sees on her wedding day. The next day Gerda was again allowed to play in the sun. So many days passed. Gerda knew every flower in the garden, but no matter how many there were, it still seemed to her that something was missing, but which one? Once she sat and looked at the old woman's straw hat, painted with flowers; the most beautiful of them was just a rose - the old woman forgot to erase it. That's what distraction means! -- How! Are there any roses here? - said Gerda and immediately ran to look for them all over the garden - there is not a single one! Then the girl sank to the ground and wept. Warm tears fell right on the spot where one of the rose bushes used to stand, and as soon as they wet the ground, the bush instantly grew out of it, just as fresh, blooming as before. Gerda wrapped her arms around him, began to kiss the roses and remembered those wonderful roses that bloomed at her house, and at the same time about Kai. - How I lingered! said the girl. “I have to look for Kai! Do you know where he is?” she asked the roses. “Do you believe that he is dead and will not return again?” - He didn't die! said the roses. “We were underground, where all the dead were, but Kai was not among them. -- Thank you! - said Gerda and went to other flowers, looked into their cups and asked: "Do you know where Kai is?" But each flower basked in the sun and thought only of its own fairy tale or story; Gerda heard a lot of them, but not one of the flowers said a word about Kai. What did the fiery lily tell her? Do you hear the drum beat? Boom! boom! The sounds are very monotonous: boom! boom! Listen to the mournful singing of women! Hear the cries of the priests!.. A Hindu widow stands at the stake in a long red robe. The flame engulfs her and the body of her dead husband, but she thinks of him alive - of him, whose eyes burned her heart more than the flame that will now incinerate her body. Can the flame of the heart be extinguished in the flame of a fire? - I don't understand anything! said Gerda. - This is my story! replied the fiery lily. What did the bindweed say? -- A narrow mountain path leads to an old knight's castle proudly towering on a rock. The old brick walls are thickly covered with ivy. Its leaves cling to the balcony, and on the balcony stands a lovely girl; she leaned over the railing and looked at the road. The girl is fresher than a rose, more airy than an apple blossom swayed by the wind. How her silk dress rustles! Isn't he coming? Are you talking about Kai? asked Gerda. "I'm telling my tale, my dreams!" - answered the bindweed. What did the little snowdrop say? - A long board swings between the trees - this is a swing. Two pretty girls are sitting on the board; their dresses are as white as snow, and long green silk ribbons flutter from their hats. The brother, older than them, stands behind the sisters, holding onto the ropes with the bends of his elbows; in his hands, in one - a small cup of soapy water, in the other - a clay tube. He blows bubbles, the board sways, the bubbles fly through the air, shimmering in the sun with all the colors of the rainbow. Here is one hanging on the end of the tube and swaying from the wind. A little black dog, light as a soap bubble, gets up on its hind legs and puts its front paws on the board, but the board flies up, the dog falls, yaps and gets angry. The children tease her, the bubbles burst... The swinging board, the foam flying through the air - that's my song! “She may be good, but you say all this in such a sad tone!” And again, not a word about Kai! What will the hyacinths say? - Once upon a time there were three slender, airy beauties of the sister. On one dress was red, on the other - blue, on the third - completely white. Hand in hand they danced in the clear moonlight by the still lake. They were not elves, but real girls. A sweet fragrance filled the air, and the girls disappeared into the forest. Now the aroma became even stronger, even sweeter - three coffins floated out of the thicket of the forest; beautiful sisters lay in them, and around them fluttered, like living lights, luminous bugs. Are the girls sleeping or dead? The scent of the flowers says they are dead. The evening bell tolls for the dead! "You made me sad!" said Gerda. “Your bells smell so strong too!.. Dead girls can’t get out of my head now!” Oh, is Kai dead too? But the roses were underground and they say that he is not there! "Ding-dang!" hyacinth bells jangled. - We're not calling over Kai! We don't even know him! We call our own ditty; we don't know the other one! And Gerda went to the golden dandelion shining in the brilliant green grass. “You little bright sun! Gerda told him. “Tell me, do you know where I can look for my named brother?” Dandelion shone even brighter and looked at the girl. What song did he sing to her? Alas! And in this song not a word was said about Kai! - Early spring, God's clear sun greetly shines on a small courtyard. Swallows hover near the white wall adjoining the neighbors' yard. From the green grass, the first yellow flowers peep out, sparkling in the sun, like gold. An old grandmother came out to sit in the yard; her granddaughter, a poor maid, came from among the guests, and kissed the old woman warmly. A girl's kiss is more precious than gold - it comes straight from the heart. Gold on her lips, gold in her heart, gold in the sky in the morning! That's all! Dandelion said. "My poor grandmother!" Gerda sighed. "How she misses me, how she grieves!" No less than she grieved for Kai! But I'll be back soon and bring him with me. There is nothing more to ask the flowers: you will not achieve anything with them, they only know their songs! And she tied her skirt up to make it easier to run, but when she wanted to jump over the yellow lily, she whipped her legs. Gerda stopped, looked at the long flower and asked: "Perhaps you know something?" And she leaned towards him, waiting for an answer. What did the yellow lily say? - I see myself! I see myself! Oh, how fragrant I am! .. High, high in a small closet, under the very roof, there is a half-dressed dancer. She now balances on one leg, then again stands firmly on both and tramples the whole world with them, because she is a deception of the eyes. Here she is pouring water from a teapot onto some white piece of matter that she is holding in her hands. This is her corsage. Cleanliness is the best beauty! A white skirt hangs on a nail driven into the wall; the skirt was also washed with water from the kettle and dried on the roof! Here the girl is dressing and tying a bright yellow handkerchief around her neck, which sets off the whiteness of the dress even more sharply. Again one leg soars into the air! Look how straight it stands on the other, like a flower on its stalk! I see myself, I see myself! - Yes, I have little to do with this! said Gerda. “There is no need for me to talk about it! And she ran out of the garden. The door was locked only with a latch; Gerda pulled the rusty bolt, he succumbed, the door opened, and the girl, so barefoot, began to run along the road! She looked back three times, but no one pursued her. Finally, she got tired, sat down on a stone and looked around: the summer had already passed, it was late autumn in the yard, and in the old woman’s wonderful garden, where the sun always shone and flowers of all seasons bloomed, this was not noticeable! -- God! How I lingered! After all, autumn is in the yard! There is no time for rest! - said Gerda, and again set off on her way. Oh, how her poor, tired legs hurt! How cold and damp it was in the air! The leaves on the willows were completely yellowed, the fog settled on them in large drops and flowed down to the ground; the leaves fell off like that. One blackthorn stood all covered with astringent, tart berries. How grey, gloomy the whole world looked!

PRINCE AND PRINCESS

Story Four

Gerda had to sit down again to rest. A large raven jumped in the snow in front of her; he looked at the girl for a long, long time, nodding his head at her, and finally spoke: "Kar-kar!" Hello! He could not pronounce it more humanly than this, but, apparently, he wished the girl well and asked her where she was wandering in the wide world all alone? Gerda understood the words "alone and alone" perfectly and immediately felt all their meaning. Having told the raven all her life, the girl asked if he had seen Kai? The raven shook his head thoughtfully and said: “Perhaps, perhaps! -- How? Is it true? exclaimed the girl, and almost strangled the raven with her kisses. - Quiet, quiet! said the raven. “I think it was your Kai!” But now he must have forgotten you and his princess! "Does he live with the princess?" asked Gerda. - Now, listen! said the raven. "But it's terribly hard for me to speak your language!" Now, if you understood like a crow, I would tell you about everything much better. No, they didn't teach me that! said Gerda. - Grandma, she understands! It would be nice if I could too! -- That is OK! said the raven. “I’ll tell you what I can, even if it’s bad. And he told about everything that only he knew. “In the kingdom where you and I are, there is a princess who is so smart that it’s impossible to say! She has read all the newspapers in the world, and has already forgotten everything she has read—how clever she is! One day she was sitting on the throne - and there is little fun in it, as people say - and she sang a song: "Why shouldn't I get married?" "But indeed!" she thought, and she wanted to get married. But for her husband she wanted to choose for herself such a man who would be able to answer when spoken to, and not one who would only know how to put on airs: it's so boring! And so they called all the ladies of the court with a drumbeat and announced to them the will of the princess. They were all very pleased and said: "That's what we like! We ourselves recently thought about it!" All this is true! added the raven. - I have a bride at court, she is tame, - from her I know all this. His bride was a crow. “The next day all the newspapers came out with a border of hearts and with the monograms of the princess. It was announced in the newspapers that every young man of good appearance could come to the palace and talk with the princess; the one who will behave quite freely, as at home, and will be the most eloquent of all, the princess will choose her husband! Yes Yes! repeated the raven. “All this is as true as the fact that I am sitting here in front of you!” The people poured into the palace in droves, there was a stampede and a crush, but nothing came of it either on the first or on the second day. On the street, all the suitors spoke perfectly, but as soon as they stepped over the palace threshold, saw the guard, all in silver, and the lackeys in gold, and entered the huge, light-filled halls, they were dumbfounded. They will approach the throne where the princess sits, and they only repeat her last words, but she didn’t need that at all! It’s true, they were all definitely drugged with dope! And when they went out of the gate, they again found the gift of speech. From the very gates to the doors of the palace stretched a long, long tail of suitors. I have been there and seen it! The suitors wanted to eat and drink, but they were not even given a glass of water from the palace. True, those who were smarter stocked up on sandwiches, but the thrifty no longer shared with their neighbors, thinking to themselves: "Let them starve, emaciate - the princess will not take them!" - Well, what about Kai, Kai? asked Gerda. - When did he come? And he came to marry? - Wait! Wait! Now we just got to it! On the third day a little man appeared, neither in a carriage nor on horseback, but simply on foot, and entered the palace directly. His eyes shone like yours; his hair was long, but he was poorly dressed. - It's Kai! Gerda rejoiced. So I found him! And she clapped her hands. He had a bag on his back! continued the raven. “No, it must have been his sleigh!” said Gerda. "He left home with a sled!" -- It is very possible! said the raven. - I didn't get a good look. So, my fiancee told me that when she entered the palace gates and saw the guards in silver, and the lackeys in gold on the stairs, he was not at all embarrassed, nodded his head and said: “It must be boring to stand here on the stairs, I I'd better go into the rooms!" The halls were all flooded with light; the nobles walked about without boots, carrying golden dishes: it could not have been more solemn! And his boots creaked, but he was not embarrassed by this either. It must be Kai! exclaimed Gerda. “I know he was wearing new boots!” I myself heard how they creaked when he came to his grandmother! - Yes, they creaked in order! continued the raven. “But he boldly approached the princess; she sat on a pearl the size of a spindle, and all around stood the ladies of the court and gentlemen with their maids, the maids of the maids, the valets, the servants of the valets and the servant of the valet servants. The farther one stood from the princess and closer to the doors, the more important, haughty he kept himself. It was impossible even to look at the servant of the valet servants, who was standing at the very door, without fear - he was so important! - That's fear! said Gerda. “Did Kai marry the princess after all?” "If I weren't a raven, I'd marry her myself, even though I'm engaged." He entered into conversation with the princess and spoke as well as I do when I speak crow--or so my fiancee told me. In general, he behaved very freely and nicely and declared that he had not come to woo, but only to listen to the smart speeches of the princess. Well, now, he liked her, she liked him too! Yes, yes, it's Kai! said Gerda. - He's so smart! He knew all four operations of arithmetic, and even with fractions! Oh, take me to the palace! “It’s easy to say,” answered the raven, “but how to do it?” Wait, I'll talk to my fiancee - she'll come up with something and advise us. Do you think that they will let you into the palace right like that? Why, they don't let girls like that in! - They'll let me in! said Gerda. "If only Kai would hear that I'm here, he'd come running after me now!" “Wait for me here by the grate!” - said the raven, shook his head and flew away. He returned quite late in the evening and croaked: "Kar, kar!" My bride sends you a thousand bows and this little loaf. She stole it in the kitchen - there are a lot of them, and you must be hungry! .. Well, you won’t get into the palace: you’re barefoot - the guards in silver and the lackeys in gold will never let you through. But don't cry, you'll still get there. My fiancee knows how to get into the princess's bedroom from the back door, and knows where to get the key. And so they entered the garden, walked along the long avenues strewn with yellowed autumn leaves, and when all the lights in the palace windows went out one by one, the raven led the girl through a small half-open door. Oh, how Gerda's heart beat with fear and joyful impatience! She was definitely going to do something bad, and she only wanted to know if her Kai was here! Yes, yes, he is right here! She so vividly imagined his intelligent eyes, long hair, smile ... How he smiled at her when they used to sit side by side under rose bushes! And how happy he will be now when he sees her, hears what a long journey she decided on for him, learns how all the household grieved for him! Ah, she was just beside herself with fear and joy. But here they are on the landing of the stairs; a light bulb burned on the closet, and a tame crow sat on the floor and looked around. Gerda sat down and bowed, as her grandmother taught. “My fiancé told me so many good things about you, young lady!” said the tame crow. -- "The story of your life," as they say, is also very touching! Would you like to take a lamp, and I will go ahead. We'll take the straight road - we won't meet anyone here! “But I think someone is following us!” - said Gerda, and at the same moment some shadows rushed past her with a slight noise: horses with fluttering manes and thin legs, hunters, ladies and gentlemen on horseback. - These are dreams! said the tame crow. - They are to carry away the thoughts of high persons to hunt. So much the better for us: it will be more convenient to see the sleeping ones! I hope, however, that by entering in honor you will show that you have a grateful heart! - There is something to talk about here! Needless to say! said the forest raven. Then they entered the first room, all covered with pink satin, woven with flowers. Dreams flashed past the girl again, but so quickly that she did not even have time to look at the riders. One room was more magnificent than the other - just taken aback. Finally they reached the bedroom: the ceiling looked like the top of a huge palm tree with precious crystal leaves; from the middle of it descended a thick golden stalk, on which hung two beds in the form of lilies. One was white, the princess slept in it, the other was red, and Gerda hoped to find Kai in it. The girl slightly bent one of the red petals and saw a dark blond nape. It's Kai! She called him by name loudly and held the lamp close to his face. Dreams rushed away with noise; the prince woke up and turned his head... Ah, it wasn't Kai! The prince looked like him only from the back of his head, but he was just as young and handsome. A princess looked out of a white lily and asked what happened. Gerda burst into tears and told her whole story, mentioning what the crows had done for her ... - Oh, you poor thing! - said the prince and princess, praised the ravens, announced that they were not at all angry with them - only let them not do this in the future - and even wanted to reward them. Do you want to be free birds? asked the princess. “Or would you like to take the position of court ravens, fully supported from kitchen leftovers?” The crow and the crow bowed and asked for a position at the court - they thought about old age - and said: - It's good to have a sure piece of bread in old age! The prince got up and gave his bed to Gerda; there was nothing more he could do for her. And she folded her little hands and thought: "How kind all people and animals are!" She closed her eyes and fell into a sweet sleep. The dreams again flew into the bedroom, but now they looked like God's angels and carried Kai on a small sledge, who nodded his head to Gerda. Alas! All this was only in a dream and disappeared as soon as the girl woke up.

The next day she was dressed from head to toe in silk and velvet and allowed to remain in the palace as long as she wished. The girl could live and live happily ever after, but she stayed only a few days and began to ask that they give her a cart with a horse and a pair of shoes - she again wanted to set off in search of her named brother in the wide world. They gave her shoes, and a muff, and a wonderful dress, and when she said goodbye to everyone, a golden carriage drove up to the gate with the coats of arms of the prince and princess shining like stars; the coachman, the footmen, and the postilions—they gave her postilions too—were wearing small golden crowns on their heads. The prince and princess themselves put Gerda into the carriage and wished her a happy journey. The forest raven, who had already managed to get married, accompanied the girl for the first three miles and sat in the carriage next to her - he could not ride with his back to the horses. A tame crow sat on the gate and flapped its wings. She did not go to see Gerda off because she had suffered from headaches ever since she received a position at court and ate too much. The carriage was chock-full of sugar pretzels, and the box under the seat was full of fruit and gingerbread. -- Goodbye! Goodbye! cried the prince and princess. Gerda began to cry, and so did the crow. So they rode the first three miles. Then the raven said goodbye to the girl. The breakup was hard! The raven flew up into the tree and flapped its black wings until the carriage, shining like the sun, disappeared from view.

LITTLE Rogue

Story five

Here Gerda drove into a dark forest, but the carriage shone like the sun, and immediately caught the eye of the robbers. They could not stand it and attacked her, shouting: "Gold! Gold!" - they seized the horses by the bridle, killed the little jockeys, the coachman and the servants, and pulled Gerda out of the carriage. “Look, what a pretty, fat little one! Nuts fed! - said the old robber woman with a long stiff beard and bushy overhanging eyebrows. - Fatty, what is your lamb! Well, what will it taste like? And she pulled out a sharp, shining knife. Here is the horror! -- Ai! she suddenly shouted: she was bitten on the ear by her own daughter, who was sitting behind her and was so unbridled and self-willed that it was a pleasure! “Oh, you wretched girl! cried the mother, but did not have time to kill Gerda. She will play with me! said the little robber. “She will give me her muff, her pretty dress, and sleep with me in my bed. And the girl again bit her mother so much that she jumped and spun in one place. The robbers laughed: - Look how he rides with his girl! "I want to get in the carriage!" cried the little robber girl, and insisted on her own: she was terribly spoiled and stubborn. They got into the carriage with Gerda and rushed over the stumps and over the bumps into the thicket of the forest. The little robber was as tall as Gerdu, but stronger, broader in the shoulders and much darker. Her eyes were completely black, but somehow sad. She hugged Gerda and said: "They won't kill you until I get angry with you!" Are you a princess? -- No! - the girl answered and told what she had to experience and how much she loved Kai. The little robber looked at her seriously, nodded her head slightly, and said: “They won’t kill you even if I get angry with you—I’d rather kill you myself!” And she wiped away Gerda's tears, and then hid both her hands in her pretty, soft and warm muff. Here the carriage stopped; they entered the courtyard of the robber's castle. He was all in huge cracks; crows and crows flew out of them; huge bulldogs jumped out from somewhere and looked so fiercely, as if they wanted to eat everyone, but they did not bark - it was forbidden. In the middle of a huge hall with dilapidated, soot-covered walls and a stone floor, a fire was burning; the smoke rose to the ceiling and had to find its own way out; soup was boiling in a huge cauldron over the fire, and hares and rabbits were roasting on skewers. “You will sleep with me right here, near my little menagerie!” said the little robber girl to Gerda. The girls were fed and watered, and they went to their corner, where straw was laid out, covered with carpets. More than a hundred pigeons sat on perches higher up; they all seemed to be asleep, but when the girls approached they stirred slightly. - All mine! said the little robber girl, seizing a pigeon by the legs and shaking it so that it fluttered its wings. - Kiss him! she shouted, poking the dove in Gerda's face. - And here sit the forest rascals! she went on, pointing to two pigeons sitting in a small recess in the wall, behind a wooden lattice. “These two are forest rascals!” They must be kept locked up, otherwise they will fly away quickly! And here is my dear old man! - And the girl pulled by the horns of a reindeer tied to the wall in a shiny copper collar. “He, too, must be kept on a leash, otherwise he will run away!” Every evening I tickle him under the neck with my sharp knife - he is afraid of death! With these words, the little robber pulled out a long knife from a crevice in the wall and ran it along the deer's neck. The poor animal bucked, and the girl laughed and dragged Gerda to the bed. "Do you sleep with a knife?" asked Gerda, glancing sideways at the sharp knife. -- Always! answered the little robber. “How do you know what might happen!” But tell me again about Kai and how you set out to wander the wide world! Gerda told. Caged wood pigeons cooed softly; the other doves were already asleep; the little robber threw one arm around Gerda's neck - she had a knife in the other - and began to snore, but Gerda could not close her eyes, not knowing whether they would kill her or let her live. The robbers sat around the fire, sang songs and drank, and the old robber woman tumbled. It was terrible to look at this poor girl. Suddenly the wood pigeons cooed, "Kurr!" Kurr! We saw Kai! A white hen carried his sled on her back, and he sat in the Snow Queen's sleigh. They flew over the forest when we chicks were still in the nest; she breathed on us, and everyone died, except for the two of us! Kurr! Kurr! -- What are you saying! exclaimed Gerda. Where did the Snow Queen go? Do you know? - She probably flew to Lapland, because there is eternal snow and ice! Ask the reindeer what is leashed here! - Yes, there is eternal snow and ice: a miracle, how good it is! said the reindeer. - There you jump at will on the huge brilliant icy plains! The Snow Queen's summer tent is spread there, and her permanent palaces are at the North Pole, on the island of Svalbard! “Oh Kai, my dear Kai! Gerda sighed. - Lie still! said the little robber. "Or I'll stab you with a knife!" In the morning Gerda told her what she had heard from wood pigeons. The little robber girl looked seriously at Gerda, nodded her head and said: - Well, so be it! .. Do you know where Lapland is? she then asked the reindeer. “Who knows if not me!” - answered the deer, and his eyes sparkled. - There I was born and raised, there I jumped on the snowy plains! - So listen! said the little robber girl to Gerda. “You see, all of us have left; one mother at home; after a while she will take a sip from a large bottle and take a nap - then I will do something for you! Then the girl jumped out of bed, hugged her mother, pulled her beard and said: “Hello, my dear little goat!” And her mother gave her nose clicks, so that the girl's nose turned red and blue, but all this was done lovingly. Then, when the old woman took a sip from her bottle and began to snore, the little robber went up to the reindeer and said: - We could make fun of you for a long, long time! Painfully, you can be hilarious when you are tickled with a sharp knife! Well, so be it! I will untie you and set you free. You can run away to your Lapland, but for this you must take this girl to the Snow Queen's palace - her named brother is there. Surely you heard what she said? She spoke quite loudly, and you always have ears on top of your head Reindeer jumped for joy. The little robber put Gerda on him, tied her tightly for the sake of caution and slipped a soft pillow under her to make it more comfortable for her to sit. “So be it,” she said then, “take back your fur boots—it will be cold!” And I’ll keep the clutch for myself, it hurts so good! But I won’t let you freeze: here are my mother’s huge mittens, they will reach your very elbows! Put your hands in them! Well, now with your hands you look like my ugly mother! Gerda wept for joy. "I can't stand it when they whine!" said the little robber. "Now you have to have fun!" Here's two more loaves and a ham for you! What? You won't go hungry! Both were tied to a deer. Then the little robber opened the door, lured the dogs into the house, cut the rope with which the deer was tied with her sharp knife, and said to him: - Well, lively! Take care, look, girl. Gerda held out both hands to the little robber in huge mittens and said goodbye to her. The reindeer set off at full speed through stumps and bumps, through the forest, through swamps and steppes. The wolves howled, the crows croaked, and the sky suddenly zafukala and threw out pillars of fire. - Here is my native northern lights! said the deer. - Look how it burns! And he ran on, not stopping day or night. The bread was eaten, the ham too, and now Gerda found herself in Lapland.

LAPLAND AND FINNISH

Story six

The deer stopped at a miserable hut; the roof went down to the ground, and the door was so low that people had to crawl through it on all fours. At home there was an old Lapland woman who was frying fish by the light of a fat lamp. The reindeer told the Laplander the whole story of Gerda, but first he told his own - it seemed to him much more important. Gerda was so numb from the cold that she could not speak. “Oh, you poor fellows! said the Laplander. - You still have a long way to go! You'll have to go a hundred miles too far until you get to Finland, where the Snow Queen lives in a country house and lights blue sparklers every evening. I will write a few words on dried cod - I have no paper, and you will tear it down to a date that lives in those places and will be able to teach you better than me what to do. When Gerda warmed up, ate and drank, the Lapland woman wrote a few words on dried cod, ordered Gerda to take good care of her, then tied the girl to the back of a deer, and he rushed off again. The sky again fukalo and threw out pillars of wonderful blue flame. So the deer ran with Gerda to Finland and knocked on the chimney of a date - it didn’t even have doors.

Well, the heat was in her home! The date itself, a short, dirty woman, walked half-naked. She quickly pulled off all the dress, mittens and boots from Gerda, otherwise the girl would be too hot, put a piece of ice on the deer's head and then began to read what was written on the dried cod. She read everything from word to word three times until she knew it by heart, and then she put the cod into the soup pot, because the fish was still good for food, and nothing was wasted with dates. Then the deer told first his story, and then the story of Gerda. Finika blinked her intelligent eyes, but did not say a word. You are such a wise woman! said the deer. “I know that you can tie all four winds with one thread; when the skipper unties one, a fair wind blows, unties another, the weather will play out, and unties the third and fourth, such a storm will rise that it will break the trees to pieces. Will you prepare for the girl such a drink that would give her the strength of twelve heroes? Then she would have defeated the Snow Queen! "The strength of the twelve heroes!" Phoenix said. -- Is there a lot of sense in this! With these words, she took a large leather scroll from the shelf and unfolded it: on it stood some amazing writing; Finika began to read them and read them until her sweat broke out. The deer again began to ask for Gerda, and Gerda herself looked at the date with such pleading eyes full of tears that she blinked again, took the deer aside and, changing the ice on his head, whispered: - Kai is really with the Snow Queen, but he is quite satisfied and thinks that he cannot be better anywhere. The reason for everything is the fragments of the mirror that sit in his heart and in his eye. They must be removed, otherwise he will never be a man and the Snow Queen will retain her power over him. “But won’t you help Gerda somehow destroy this power?” “Stronger than it is, I cannot make it. Don't you see how great her power is? Don't you see that both people and animals serve her? After all, she walked around half the world barefoot! It's not for us to borrow her strength! Strength is in her sweet innocent childish heart. If she herself cannot penetrate into the halls of the Snow Queen and extract the fragments from Kai's heart, then we will not help her even more! Two miles from here begins the Snow Queen's garden. Take the girl there, let her down by a large bush covered with red berries, and, without delay, come back! With these words, the date planted Gerda on the back of a deer, and he rushed to run as fast as he could. - Oh, I'm without warm boots! Hey, I'm not wearing gloves! cried Gerda, finding herself in the cold. But the deer did not dare to stop until he ran to a bush with red berries; then he let the girl down, kissed her on the very lips, and large brilliant tears rolled from his eyes. Then he shot back like an arrow. The poor girl was left alone in the bitter cold, without shoes, without mittens. She ran forward as fast as she could; a whole regiment of snow flakes rushed towards her, but they did not fall from the sky - the sky was completely clear, and the northern lights were burning on it - no, they ran along the ground straight at Gerda and, as they approached, became larger and larger. Gerda remembered the big beautiful flakes under the burning glass, but these were much larger, scarier, of the most amazing shapes and forms, and all of them were alive. These were the advance detachments of the Snow Queen's army. Some resembled large ugly hedgehogs, others - hundred-headed snakes, others - fat bear cubs with tousled hair. But they all sparkled with the same whiteness, they were all living snowflakes.

Gerda began to read "Our Father"; it was so cold that the girl's breath immediately turned into a thick fog. This fog thickened and thickened, but then small bright angels began to stand out from it, which, having stepped on the ground, grew into large formidable angels with helmets on their heads and spears and shields in their hands. Their number kept increasing, and when Gerda finished her prayer, a whole legion had already formed around her. The angels took the snow monsters into spears, and they crumbled into a thousand pieces. Gerda could now boldly go forward: the angels stroked her hands and feet, and she was no longer so cold. Finally, the girl reached the halls of the Snow Queen. Let's see what happened to Kai at that time. He did not think about Gerda, and least of all about the fact that she was ready to enter him.

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE HALLS OF THE SNOW QUEEN AND WHAT HAPPENED THEN

Story Seven

The walls of the halls of the Snow Queen created a blizzard, the windows and doors were blown by violent winds. Hundreds of huge, aurora-lit halls stretched one after another; the largest stretched for many, many miles. How cold, how deserted it was in those white, brightly shining halls! Fun never came here! If only a rare bear party was held, with dances to the music of the storm, in which polar bears could distinguish themselves with grace and the ability to walk on their hind legs, or a party of cards was made, with quarrels and fights, or, finally, agreed to have a conversation over a cup of coffee little white gossips, chanterelles - no, never anything! Cold, deserted, dead! The northern lights flashed and burned so regularly that it was possible to calculate with accuracy at what minute the light would increase and at what time it would weaken. In the middle of the largest deserted snow hall was a frozen lake. The ice cracked on it into a thousand pieces, wonderfully even and regular: one like the other. In the middle of the lake stood the throne of the Snow Queen; on it she sat when she was at home, saying that she was sitting on the mirror of the mind; in her opinion, it was the only and best mirror in the world. Kai turned completely blue, almost turned black from the cold, but did not notice this: the kisses of the Snow Queen made him insensitive to the cold, and his very heart was a piece of ice. Kai fiddled with flat, pointed ice floes, laying them in all sorts of frets. There is such a game - folding figures from wooden planks, which is called the Chinese puzzle. Kai also folded various intricate figures, but from ice floes, and this was called an icy mind game. In his eyes, these figures were a miracle of art, and folding them was an occupation of the first importance. This was because he had a shard of a magic mirror in his eye! He put together whole words from ice floes, but he could not put together what he especially wanted: the words "eternity." The Snow Queen said to him: "If you add this word, you will be your own master, and I will give you all the world and a pair of new skates." But he couldn't put it down.

Now I'm off to warmer climes! said the Snow Queen. "I'll look into the black cauldrons!" Cauldrons she called the craters of the fire-breathing mountains - Vesuvius and Etna. "I'll whiten them a little!" It's good after lemons and grapes! And she flew away, and Kai was left alone in the boundless deserted hall, looking at the ice floes and thinking, thinking, so that his head was cracking. He sat in one place, so pale, motionless, as if inanimate. You might think he was cold. At this time, Gerda entered the huge gate, made by violent winds. She recited the evening prayer, and the winds subsided as if asleep. She freely entered the huge deserted ice hall and saw Kai. The girl immediately recognized him, threw herself on his neck, hugged him tightly and exclaimed: "Kai, my dear Kai!" Finally I found you! But he sat still the same motionless and cold. Then Gerda wept; her hot tears fell on his chest, penetrated into his heart, melted his icy crust and melted the fragment. Kai looked at Gerda, and she sang: Already the roses are blooming in the valleys, the Christ Child is here with us! Kai suddenly burst into tears and cried so long and so hard that the shard flowed out of his eye along with his tears. Then he recognized Gerda and was delighted. - Gerda! My dear Gerda! Where have you been for so long? Where was I myself? And he looked around. How cold it is here, deserted! And he clung tightly to Gerda. She laughed and cried with joy. Yes, the joy was such that even the ice floes began to dance, and when they got tired, they lay down and made up the very word that the Snow Queen asked Kai to compose; having folded it, he could become his own master, and even receive from her as a gift the whole world and a pair of new skates. Gerda kissed Kai on both cheeks, and they again bloomed with roses, kissed him on the eyes, and they shone like hers; kissed his hands and feet, and he again became vigorous and healthy. The Snow Queen could have come back at any time: his vacation card lay there, written in glittering ice letters. Kai and Gerda, hand in hand, walked out of the deserted ice halls; they walked and talked about their grandmother, about their roses, and violent winds subsided on their way, the sun peeped through. When they reached a bush with red berries, the reindeer was already waiting for them. He brought with him a young doe; her udder was full of milk; she made Kai and Gerda drunk with them and kissed them right on the lips. Then Kai and Gerda went first to the date, warmed themselves with it and found out the way home, and then to the Laplander; she sewed them a new dress, repaired her sleigh and went to see them off. The reindeer couple also accompanied the young travelers all the way to the very border of Lapland, where the first greenery was already breaking through. Here Kai and Gerda said goodbye to the reindeer and the Lapland girl. Here is the forest in front of them. The first birds sang, the trees were covered with green buds. A young girl in a bright red cap and with pistols in her belt rode out of the forest to meet the travelers on a magnificent horse. Gerda immediately recognized both the horse - it had once been harnessed to a golden carriage - and the girl. She was a little robber: she was tired of living at home, and she wanted to go to the north, and if she didn’t like it, to other parts of the world. She also recognized Gerda. That was joy! - Look, you tramp! she said to Kai. “I would like to know if you are worthy of being followed to the ends of the earth!” But Gerda patted her on the cheek and asked about the prince and princess. They have gone to foreign lands! answered the young robber. - A raven with a crow? asked Gerda. - The forest raven has died, the tame crow has remained a widow, walks with black hair on its leg and complains about fate. But all this is nothing, but you better tell me what happened to you and how you found him. Gerda and Kai told her about everything. Well, that's the end of the story! said the young robber, shaking hands with them and promising to visit them if she ever comes to their city. Then she went on her way, and Kai and Gerda went on theirs. They walked, and spring flowers bloomed along the way, the grass turned green. Then the bells rang out, and they recognized the bell towers of their native town. They climbed the familiar stairs and entered the room, where everything was the same as before: the clock ticked the same way, the hour hand moved the same way. But, passing through the low door, they noticed that during this time they had managed to become adults. Blooming rose bushes peered through the open window from the roof; right there were their highchairs. Kai and Gerda each sat down on their own and took each other's hands. The cold desert splendor of the halls of the Snow Queen was forgotten by them, like a heavy dream. Grandmother sat in the sun and loudly read the Gospel: "If you do not, like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven!" Kai and Gerda looked at each other, and only then did they understand the meaning of the old psalm: The roses are already in bloom in the valleys, the Infant Christ is with us here. So they sat side by side, both already adults, but children in heart and soul, and it was a warm, fertile summer outside!

Text source: Hans Christian Andersen. Tales and stories. In two volumes. L: Hood. literature, 1969.

>Hans Christian Andersen/ Hans Christian Andersen "The Snow Queen"

Fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen - The Snow Queen (The Snow Queen) in English

In Seven Stories

Story the First,
Which Describes a Looking-Glass and the Broken Fragments.

You must attend to the commencement of this story, for when we get to the end we shall know more than we do now about a very wicked hobgoblin; he was one of the very worst, for he was a real demon. One day, when he was in a merry mood, he made a looking-glass which had the power of making everything good or beautiful that was reflected in it almost to nothing, while everything that was worthless and bad looked increased in size and worse than ever. The most lovely landscapes appeared like boiled spinach, and the people became hideous, and looked as if they stood on their heads and had no bodies. Their countenances were so distorted that no one could recognize them, and even one freckle on the face appeared to spread over the whole of the nose and mouth. The demon said this was very amusing. When a good or pious thought passed through the mind of any one it was misrepresented in the glass; and then how the demon laughed at his cunning invention. All who went to the demon’s school-for he kept a school-talked everywhere of the wonders they had seen, and declared that people could now, for the first time, see what the world and mankind were really like. They carried the glass about everywhere, till at last there was not a land nor a people who had not been looked at through this distorted mirror. They wanted even to fly with it up to heaven to the angels, but see the higher they flew the more slippery the glass became, and they could scarcely hold it, till at last it slipped from their hands, fell to the earth, and was broken into millions of pieces. But now the looking-glass caused more unhappiness than ever, for some of the fragments were not so large as a grain of sand, and they flew about the world into every country. When one of these tiny atoms flew into a person's eye, it stuck there unknown to him, and from that moment he saw everything through a distorted medium, or could see only the worst side of what he looked at, for even the smallest fragment retained the same power which had belonged to the whole mirror. Some few persons even got a fragment of the looking-glass in their hearts, and this was very terrible, for their hearts became cold like a lump of ice. A few of the pieces were so large that they could be used as window-panes; it would have been a sad thing to look at our friends through them. Other pieces were made into spectacles; this was dreadful for those who wore them, for they could see nothing either rightly or justly. At all this the wicked demon laughed till his sides shook-it tickled him so to see the mischief he had done. There were still a number of these little fragments of glass floating about in the air, and now you shall hear what happened with one of them.

Second Story:
A Little Boy and a Little Girl

In a large town, full of houses and people, there is not room for everybody to have even a little garden, therefore they are obliged to be satisfied with a few flowers in flower-pots. In one of these large towns lived two poor children who had a garden something larger and better than a few flower-pots. They were not brother and sister, but they loved each other almost as much as if they had been. Their parents lived opposite to each other in two garrets, where the roofs of neighboring houses projected out towards each other and the water-pipe ran between them. In each house was a little window, so that any one could step across the gutter from one window to the other. The parents of these children had each a large wooden box in which they cultivated kitchen herbs for their own use, and a little rose-bush in each box, which grew splendidly. Now after a while the parents decided to place these two boxes across the water-pipe, so that they reached from one window to the other and looked like two banks of flowers. Sweet-peas drooped over the boxes, and the rose-bushes shot forth long branches, which were trained round the windows and clustered together almost like a triumphal arch of leaves and flowers. The boxes were very high, and the children knew they must not climb upon them, without permission, but they were often, however, allowed to step out together and sit upon their little stools under the rose-bushes, or play quietly. In winter all this pleasure came to an end, for the windows were sometimes quite frozen over. But then they would warm copper pennies on the stove, and hold the warm pennies against the frozen pane; there would be very soon a little round hole through which they could peep, and the soft bright eyes of the little boy and girl would beam through the hole at each window as they looked at each other. Their names were Kay and Gerda. In summer they could be together with one jump from the window, but in winter they had to go up and down the long staircase, and out through the snow before they could meet.

“See there are the white bees swarming,” said Kay’s old grandmother one day when it was snowing.

“Have they a queen bee?” asked the little boy, for he knew that the real bees had a queen.

“To be sure they have,” said the grandmother. “She is flying there where the swarm is thickest. She is the largest of them all, and never remains on the earth, but flies up to the dark clouds. Often at midnight she flies through the streets of the town, and looks in at the windows, then the ice freezes on the panes into wonderful shapes, that look like flowers and castles.”

“Yes, I have seen them,” said both the children, and they knew it must be true.

“Can the Snow Queen come here?” asked the little girl.

“Only let her come,” said the boy, “I’ll set her on the stove and then she’ll melt.”

Then the grandmother smoothed his hair and told him some more tales. One evening, when little Kay was at home, half undressed, he climbed on a chair by the window and peeped out through the little hole. A few flakes of snow were falling, and one of them, rather larger than the rest, alighted on the edge of one of the flower boxes. This snow-flake grew larger and larger, till last it became the figure of a woman, dressed in garments of white gauze, which looked like millions of starry snow-flakes linked together. She was fair and beautiful, but made of ice-shining and glittering ice. Still she was alive and her eyes sparkled like bright stars, but there was neither peace nor rest in their glance. She nodded towards the window and waved her hand. The little boy was frightened and sprang from the chair; at the same moment it seemed as if a large bird flew by the window. On the following day there was a clear frost, and very soon came the spring. The sun shone; the young green leaves burst forth; the swallows built their nests; windows were opened, and the children sat once more in the garden on the roof, high above all the other rooms. How beautiful the roses blossomed this summer. The little girl had learned a hymn in which roses were spoken of, and then she thought of their own roses, and she sang the hymn to the little boy, and he sang too:-

“Roses bloom and cease to be,

Then the little ones held each other by the hand, and kissed the roses, and looked at the bright sunshine, and spoke to it as if the Christ-child were there. Those were splendid summer days. How beautiful and fresh it was out among the rose-bushes, which seemed as if they would never leave off blooming. One day Kay and Gerda sat looking at a book full of pictures of animals and birds, and then just as the clock in the church tower struck twelve, Kay said, “Oh, something has struck my heart!” and soon after, “There is something in my eye.”

The little girl put her arm round his neck, and looked into his eye, but she could see nothing.

"I think it's gone," he said. But it wasn't gone; it was one of those bits of the looking-glass-that magic mirror, of which we have spoken-the ugly glass which made everything great and good appear small and ugly, while all that was wicked and bad became more visible, and every little fault could be plainly seen. Poor little Kay had also received a small grain in his heart, which very quickly turned to a lump of ice. He felt no more pain, but the glass was there still. “Why do you cry?” said he at last; “it makes you look ugly. There is nothing the matter with me now. Oh, see!” he cried suddenly, “that rose is worm-eaten, and this one is quite crooked. After all they are ugly roses, just like the box in which they stand,” and then he kicked the boxes with his foot, and pulled off the two roses.

“Kay, what are you doing?” cry the little girl; and then, when he saw how frightened she was, he tore off another rose, and jumped through his own window away from little Gerda.

When she subsequently brought out the picture book, he said, “It was only fit for babies in long clothes,” and when grandmother told any stories, he would interrupt her with “but;” or, when he could manage it, he would get behind her chair, put on a pair of spectacles, and imitate her very cleverly, to make people laugh. By-and-by he began to mimic the speech and gait of persons in the street. All that was peculiar or disagreeable in a person he would imitate directly, and people said, “That boy will be very clever; he has a remarkable genius.” But it was the piece of glass in his eye, and the coldness in his heart, that made him act like this. He would even tease little Gerda, who loved him with all her heart. his games, too, were quite different; they were not so childish. One winter's day, when it snowed, he brought out a burning-glass, then he held out the tail of his blue coat, and let the snow-flakes fall upon it. “Look in this glass, Gerda,” he said; and she saw how every flake of snow was magnified, and looked like a beautiful flower or a glittering star. “Is it not clever?” said Kay, “and much more interesting than looking at real flowers. There is not a single fault in it, and the snow-flakes are quite perfect till they begin to melt.”

Soon after Kay made his appearance in large thick gloves, and with his sledge at his back. He called up stairs to Gerda, “I’ve got to leave to go into the great square, where the other boys play and ride.” And away he went.

In the great square, the boldest among the boys would often tie their sledges to the country people's carts, and go with them a good way. This was capital. But while they were all amusing themselves, and Kay with them, a great sledge came by; it was painted white, and in it sat some one wrapped in a rough white fur, and wearing a white cap. The sledge drove twice round the square, and Kay fastened his own little sledge to it, so that when it went away, he followed with it. It went faster and faster right through the next street, and then the person who drove turned round and nodded pleasantly to Kay, just as if they were acquainted with each other, but whenever Kay wished to loosen his little sledge the driver nodded again, so Kay sat still, and they drove out through the town gate. Then the snow began to fall so heavily that the little boy could not see a hand's breadth before him, but still they drove on; then he suddenly loosened the cord so that the large sled might go on without him, but it was of no use, his little carriage held fast, and away they went like the wind. Then he called out loudly, but nobody heard him, while the snow beat upon him, and the sledge flew onwards. Every now and then it gave a jump as if it were going over hedges and ditches. The boy was frightened, and tried to say a prayer, but he could remember nothing but the multiplication table.

The snow-flakes became larger and larger, till they appeared like great white chickens. All at once they sprang on one side, the great sledge stopped, and the person who had driven it rose up. The fur and the cap, which were made entirely of snow, fell off, and he saw a lady, tall and white, it was the Snow Queen.

“We have driven well,” she said, “but why do you tremble? here, creep into my warm fur.” Then she seated him beside her in the sledge, and as she wrapped the fur round him he felt as if he were sinking into a snow drift.

“Are you still cold,” she asked, as she kissed him on the forehead. The kiss was colder than ice; it went quite through to his heart, which was already almost a lump of ice; he felt as if he were going to die, but only for a moment; he soon seemed quite well again, and did not notice the cold around him.

“My Sledge! don’t forget my sledge,” was his first thought, and then he looked and saw that it was bound fast to one of the white chickens, which flew behind him with the sledge at its back. The Snow Queen kissed little Kay again, and by this time he had forgotten little Gerda, his grandmother, and all at home.

“Now you must have no more kisses,” she said, “or I should kiss you to death.”

Kay looked at her, and saw that she was so beautiful, he could not imagine a more lovely and intelligent face; she did not now seem to be made of ice, as when he had seen her through his window, and she had nodded to him. In his eyes she was perfect, and she did not feel at all afraid. He told her he could do mental arithmetic, as far as fractions, and that he knew the number of square miles and the number of inhabitants in the country. And she always smiled so that he thought he did not know enough yet, and she looked round the vast expansion as she flew higher and higher with him upon a black cloud, while the storm blew and howled as if it were singing old songs. They flew over woods and lakes, over sea and land; below them roared the wild wind; the wolves howled and the snow crackled; over them flew the black screaming crows, and above all shone the moon, clear and bright,-and so Kay passed through the long winter’s night, and by day he slept at the feet of the Snow Queen.

Third Story:
The Flower Garden of the Woman Who Could Conjure

But how fared little Gerda during Kay's absence? What had become of him, no one knew, nor could any one give the slightest information, excepting the boys, who said that he had tied his sledge to another very large one, which had driven through the street, and out at the town gate . Nobody knew where it went; many tears were shed for him, and little Gerda wept bitterly for a long time. She said she knew he must be dead; that he was drowned in the river which flowed close by the school. Oh, indeed those long winter days were very dreary. But at last spring came, with warm sunshine. “Kay is dead and gone,” said little Gerda.

“I don't believe it,” said the sunshine.

“He is dead and gone,” she said to the sparrows.

“We don't believe it,” they replied; and at last little Gerda began to doubt it herself. “I will put on my new red shoes,” she said one morning, “those that Kay has never seen, and then I will go down to the river, and ask for him.” It was quite early when she kissed her old grandmother, who was still asleep; then she put on her red shoes, and went quite alone out of the town gates towards the river. “Is it true that you have taken my little playmate away from me?” she said to the river. “I will give you my red shoes if you will give him back to me.” And it seemed as if the waves nodded to her in a strange manner. Then she took off her red shoes, which she liked better than anything else, and threw them both into the river, but they fell near the bank, and the little waves carried them back to the land, just as if the river would not take from her what she loved best, because they could not give her back little Kay. But she thought the shoes had not been thrown out far enough. Then she crept into a boat that lay among the reeds, and threw the shoes again from the farther end of the boat into the water, but it was not fastened. And her movement sent it gliding away from the land. When she saw this she hastened to reach the end of the boat, but before she could so it was more than a yard from the bank, and drifting away faster than ever. Then little Gerda was very much frightened, and began to cry, but no one heard her except the sparrows, and they could not carry her to land, but they flew along by the shore, and sang, as if to comfort her, “Here we are! Here we are!” The boat floated with the stream; little Gerda sat quite still with only her stockings on her feet; the red shoes floated after her, but she could not reach them because the boat kept so much in advance. The banks on each side of the river were very pretty. There were beautiful flowers, old trees, sloping fields, in which cows and sheep were grazing, but not a man to be seen. perhaps the river will carry me to little Kay, thought Gerda, and then she became more cheerful, and raised her head, and looked at the beautiful green banks; and so the boat sailed on for hours. At length she came to a large cherry orchard, in which stood a small red house with strange red and blue windows. It had also a thatched roof, and outside were two wooden soldiers, that presented arms to her as she sailed past. Gerda called out to them, for she thought they were alive, but of course they did not answer; and as the boat drifted nearer to the shore, she saw what they really were. Then Gerda called still louder, and there came a very old woman out of the house, leaning on a crutch. She wore a large hat to shade her from the sun, and on it were painted all sorts of pretty flowers. “You poor little child,” said the old woman, “how did you manage to come all this distance into the wide world on such a rapid rolling stream?” And then the old woman walked in the water, seized the boat with her crutch, drew it to land, and lifted Gerda out. And Gerda was glad to feel herself on dry ground, although she was rather afraid of the strange old woman. “Come and tell me who you are,” she said, “and how came you here.”

Then Gerda told her everything, while the old woman shook her head, and said, “Hem-hem;” and when she had finished, Gerda asked if she had not seen little Kay, and the old woman told her he had not passed by that way, but he very likely would come. So she told Gerda not to be sorrowful, but to taste the cherries and look at the flowers; they were better than any picture-book, for each of them could tell a story. Then she took Gerda by the hand and led her into the little house, and the old woman closed the door. The windows were very high, and as the panes were red, blue, and yellow, the daylight shone through them in all sorts of singular colors. On the table stood beautiful cherries, and Gerda had permission to eat as many as she would. While she was eating them the old woman combed out her long flaxen ringlets with a golden comb, and the glossy curls hung down on each side of the little round pleasant face, which looked fresh and blooming as a rose. “I have long been wishing for a dear little maiden like you,” said the old woman, “and now you must stay with me, and see how happily we shall live together.” And while she went on combining little Gerda’s hair, she thought less and less about her adopted brother Kay, for the old woman could conjure, although she was not a wicked witch; she conjured only a little for her own amusement, and now, because she wanted to keep Gerda. Therefore she went into the garden, and stretched out her crutch towards all the rose-trees, beautiful though they were; and they immediately sunk into the dark earth, so that no one could tell where they had once stood. The old woman was afraid that if little Gerda saw roses she would think of those at home, and then remember little Kay, and run away. Then she took Gerda into the flower-garden. How fragrant and beautiful it was! Every flower that could be thought of for every season of the year was here in full bloom; no picture-book could have more beautiful colors. Gerda jumped for joy, and played till the sun went down behind the tall cherry-trees; then she slept in an elegant bed with red silk pillows, embroidered with colored violets; and then she dreamed as pleasantly as a queen on her wedding day. The next day, and for many days after, Gerda played with the flowers in the warm sunshine. She knew every flower, and yet, although there were so many of them, it seemed as if one were missing, but which it was she could not tell. One day, however, as she sat looking at the old woman's hat with the painted flowers on it, she saw that the prettiest of them all was a rose. The old woman had forgotten to take it from her hat when she made all the roses sink into the earth. But it is difficult to keep the thoughts together in everything; one little mistake upsets all our arrangements.

“What, are there no roses here?” cried Gerda; and she ran out into the garden, and examined all the beds, and searched and searched. There was not one to be found. Then she sat down and wept, and her tears fell just on the place where one of the rose-trees had sunk down. The warm tears moistened the earth, and the rose-tree sprouted up at once, as blooming as when it had sunk; and Gerda embraced it and kissed the roses, and thought of the beautiful roses at home, and, with them, of little Kay.

“Oh, how I have been delayed!” said the little maiden, “I wanted to seek for little Kay. Do you know where he is?” she asked the roses; “Do you think he is dead?”

And the roses answered, “No, he is not dead. We have been in the ground where all the dead lie; but Kay is not there.”

“Thank you,” said little Gerda, and then she went to the other flowers, and looked into their little cups, and asked, “Do you know where little Kay is?” But each flower, as it stood in the sunshine, dreamed only of its own little fairy tale of history. Not one knew anything of Kay. Gerda heard many stories from the flowers, as she asked them one after another about him.

And what, said the tiger-lily? “Hark, do you hear the drum?- ‘turn, turn,’-there are only two notes, always, ‘turn, turn.’ Listen to the women’s song of mourning! Hear the cry of the priest! In her long red robe stands the Hindoo widow by the funeral pile. The flames rise around her as she places herself on the dead body of her husband; but the Hindoo woman is thinking of the living one in that circle; of him, her son, who lighted those flames. Those shining eyes trouble her heart more painfully than the flames which will soon consume her body to ashes. Can the fire of the heart be extinguished in the flames of the funeral pile?”

“I don’t understand that at all,” said little Gerda.

“That is my story,” said the tiger-lily.

What, says the convolvulus? “Near yonder narrow road stands an old knight’s castle; thick ivy creeps over the old ruined walls, leaf over leaf, even to the balcony, in which stands a beautiful maiden. She bends over the balustrades, and looks up the road. No rose on its stem is fresher than she; no apple-blossom, wafted by the wind, floats more lightly than she moves. Her rich silk rustles as she bends over and exclaims, ‘Will he not come?’

“Is it Kay you mean?” asked Gerda.

“I am only speaking of a story of my dream,” replied the flower.

What, said the little snow-drop? “Between two trees a rope is hanging; there is a piece of board upon it; it is a swing. Two pretty little girls, in dresses white as snow, and with long green ribbons fluttering from their hats, are sitting upon it swinging. their brother who is taller than they are, stands in the swing; he has one arm round the rope, to steady himself; in one hand he holds a little bowl, and in the other a clay pipe; he is blowing bubbles. As the swing goes on, the bubbles fly upward, reflecting the most beautiful varying colors. The last still hangs from the bowl of the pipe, and sways in the wind. On goes the swing; and then a little black dog comes running up. He is almost as light as the bubble, and he raises himself on his hind legs, and wants to be taken into the swing; but it does not stop, and the dog falls; then he barks and gets angry. The children stoop towards him, and the bubble bursts. A swinging plank, a light sparkling foam picture, that is my story.”

“It may be all very pretty what you are telling me,” said little Gerda, “but you speak so mournfully, and you do not mention little Kay at all.”

What do the hyacinths say? “There were three beautiful sisters, fair and delicate. The dress of one was red, of the second blue, and of the third pure white. Hand in hand they danced in the bright moonlight, by the calm lake; but they were human beings, not fairy elves. The sweet fragrance attracted them, and they disappeared in the wood; here the fragrance became stronger. Three coffins, in which lay the three beautiful maidens, glided from the thickest part of the forest across the lake. The fire-flies flew lightly over them, like little floating torches. Do the dancing maidens sleep, or are they dead? The scent of the flower says that they are corpses. The evening bell tolls their knell.”

“You make me quite sorrowful,” said little Gerda; “your perfume is so strong, you make me think of the dead maidens. Ah! is little Kay really dead then? The roses have been in the earth, and they say no.”

“Cling, clang,” tolled the hyacinth bells. “We are not tolling for little Kay; we do not know him. We sing our song, the only one we know.”

Then Gerda went to the buttercups that were glittering among the bright green leaves.

“You are little bright suns,” said Gerda; “tell me if you know where I can find my play-fellow.”

And the buttercups sparkled gayly, and looked again at Gerda. What song could the buttercups sing? It was not about Kay.

“The bright warm sun shone on a little court, on the first warm day of spring. His bright beams rested on the white walls of the neighboring house; and close by bloomed the first yellow flower of the season, glittering like gold in the sun's warm ray. An old woman sat in her arm chair at the house door, and her granddaughter, a poor and pretty servant-maid came to see her for a short visit. when she kissed her grandmother there was gold everywhere: the gold of the heart in that holy kiss; it was a golden morning; there was gold in the beaming sunlight, gold in the leaves of the lowly flower, and on the lips of the maiden. There, that is my story,” said the buttercup.

“My poor old grandmother!” sighed Gerda; “she is longing to see me, and grieving for me as she did for little Kay; but I shall soon go home now, and take little Kay with me. It is no use asking the flowers; they know only their own songs, and can give me no information.”

And then she tucked up her little dress, that she might run faster, but the narcissus caught her by the leg as she was jumping over it; so she stopped and looked at the tall yellow flower, and said, “Perhaps you may know something.”

Then she stooped down quite close to the flower, and listened; and what did he say?

“I can see myself, I can see myself,” said the narcissus. “Oh, how sweet is my perfume! Up in a little room with a bow window, stands a little dancing girl, half undressed; she stands sometimes on one leg, and sometimes on both, and looks as if she would tread the whole world under her feet. She is nothing but a delusion. She is pouring water out of a tea-pot on a piece of stuff which she holds in her hand; it is her body. ‘Cleanliness is a good thing,’ she says. Her white dress hangs on a peg; it has also been washed in the tea-pot, and dried on the roof. She puts it on, and ties a saffron-colored handkerchief round her neck, which makes the dress look whiter. See how she stretches out her legs, as if she were showing off on a stem. I can see myself, I can see myself.”

“What do I care for all that,” said Gerda, “you need not tell me such stuff.” And then she ran to the other end of the garden. The door was fastened, but she pressed against the rusty latch, and it gave way. The door sprang open, and little Gerda ran out with bare feet into the wide world. She looked back three times, but no one seemed to be following her. At last she could run no longer, so she sat down to rest on a great stone, and when she looked round she saw that the summer was over, and autumn very far advanced. She had known nothing of this in the beautiful garden, where the sun shone and the flowers grew all the year round.

“Oh, how I have wasted my time?” said little Gerda; “it is autumn. I must not rest any longer,” and she rose up to go on. But her little feet were wounded and sore, and everything around her looked so cold and bleak. The long willow-leaves were quite yellow. The dew-drops fell like water, leaf after leaf dropped from the trees, the sloe-thorn alone still bore fruit, but the sloes were sour, and set the teeth on edge. Oh, how dark and weary the whole world appeared!

Fourth Story:
The Prince and Princess

“Gerda was obliged to rest again, and just opposite the place where she sat, she saw a great crow come hopping across the snow towards her. He stood looking at her for some time, and then he wagged his head and said, “Caw, caw; good-day, good-day.” He pronounced the words as plainly as he could, because he meant to be kind to the little girl; and then he asked her where she was going all alone in the wide world.

The word alone Gerda understood very well, and knew how much it was expressed. So then she told the crow the whole story of her life and adventures, and asked him if he had seen little Kay.

The crow nodded his head very gravely, and said, “Perhaps I have-it may be.”

“No! Do you think you have?” cried little Gerda, and she kissed the crow, and hugged him almost to death with joy.

“Gently, gently,” said the crow. “I believe I know. I think it may be little Kay; but he has certainly forgotten you by this time for the princess.”

“Does he live with a princess?” asked Gerda.

“Yes, listen,” replied the crow, “but it is so difficult to speak your language. If you understand the crows' language1 then I can explain it better. Do you?”

“No, I have never learned it,” said Gerda, “but my grandmother understands it, and used to speak it to me. I wish I had learned it.”

“It does not matter,” answered the crow; “I will explain as well as I can, although it will be very badly done;” and he told her what he had heard. “In this kingdom where we now are,” he said, “there lives a princess, who is so wonderfully clever that she has read all the newspapers in the world, and forgotten them too, although she is so clever. A short time ago, as she was sitting on her throne, which people say is not such an agreeable seat as is often supposed, she began to sing a song which commences in these words:

‘Why should I not be married?’

‘Why not indeed?’ said she, and so she determined to marry if she could find a husband who knew what to say when he was spoken to, and not one who could only look grand, for that was so tiresome. Then she assembled all her court ladies together at the beat of the drum, and when they heard of her intentions they were very much pleased. 'We are so glad to hear it,' said they, 'we were talking about it ourselves the other day.' You may believe that every word I tell you is true,” said the crow, “for I have a tame sweetheart who goes about freely the palace, and she told me all this.”

Of course his sweetheart was a crow, for “birds of a feather flock together,” and one crow always chooses another crow.

“Newspapers were published immediately, with a border of hearts, and the initials of the princess among them. They gave notice that every young man who was handsome free to visit the castle and speak with the princess; and those who could reply loud enough to be heard when spoken to, were to make themselves quite at home at the palace; but the one who spoke best would be chosen as a husband for the princess. Yes, yes, you may believe me, it is all as true as I sit here,” said the crow. “The people came in crowds. There was a great deal of crushing and running about, but no one succeeded either on the first or second day. They could all speak very well while they were outside in the streets, but when they entered the palace gates, and saw the guards in silver uniforms, and the footmen in their golden livery on the staircase, and the great halls lighted up, they became quite confused. And when they stood before the throne on which the princess sat, they could do nothing but repeat the last words she had said; and she had no particular wish to hear her own words over again. It was just as if they had all taken something to make them sleepy while they were in the palace, for they did not recover themselves nor speak till they got back again into the street. There was quite a long line of them reaching from the town-gate to the palace. I went myself to see them,” said the crow. “They were hungry and thirsty, for at the palace they did not get even a glass of water. some of the wisest had taken a few slices of bread and butter with them, but they did not share it with their neighbors; they thought if they went in to the princess looking hungry, there would be a better chance for themselves.”

“But Kay! tell me about little Kay!” said Gerda, “was he amongst the crowd?”

“Stop a bit, we are just coming to him. It was on the third day, there came marching cheerfully along to the palace a little personage, without horses or carriage, his eyes sparkling like yours; he had beautiful long hair, but his clothes were very poor.”

“That was Kay!” said Gerda joyfully. “Oh, then I have found him;” and she clapped her hands.

“He had a little knapsack on his back,” added the crow.

“No, it must have been his sledge,” said Gerda; “for he went away with it.”

“It may have been so,” said the crow; “I did not look at it very closely. But I know from my tame sweetheart that he passed through the palace gates, saw the guards in their silver uniform, and the servants in their liveries of gold on the stairs, but he was not in the least embarrassed. ‘It must be very tiresome to stand on the stairs,’ he said. ‘I prefer to go in.’ The rooms were blazing with light. Councillors and ambassadors walked about with bare feet, carrying golden vessels; it was enough to make any one feel serious. His boots creaked loudly as he walked, and yet he was not at all uneasy.”

“It must be Kay,” said Gerda, “I know he had new boots on, I have heard them creak in grandmother’s room.”

“They really did creak,” said the crow, “yet he went boldly up to the princess herself, who was sitting on a pearl as large as a spinning wheel, and all the ladies of the court were present with their maids, and all the cavaliers with their servants; and each of the maids had another maid to wait upon her, and the cavaliers’ servants had their own servants, as well as a page each. They all stood in circles round the princess, and the nearer they stood to the door, the prouder they looked. The servants’ pages, who always wore slippers, could hardly be looked at, they held themselves up so proudly by the door.”

“It must be quite awful,” said little Gerda, “but did Kay win the princess?”

“If I had not been a crow,” he said, “I would have married her myself, although I am engaged. He just as well as I do, when I speak the crows' language, so I heard spoken from my tame sweetheart. He was quite free and agreeable and said he had not come to woo the princess, but to hear her wisdom; and he was as pleased with her as she was with him.”

“Oh, certainly that was Kay,” said Gerda, “he was so clever; he could work mental arithmetic and fractions. Oh, will you take me to the palace?”

“It is very easy to ask that,” replied the crow, “but how are we to manage it? However, I will speak about it to my tame sweetheart, and ask her advice; for I must tell you it will be very difficult to gain permission for a little girl like you to enter the palace.”

“Oh yes; but I shall gain permission easily,” said Gerda, “for when Kay hears that I am here, he will come out and fetch me in immediately.”

“Wait for me here by the palings,” said the crow, wagging his head as he flew away.

It was late in the evening before the crow returned. “Caw, caw,” he said, “she sends you greeting, and here is a little roll which she took from the kitchen for you; there is plenty of bread there, and she thinks you must be hungry. It is not possible for you to enter the palace by the front entrance. The guards in silver uniform and the servants in gold livery would not allow it. But do not cry, we will manage to get you in; my sweetheart knows a little back-staircase that leads to the sleeping apartments, and she knows where to find the key.”

Then they went into the garden through the great avenue, where the leaves were falling one after another, and they could see the light in the palace being put out in the same manner. And the crow led little Gerda to the back door, which stood ajar. Oh! how little Gerda's heart beat with anxiety and longing; it was just as if she were going to do something wrong, and yet she only wanted to know where little Kay was. “It must be he,” she thought, “with those clear eyes, and that long hair.” She could fancy she saw him smiling at her, as he used to at home, when they sat among the roses. He would certainly be glad to see her, and to hear what a long distance she had come for his sake, and to know how sorry they had been at home because he did not come back. Oh what joy and yet fear she felt! They were now on the stairs, and in a small closet at the top a lamp was burning. In the middle of the floor stood the tame crow, turning her head from side to side, and gazing at Gerda, who curtseyed as her grandmother had taught her to do.

“My betrothed has spoken so very highly of you, my little lady,” said the tame crow, “your life-history, Vita, as it may be called, is very touching. If you will take the lamp I will walk before you. We will go straight along this way, then we shall meet no one.”

“It seems to me as if somebody were behind us,” said Gerda, as something rushed by her like a shadow on the wall, and then horses with flying manes and thin legs, hunters, ladies and gentlemen on horseback, glided by her, like shadows on the wall.

“They are only dreams,” said the crow, “they are coming to fetch the thoughts of the great people out hunting.”

“All the better, for we shall be able to look at them in their beds more safely. I hope that when you rise to honor and favor, you will show a grateful heart.”

“You may be quite sure of that,” said the crow from the forest.

They now came into the first hall, the walls of which were hung with rose-colored satin, embroidered with artificial flowers. Here the dreams again flitted by them but so quickly that Gerda could not distinguish the royal persons. Each hall appeared more splendid than the last, it was enought to bewilder any one. At length they reached a bedroom. The ceiling was like a great palm-tree, with glass leaves of the most costly crystal, and over the center of the floor two beds, each resembling a lily, hung from a stem of gold. One, in which the princess lay, was white, the other was red; and in this Gerda had to seek for little Kay. She pushed one of the red leaves aside, and saw a little brown neck. Oh, that must be Kay! She called his name out quite loud, and held the lamp over him. The dreams rushed back into the room on horseback. He woke, and turned his head round, it was not little Kay! The prince was only like him in the neck, still he was young and pretty. Then the princess peeped out of her white-lily bed, and asked what was the matter. Then little Gerda wept and told her story, and all that the crows had done to help her.

“You poor child,” said the prince and princess; then they praised the crows, and said they were not angry for what they had done, but that it must not happen again, and this time they should be rewarded.

“Would you like to have your freedom?” asked the princess, “or would you prefer to be raised to the position of court crows, with all that is left in the kitchen for yourselves?”

Then both the crows bowed, and begged to have a fixed appointment, for they thought of their old age, and said it would be so comfortable to feel that they had provision for their old days, as they called it. And then the prince got out of his bed, and gave it up to Gerda, -he could do no more; and she laid down. She folded her little hands, and thought, “How good everyone is to me, men and animals too;” then she closed her eyes and fell into a sweet sleep. All the dreams came flying back again to her, and they looked like angels, and one of them drew a little sledge, on which sat Kay, and nodded to her. But all this was only a dream, and vanished as soon as she awoke.

The following day she was dressed from head to foot in silk and velvet, and they invited her to stay at the palace for a few days, and enjoy herself, but she only begged for a pair of boots, and a little carriage, and a horse to draw it, so that she might go into the wide world to seek for Kay. And she obtained, not only boots, but also a muff, and she was neatly dressed; and when she was ready to go, there, at the door, she found a coach made of pure gold, with the coat-of-arms of the prince and princess shining upon it like a star, and the coachman, footman, and outriders all wearing golden crowns on their heads. The prince and princess themselves helped her into the coach, and wished her success. The forest crow, who was now married, accompanied her for the first three miles; he sat by Gerda's side, as he could not bear riding backwards. The tame crow stood in the doorway flapping her wings. She could not go with them, because she had been suffering from headache ever since the new appointment, no doubt from eating too much. The coach was well stored with sweet cakes, and under the seat were fruit and gingerbread nuts. “Farewell, farewell,” cried the prince and princess, and little Gerda wept, and the crow wept; and then, after a few miles, the crow also said “Farewell,” and this was the saddest parting. However, he flew to a tree, and stood flapping his black wings as long as he could see the coach, which glittered in the bright sunshine.

Fifth Story:
Little Robber Girl

The coach drove on through a thick forest, where it lighted up the way like a torch, and dazzled the eyes of some robbers, who could not bear to let it pass them unmolested.

“It is gold! it is gold!” cried they, rushing forward, and seizing the horses. Then they struck the little jockeys, the coachman, and the footman dead, and pulled little Gerda out of the carriage.

“She is fat and pretty, and she has been fed with the kernels of nuts,” said the old robber-woman, who had a long beard and eyebrows that hung over her eyes. “She is as good as a little lamb; how nice she will taste!” and as she said this, she drew forth a shining knife, that glittered horribly. “Oh!” screamed the old woman the same moment; for her own daughter, who held her back, had bitten her in the ear. She was a wild and naughty girl, and the mother called her an ugly thing, and had not time to kill Gerda.

“She shall play with me,” said the little robber-girl; “she shall give me her muff and her pretty dress, and sleep with me in my bed.” And then she bit her mother again, and made her spring in the air, and jump about; and all the robbers laughed, and said, “See how she is dancing with her young cub.”

“I will have a ride in the coach,” said the little robber-girl; and she would have her own way; for she was so self-willed and obstinate.

She and Gerda seated themselves in the coach, and drove away, over stumps and stones, into the depths of the forest. The little robber-girl was about the same size as Gerda, but stronger; she had broader shoulders and a darker skin; her eyes were quite black, and she had a mournful look. She clasped little Gerda round the waist, and said,-

“They shall not kill you as long as you don't make us vexed with you. I suppose you are a princess.”

“No,” said Gerda; and then she told her all her history, and how fond she was of little Kay.

The robber-girl looked earnestly at her, nodded her head slightly, and said, “They sha’nt kill you, even if I do get angry with you; for I will do it myself.” And then she wiped Gerda's eyes, and stuck her own hands in the beautiful muff which was so soft and warm.

The coach stopped in the courtyard of a robber's castle, the walls of which were cracked from top to bottom. Ravens and crows flew in and out of the holes and crevices, while great bulldogs, either of which looked as if it could swallow a man, were jumping about; but they were not allowed to bark. In the large and smoky hall a bright fire was burning on the stone floor. There was no chimney; so the smoke went up to the ceiling, and found a way out for itself. Soup was boiling in a large cauldron, and hares and rabbits were roasting on the spit.

“You shall sleep with me and all my little animals to-night,” said the robber-girl, after they had had something to eat and drink. So she took Gerda to a corner of the hall, where some straw and carpets were laid down. Above them, on laths and perches, were more than a hundred pigeons, who all seemed to be asleep, although they moved slightly when the two little girls came near them. “These all belong to me,” said the robber-girl; and she seized the nearest to her, held it by the feet, and shook it till it flapped its wings. “Kiss it,” she cried, flapping it in Gerda's face. “There sit the wood-pigeons,” she continued, pointing to a number of laths and a cage which had been fixed into the walls, near one of the openings. “Both rascals would fly away directly, if they were not closely locked up. And here is my old sweetheart ‘Ba;’” and she dragged out a reindeer by the horn; he wore a bright copper ring round his neck, and was tied up. “We are obliged to hold him tight too, or else he would run away from us also. I tickle his neck every evening with my sharp knife, which frightens him very much.” And then the robber-girl drew a long knife from a chink in the wall, and let it slide gently over the reindeer's neck. The poor animal began to kick, and the little robber-girl laughed, and pulled down Gerda into bed with her.

“Will you have that knife with you while you are asleep?” asked Gerda, looking at it in great fright.

“I always sleep with the knife by me,” said the robber-girl. “No one knows what may happen. But now tell me again all about little Kay, and why you went out into the world.”

Then Gerda repeated her story over again, while the wood-pigeons in the cage over her cooed, and the other pigeons slept. The little robber-girl put one arm across Gerda's neck, and held the knife in the other, and was soon fast asleep and snoring. But Gerda could not close her eyes at all; she knew not whether she was to live or die. The robbers sat round the fire, singing and drinking, and the old woman stumbled about. It was a terrible sight for a little girl to witness.

Then the wood-pigeons said, “Coo, coo; we have seen little Kay. A white fowl carried his sledge, and he sat in the carriage of the Snow Queen, which drove through the wood while we were lying in our nest. She blew upon us, and all the young ones died excepting us two. Coo, coo.”

“What are you saying up there?” cry Gerda. “Where was the Snow Queen going? Do you know anything about it?”

“She was most likely traveling to Lapland, where there is always snow and ice. Ask the reindeer that is fastened up there with a rope.”

“Yes, there is always snow and ice,” said the reindeer; “and it is a glorious place; you can leap and run about freely on the sparkling ice plains. The Snow Queen has her summer tent there, but her strong castle is at the North Pole, on an island called Spitzbergen.”

“Oh, Kay, little Kay!” sighed Gerda.

“Lie still,” said the robber-girl, “or I shall run my knife into your body.”

In the morning Gerda told her all that the wood-pigeons had said; and the little robber-girl looked quite serious, and nodded her head, and said, “That is all talk, that is all talk. Do you know where Lapland is?” she asked the reindeer.

“Who should know better than I do?” said the animal while his eyes sparkled. “I was born and brought up there, and used to run about the snow-covered plains.”

“Now listen,” said the robber-girl; “all our men are gone away,- only mother is here, and here she will stay; but at noon she always drinks out of a great bottle, and afterwards sleeps for a little while; and then, I'll do something for you.” Then she jumped out of bed, clasped her mother round the neck, and pulled her by the beard, crying, “My own little nanny goat, good morning.” Then her mother filled her nose till it was quite red; yet she did it all for love.

When the mother had drunk out of the bottle, and was gone to sleep, the little robber-maiden went to the reindeer, and said, “I should like very much to tickle your neck a few times more with my knife, for it makes you look so funny; but never mind,-I will untie your cord, and set you free, so that you may run away to Lapland; but you must make good use of your legs, and carry this little maiden to the castle of the Snow Queen, where her play-fellow is. You have heard what she told me, for she spoke loud enough, and you were listening.”

Then the reindeer jumped for joy; and the little robber-girl lifted Gerda on his back, and had the forethought to tie her on, and even to give her own little cushion to sit on.

“Here are your fur boots for you,” she said; “for it will be very cold; but I must keep the muff; it is so pretty. However, you shall not be frozen for the want of it; here are my mother's large warm mittens; they will reach up to your elbows. Let me put them on. There, now your hands look just like my mother's.”

But Gerda wept for joy.

“I don’t like to see you fret,” said the little robber-girl; “you ought to look quite happy now; and here are two loaves and a ham, so that you need not starve.” These were fastened on the reindeer, and then the little robber-maiden opened the door, coaxed in all the great dogs, and then cut the string with which the reindeer was fastened, with her sharp knife, and said, “Now run, but mind you take good care of the little girl.” And then Gerda stretched out her hand, with the great mitten on it, towards the little robber-girl, and said, “Farewell,” and away flew the reindeer, over stumps and stones, through the great forest, over marshes and plains, as quickly as he could. The wolves howled, and the ravens screamed; while up in the sky quivered red lights like flames of fire. “There are my old northern lights,” said the reindeer; “see how they flash.” And he ran on day and night still faster and faster, but the loaves and the ham were all eaten by the time they reached Lapland.

Sixth Story:
The Lapland Woman and the Finland Woman

They stopped at a little hut; it was very mean looking; the roof sloped nearly down to the ground, and the door was so low that the family had to creep in on their hands and knees, when they went in and out. There was no one at home but an old Lapland woman, who was cooking fish by the light of a train-oil lamp. The reindeer told her all about Gerda's story, after having first told his own, which seemed to him the most important, but Gerda was so pinched with the cold that she could not speak. “Oh, you poor things,” said the Lapland woman, “you have a long way to go yet. You must travel more than a hundred miles farther, to Finland. The Snow Queen lives there now, and she burns Bengal lights every evening. I will write a few words on a dried stock-fish, for I have no paper, and you can take it from me to the Finland woman who lives there; she can give you better information than I can.” So when Gerda was warmed, and had taken something to eat and drink, the woman wrote a few words on the dried fish, and told Gerda to take great care of it. Then she tied her again on the reindeer, and he set off at full speed. Flash, flash, went the beautiful blue northern lights in the air the whole night long. And at length they reached Finland, and knocked at the chimney of the Finland woman’s hut, for it had no door above the ground. They crept in, but it was so terribly hot inside that that woman wore scarcely any clothes; she was small and very dirty looking. She loosened little Gerda's dress, and took off the fur boots and the mittens, or Gerda would have been unable to bear the heat; and then she placed a piece of ice on the reindeer's head, and read what was written on the dried fish. After she had read it three times, she knew it by heart, so she popped the fish into the soup saucepan, as she knew it was good to eat, and she never wasted anything. The reindeer told his own story first, and then little Gerda's, and the Finlander twinkled with her clever eyes, but she said nothing. “You are so clever,” said the reindeer; “I know you can tie all the winds of the world with a piece of twine. If a sailor unties one knot, he has a fair wind; when he unties the second, it blows hard; but if the third and fourth are loosened, then comes a storm, which will root up whole forests. Cannot you give this little maiden something which will make her as strong as twelve men, to overcome the Snow Queen?”

“The Power of twelve men!” said the Finland woman; “that would be of very little use.” But she went to a shelf and took down and unrolled a large skin, on which were inscribed wonderful characters, and she read till the perspiration ran down from her forehead. But the reindeer begged so hard for little Gerda, and Gerda looked at the Finland woman with such beseeching tearful eyes, that her own eyes began to twinkle again; so she drew the reindeer into a corner, and whispered to him while she laid a fresh piece of ice on his head, “Little Kay is really with the Snow Queen, but he finds everything there so much to his taste and his liking, that he believes it is the finest place in the world; but this is because he has a piece of broken glass in his heart, and a little piece of glass in his eye. These must be taken out, or he will never be a human being again, and the Snow Queen will retain her power over him.”

“But can you not give little Gerda something to help her to conquer this power?”

“I can give her no greater power than she has already,” said the woman; “don't you see how strong that is? How men and animals are obliged to serve her, and how well she has got through the world, barefooted as she is. She cannot receive any power from me greater than she now has, which consists in her own purity and innocence of heart. If she cannot herself obtain access to the Snow Queen, and remove the glass fragments from little Kay, we can do nothing to help her. Two miles from here the Snow Queen's garden begins; you can carry the little girl so far, and set her down by the large bush which stands in the snow, covered with red berries. Do not stay gossiping, but come back here as quickly as you can.” Then the Finland woman lifted little Gerda upon the reindeer, and he ran away with her as quickly as he could.

“Oh, I have forgotten my boots and my mittens,” cried little Gerda, as soon as she felt the cutting cold, but the reindeer dared not stop, so he ran on till he reached the bush with the red berries; here he set Gerda down, and he kissed her, and the great bright tears trickled over the animal's cheeks; then he left her and ran back as fast as he could.

There stood poor Gerda, without shoes, without gloves, in the midst of cold, dreary, ice-bound Finland. She ran forwards as quickly as she could, when a whole regiment of snow-flakes came round her; they did not, however, fall from the sky, which was quite clear and glittering with the northern lights. The snow-flakes ran along the ground, and the nearer they came to her, the larger they appeared. Gerda remembered how large and beautiful they looked through the burning-glass. But these were really larger, and much more terrible, for they were alive, and were the guards of the Snow Queen, and had the strangest shapes. Some were like great porcupines, others like twisted serpents with their heads stretching out, and some few were like little fat bears with their hair bristled; but all were dazzlingly white, and all were living snow-flakes. Then little Gerda repeated the Lord's Prayer, and the cold was so great that she could see her own breath come out of her mouth like steam as she uttered the words. The steam appeared to increase, as she continued her prayer, till it took the shape of little angels who grew larger the moment they touched the earth. They all wore helmets on their heads, and carried spears and shields. Their number continued to increase more and more; and by the time Gerda had finished her prayers, a whole legion stood round her. They thrust their spears into the terrible snow-flakes, so that they shivered into a hundred pieces, and little Gerda could go forward with courage and safety. The angels stroked her hands and feet, so that she felt the cold less, and she hastened on to the Snow Queen’s castle.

But now we must see what Kay is doing. In truth he thought not of little Gerda, and never supposed she could be standing in the front of the palace.

Seventh Story:
Of the Palace of the Snow Queen and What Happened There At Last

The walls of the palace were formed of drifted snow, and the windows and doors of the cutting winds. There were more than a hundred rooms in it, all as if they had been formed with snow blown together. The largest of them extended for several miles; they were all lighted up by the vivid light of the aurora, and they were so large and empty, so icy cold and glittering! There were no amusements here, not even a little bear's ball, when the storm might have been the music, and the bears could have danced on their hind legs, and shown their good manners. There were no pleasant games of snap-dragon, or touch, or even a gossip over the tea-table, for the young-lady foxes. Empty, vast, and cold were the halls of the Snow Queen. The flickering flame of the northern lights could be plainly seen, whether they rose high or low in the heavens, from every part of the castle. In the midst of its empty, endless hall of snow was a frozen lake, broken on its surface into a thousand forms; each piece resembled another, from being in itself perfect as a work of art, and in the center of this lake sat the Snow Queen, when she was at home. She called the lake “The Mirror of Reason,” and said that it was the best, and indeed the only one in the world.

Little Kay was quite blue with cold, indeed almost black, but he did not feel it; for the Snow Queen had kissed away the icy shiverings, and his heart was already a lump of ice. He dragged some sharp, flat pieces of ice to and fro, and placed them together in all kinds of positions, as if he wished to make something out of them; just as we try to form various figures with little tablets of wood which we call “a Chinese puzzle.” Kay's fingers were very artistic; it was the icy game of reason at which he played, and in his eyes the figures were very remarkable, and of the highest importance; this opinion was owing to the piece of glass still sticking in his eye. He composed many complete figures, forming different words, but there was one word he never could manage to form, although he wished it very much. It was the word “Eternity.” The Snow Queen had said to him, “When you can find out this, you shall be your own master, and I will give you the whole world and a new pair of skates.” But he could not accomplish it.

“Now I must hasten away to warmer countries,” said the Snow Queen. “I will go and look into the black craters of the tops of the burning mountains, Etna and Vesuvius, as they are called,-I shall make them look white, which will be good for them, and for the lemons and the grapes. ” And away flew the Snow Queen, leaving little Kay quite alone in the great hall which was so many miles in length; so he sat and looked at his pieces of ice, and was thinking so deeply, and sat so still, that any one might have supposed he was frozen.

Just at this moment it happened that little Gerda came through the great door of the castle. cutting winds were raging around her, but she up a prayer and the winds sank down as if they were going to sleep; and she went on till she came to the large empty hall, and caught sight of Kay; she knew him directly; she flew to him and threw her arms round his neck, and held him fast, while she exclaimed, “Kay, dear little Kay, I have found you at last.”

But he sat quite still, stiff and cold.

Then little Gerda wept hot tears, which fell on his breast, and penetrated into his heart, and thawed the lump of ice, and washed away the little piece of glass which had stuck there. Then he looked at her, and she sang-

“Roses bloom and cease to be,
But we shall the Christ-child see.”

Then Kay burst into tears, and he wept so that the splinter of glass swam out of his eye. Then he recognized Gerda, and said, joyfully, “Gerda, dear little Gerda, where have you been all this time, and where have I been?” And he looked all around him, and said, “How cold it is, and how large and empty it all looks,” and he clung to Gerda, and she laughed and wept for joy. It was so pleasing to see them that the pieces of ice even danced about; and when they were tired and went to lie down, they formed themselves into the letters of the word which the Snow Queen had said he must find out before he could be his own master, and have the whole world and a pair of new skates. Then Gerda kissed his cheeks, and they became blooming; and she kissed his eyes, and they shone like her own; she kissed his hands and his feet, and then he became quite and cheerful. The Snow Queen might come home now when she pleased, for there stood his certainty of freedom, in the word she wanted, written in shining letters of ice.

Then they took each other by the hand, and went forth from the great palace of ice. They of the grandmother, and of the roses on the roof, and as they went on the spoke winds were at the rest, and the sun burst forth. When they arrived at the bush with red berries, there stood the reindeer waiting for them, and he had brought another young reindeer with him, whose udders were full, and the children drank her warm milk and kissed her on the mouth. Then they carried Kay and Gerda first to the Finland woman, where they warmed themselves thoroughly in the hot room, and she gave them directions about their journey home. Next they went to the Lapland woman, who had made some new clothes for them, and put their sleighs in order. Both the reindeer ran by their side, and followed them as far as the boundaries of the country, where the first green leaves were budding. And here they took leave of the two reindeer and the Lapland woman, and all said-Farewell. Then the birds began to twitter, and the forest too was full of green young leaves; and out of it came a beautiful horse, which Gerda remembered, for it was one which had drawn the golden coach. A young girl was riding upon it, with a shining red cap on her head, and pistols in her belt. It was the little robber-maiden, who had got tired of staying at home; she was going first to the north, and if that did not suit her, she meant to try some other part of the world. She knew Gerda directly, and Gerda remembered her: it was a joyful meeting.

“You are a fine fellow to go gadding about in this way,” she said to little Kay, “I should like to know whether you deserve that any one should go to the end of the world to find you.”

But Gerda patted her cheeks, and asked after the prince and princess.

“They are gone to foreign countries,” said the robber-girl.

“And the crow?” asked Gerda.

“Oh, the crow is dead,” she replied; “his tame sweetheart is now a widow, and wears a bit of black worsted round her leg. She mourns very pitifully, but it is all stuff. But now tell me how you managed to get him back.”

Then Gerda and Kay told her all about it.

“Snip, snap, snap! it's all right at last,” said the robber-girl.

Then she took both their hands, and promised that if ever she should pass through the town, she would call and pay them a visit. And then she rode away into the wide world. But Gerda and Kay went hand-in-hand towards home; and as they advanced, spring appeared more lovely with its green verdure and its beautiful flowers. Very soon they recognized the large town where they lived, and the tall steeples of the churches, in which the sweet bells were ringing a merry peal as they entered it, and found their way to their grandmother’s door. They went upstairs into the little room, where everything looked just as it used to do. The old clock was going “tick, tick,” and the hands pointed to the time of day, but as they passed through the door into the room they perceived that they were both grown up, and become a man and woman. The roses out on the roof were in full bloom, and peeped in at the window; and there stood the little chairs, on which they had sat when children; and Kay and Gerda seated themselves each on their own chair, and held each other by the hand, while the cold empty grandeur of the Snow Queen’s palace vanished from their memories like a painful dream. The grandmother sat in God’s bright sunshine, and she read aloud from the Bible, “Except ye become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of God.” And Kay and Gerda looked into each other's eyes, and all at once understood the words of the old song,

“Roses bloom and cease to be,
But we shall the Christ-child see.”

And they both sat there, grown up, yet children at heart; and it was summer, warm, beautiful summer.

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