- And the girl pulled the reindeer tied to the wall in a shiny copper collar by the antlers. “He must also 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? 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. Forest pigeons in a cage quietly cooed; 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 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 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 you fly to? The Snow Queen?
- She probably flew to Lapland - there is eternal snow and ice! Ask the reindeer what is leashed here!
- Yes, there is eternal snow and ice, it's a miracle how good it is! said the reindeer.
- There you jump at will on the endless sparkling icy plains! The Snow Queen's summer tent is set up 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 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 the mother gave her clicks on the nose, 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!” 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.
The 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 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 won't let you freeze; here are my mother's huge mittens, they will reach you to the very 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 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, live! Look at the 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! the deer said. - 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.
Story six
Lapland and Finnish
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 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 down to a Finn who lives in those places 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! 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 will play out, and unties the third and fourth, such a storm will rise that it will break 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!
7The deer stopped at a miserable shack. 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 walk a hundred odd miles before you get to Finland, 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 carry the message to the Finnish woman who lives in those places and is better.
mine will be able to teach you what to do.
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.
Phew! Phew! - was heard again from the sky, and it became
Throw out pillars of wonderful blue flame. So the deer ran with Gerda to Finland and knocked on the Finnish chimney - she didn’t even have doors.
Well, the heat was in her home! The Finn herself, a short fat woman, went about half-naked. She quickly pulled off Gerda's dress, mittens and boots, otherwise the girl would be hot, put a piece of ice on the reindeer'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. Finca blinked her intelligent eyes, but did not say a word.
“You are such a wise woman…” said the deer. “Won’t you make a drink for the girl that would give her the strength of twelve heroes?” Then she would have defeated the Snow Queen!
- The strength of twelve heroes! Finn said. – Is there much use in that!
With these words, she took a large leather scroll from the shelf and unfolded it: it was covered all over with some amazing writing.
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 the Snow Queen will retain her power over him.
“But can’t you give Gerda something that will make her stronger than everyone else?”
- Stronger than it is, I can not 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 is not for us to borrow her strength, her strength is in her heart, in the fact that she is an innocent sweet child. If she herself cannot penetrate into the halls of the Snow Queen and extract a shard 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 sprinkled with red berries, and, without delay, come back.
With these words, the Finnish girl put 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 reached a bush with red berries. Then he lowered the girl, kissed her on the lips, and large, shiny tears rolled down his cheeks. 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 rushed towards her
snow flakes, but they did not fall from the sky - the sky was very clear, and the northern lights were blazing in it - no, they ran along the ground straight at Gerda and became bigger and bigger.
Gerda remembered the big beautiful flakes under the magnifying glass, but these were much bigger, scarier and all alive.
These were the forward sentinel troops of the Snow Queen.
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.
However, Gerda boldly walked on and on and finally 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 so close to him.
Story seven. What happened in the halls of the Snow Queen and what happened next
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 the Northern Lights, and the largest one stretched for many, many miles. How cold, how deserted it was in those white, brightly shining halls! Fun never came here. Bear balls with dances to the music of the storm were never held here, at which polar bears could distinguish themselves by grace and the ability to walk on their hind legs; games of cards with quarrels and fights were never drawn up, little white gossips did not converge for a conversation over a cup of coffee.
Cold, deserted, grandiose! The northern lights flashed and burned so regularly that it was possible to calculate exactly at what minute the light would increase and at what time it would fade. In the middle of the largest deserted snow hall was a frozen lake. The ice cracked on it into a thousand pieces, so identical and regular that it seemed like some kind of trick. In the middle of the lake sat the 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.
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 like 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 of folding figures from wooden planks, which is called the Chinese puzzle. So Kai also folded various intricate figures, only from ice floes, and this was called an icy mind game. In his eyes, these figures were a marvel of art, and folding them was an occupation of paramount importance. This was due to the fact that a fragment of a magic mirror sat in his eye. He also put together such figures from which whole words were obtained, but he 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,” said the Snow Queen. - I'll look into the black cauldrons.
So she called the craters of the fire-breathing mountains - Etna and Vesuvius.
- 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 sat where he was, so pale, motionless, as if uninhabited. You might think he was completely cold.
At this time, Gerda entered the huge gate, which was the violent winds. And before her the winds subsided, as if asleep. She entered a huge deserted ice hall and saw Kai. She 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. And then Gerda wept; her hot tears fell on his chest, penetrated into his heart, melted the ice crust, melted the shard. Kai looked at Gerda and suddenly burst into tears and wept so hard that the shard flowed out of his eye along with his tears. Then he recognized Gerda and was delighted:
- Gerda! 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. And she laughed and cried with joy. And it was 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 it, he could become his own master, and even receive from her a gift of the whole world and a pair of new skates.
Gerda kissed Kai on both cheeks, and they again blushed like roses; kissed his eyes, and they shone; kissed his hands and feet, and he again became vigorous and healthy.
The Snow Queen could return at any time—his vacation card lay there, written in glittering ice letters.
Kai and Gerda left the ice halls hand in hand. They walked and talked about their grandmother, about the roses that bloomed in their garden, and before them the violent winds subsided, the sun peeped through. And when they reached the bush with red berries, the reindeer was already waiting for them.
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 deer 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 him and the Laplander.
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 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 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 went to foreign lands,” answered the young robber.
- And the raven? Gerda asked.
- 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 them in the city.
Then she went on her way, and Kai and Gerda went on theirs.
They walked, and spring flowers bloomed on their way, the grass turned green. Then the bells rang out, and they recognized the bell towers of their native city. They climbed the familiar stairs and entered the room, where everything was the same as before: the clock said "tick-tock", the hands moved along the dial. But, passing through the low door, they noticed that they had become quite adults. Blooming rose bushes peered through the open window from the roof; right there were their highchairs. Kai and La Gorda each sat down on their own, took each other's hands, and the cold, desert splendor of the Snow Queen's halls was forgotten like a heavy dream.
So they sat side by side, both already adults, but children in heart and soul, and it was summer outside, a warm, fertile summer.
Lapland and Finnish. They stopped at a miserable shack; the roof almost touched the ground, and the door was terribly low: in order to enter or exit the hut, people had to crawl on all fours. At home there was only an old Lapland woman, who was frying fish by the light of an oil lamp in which a blubber was burning. The reindeer told the Lapland woman the story of Gerda, but first he told his own, which seemed to him much more important. But Gerda was so chilled that she could not speak.
Oh you poor things! said the Laplander. - You still have a long way to go; you have to run more than a hundred miles, then you will reach Finnmark; there is the cottage of the Snow Queen, every evening she lights blue sparklers. I will write a few words on dried cod - I have no paper - and you will take it down to one Finn who lives in those places. She will teach you better than me what to do.
When Gerda warmed up, ate and drank, the Laplander wrote a few words on dried cod, ordered Gerda to take good care of her, tied the girl to the back of a deer, and he again rushed at full speed. Fuck! Fuck! - something crackled above, and the sky was lit up all night by the wonderful blue flame of the northern lights.
So they got to Finnmark and knocked on the chimney of the Finnish shack - it didn’t even have doors.
It was so hot in the shack that the Finn walked half-naked; she was a small, sullen woman. She quickly undressed Gerda, pulled off her fur boots and mittens so that the girl would not be too hot, and put a piece of ice on the reindeer's head and only then began to read what was written on the dried cod. She read the letter three times and memorized it, and threw the cod into the cauldron of soup: after all, the cod could be eaten - nothing was wasted with the Finn.
Then the deer told first his story, and then the story of Gerda. Finka silently listened to him and only blinked her intelligent eyes.
You are a wise woman, said the reindeer. - I know you can tie all the winds in the world with one thread; a sailor unties one knot - a fair wind blows; untie another - the wind will become stronger; untie the third and fourth - such a storm will break out that the trees will fall down. Could you give the girl such a drink so that she will receive the strength of a dozen heroes and defeat the Snow Queen?
The strength of a dozen heroes? - repeated Finn. Yes, that would help her! Finca went to a box, took out a large leather scroll and unfolded it; some strange writing was inscribed on it. Finca began to take them apart and took them apart so hard that sweat broke out on her forehead.
The deer again began to beg for little Gerda, and the girl looked at the Finn with such pleading eyes full of tears that she blinked again and led the deer into a corner. Putting a new piece of ice on his head, she whispered:
Kai is indeed with the Snow Queen. He is pleased with everything and is sure that this is the best place on earth. And the reason for everything is the fragments of a magic mirror that sit in his eye and in his heart. You need to take them out, otherwise Kai will never be a real person, and the Snow Queen will retain her power over him!
Can you give something to Gerda to help her deal with this evil force?
Stronger than it is, I can't make it. Can't you see how great her power is? Don't you see how people and animals serve her? After all, she walked around half the world barefoot! She should not think that we gave her strength: this strength is in her heart, her strength is that she is a sweet, innocent child. If she herself cannot penetrate into the halls of the Snow Queen and remove the fragments from the heart and from the eye of Kai, we will not be able to help her. Two miles from here begins the garden of the Snow Queen; so you can carry the girl. You plant it near a bush with red berries that stands in the snow. Don't waste time talking, but come back in no time.
With these words, the Finn put Gerda on a deer, and he ran as fast as he could.
Oh, I forgot my boots and mittens! cried Gerda: she was burned with cold. But the deer did not dare to stop until he reached a bush with red berries. There he lowered the girl, kissed her on the lips, large shiny tears rolled down his cheeks. Then he darted back. Poor Gerda stood without boots, without mittens in the middle of a terrible icy desert.
She ran forward with all her strength; a whole regiment of snow flakes rushed towards her, but they did not fall from the sky - the sky was completely clear, illuminated by the northern lights. No, the snowflakes rushed along the ground, and the closer they flew, the larger they became. Then Gerda remembered the big beautiful snowflakes that she had seen under a magnifying glass, but these were much larger, scarier, and all alive. These were the advance detachments of the Snow Queen's army. Their appearance was outlandish: some resembled large ugly hedgehogs, others - balls of snakes, others - fat bear cubs with tousled hair; but they were all sparkling white, all living snowflakes.
Gerda began to read the Our Father, and the cold was such that her breath immediately turned into a thick fog. This fog thickened and thickened, and suddenly small bright angels began to stand out from it, which, touching the ground, grew into large formidable angels with helmets on their heads; they were all armed with shields and spears. There were more and more angels, and when Gerda finished reading the prayer, she was surrounded by a whole legion. The angels pierced the snow monsters with spears, and they crumbled into hundreds of pieces. Gerda boldly went forward, now she had reliable protection; the angels stroked her arms and legs, and the girl hardly felt the cold.
She quickly approached the halls of the Snow Queen.
Well, what was Kai doing at that time? Of course, he did not think about Gerda; how could he have guessed that she was standing right in front of the palace.
Illustrations for the sixth story
Other illustrations for "The Snow Queen"
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- The first story, which tells about the mirror and its fragments
- The second story. boy and girl
- History the third. Flower garden of a woman who knew how to conjure
- History four. Prince and Princess
- History fifth. Little Robber
- Story six. Lapland and Finnish
- Story seven. What happened in the halls of the Snow Queen and what happened next
The first story, which tells about the mirror and its fragments
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, an evil, evil, real devil.
Once he was in a particularly good mood: he made such a mirror in which everything good and beautiful was reduced further, and everything bad and ugly stuck out and became even more disgusting.
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, but they had no bellies at all! The faces were distorted in such a way that it was impossible to recognize, and if anyone had a freckle, then be calm - it spread both on the nose and on the lips. And if a good thought appeared in a person, it was reflected in the mirror with such an antics that the troll rolled with laughter, rejoicing at his cunning invention.
The students of the troll - and he had his own school - told everyone that a miracle had happened: now only, they said, you can see the whole world and people in their true light. They ran everywhere with a mirror, and soon there was not a single country, not a single person left who would not be reflected in it in a distorted form.
Finally, they wanted to reach the sky. The higher they climbed, the more distorted the mirror was, so that they could hardly hold it in their hands.
Some fragments, the size of a grain of sand, scattered across the wide world, fell into people's eyes, and so they remained there. And a person with such a shard in his eye began to see everything upside down or to notice only the bad in every thing - after all, each shard retained the property of the entire mirror.
For some people, the fragments hit right in the heart, and this was the worst of all: the heart was made like a piece of ice.
There were large ones among the fragments - they were inserted into window frames, and it was not worth looking at your good friends through these windows.
Finally, there were also such fragments that went into glasses, and it was bad if such glasses were put on in order to see better and judge things correctly.
The evil troll was bursting with laughter - this idea amused him so much. And many more fragments flew around the world. Let's hear about them!
Story two Boy and girl
In a big city, where there are so many houses and people that not everyone has enough space even for a small garden, and therefore most of the inhabitants have to be content with indoor flowers in pots, there lived two poor children, and their garden was a little larger than a flower pot. They were not brother and sister, but they loved each other like brother and sister.Their parents lived in closets under the roof in two neighboring houses. The roofs of the houses converged, and a gutter stretched between them. 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.
My parents each had a large wooden box. They had greens for seasonings and small rose bushes, one in each box, growing luxuriantly.
It occurred to the parents to put these boxes across the gutter, so that from one window to the other stretched like two flower beds. Peas descended from the boxes like green garlands, rose bushes peered through the windows and intertwined branches.
Parents allowed the boy and girl to visit each other on the roof and sit on a bench under roses. How wonderful they played here!
In summer, they could find themselves visiting each other with one jump, 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.
“Do they also have a queen?” the boy asked. 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 sits down on the ground, always rushing in a black cloud. Often at night she flies through the city streets and looks into the windows, which is why they are covered with frosty patterns, like flowers.
- Seen, seen! - the children said and believed that all this was the absolute truth.
“Can’t the Snow Queen enter here?” the girl asked.
- Just let him try! the boy replied. - I'll put her on a warm stove, so she will melt.
But the grandmother stroked his head and started talking about something else.
In the evening, when Kai was at home and almost completely undressed, about to go to bed, he climbed onto a chair by the window and looked into the circle that had 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 it turned into a woman wrapped in the thinnest white tulle, woven, it seemed, from millions of snow stars.
She was so lovely and tender, but made of ice, of dazzling sparkling ice, and yet alive! Her eyes shone like two clear stars, but there was neither warmth nor peace in them. She nodded to the boy and beckoned him with her hand. Kai got scared and jumped off the chair. And something like a big bird flashed past the window.
The next day it was clear and frosty, but then a thaw came, and then spring came. The sun shone, the greenery peeped through, the swallows built their nests. The windows were opened, and the children could again sit in their garden in the gutter above all the floors.
The roses were in full bloom that summer. Children sang, holding hands, kissed roses and rejoiced in the sun. Oh, what a wonderful summer it was, how good it was under the rose bushes, which seemed to bloom and bloom forever!
- Ai! Kai suddenly screamed. - I was stabbed right in the heart, and something got into my eye!
The girl wrapped her arm around his neck, he blinked frequently, but there seemed to be nothing in his eye.
“It must have jumped out,” he said.
But it wasn't. These were just fragments of that devilish mirror, which we spoke about at the beginning.
- What are you crying about? he asked Gerda. “It doesn’t hurt me at all! Fu, you are ugly! he suddenly shouted. — There is a worm that sharpens that rose. And she's completely crooked. What ugly roses! No better than boxes in which they stick out.
He kicked the box with his foot and plucked both roses.
“Kai, what are you doing!” shouted Gerda, and he, seeing her fright, plucked another rose and ran away from dear little Gerda through his window.
If Gerda now brings him a book with pictures, he will say that these pictures are good only for babies: if the old grandmother tells something, she will find fault with her words. And then it will even come to the point that he will begin to mimic her walk, put on her glasses, speak in her voice. It came out very similar, and people laughed.
Soon Kai learned to imitate all the neighbors. He was very good at showing off all their oddities and shortcomings, and people said:
"Amazingly capable little boy!" And the reason for everything was the fragments that hit him in the eye and in the heart. That is why he even mimicked dear little Gerda, and yet 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 came with a large magnifying glass and put the hem 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. It was so beautiful!
“See how cleverly done! Kai said. 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 bolder tied their sledges to peasant sledges and rolled far, far away. It was kind of fun.
The sleigh circled the square twice. Kai quickly tied his sled to them and rolled. The big sleigh sped away faster, then turned off the square into an alley. The man sitting in them turned around and nodded affably to Kai, as if he were an acquaintance. Kai several times tried to untie his sled, but the man in the fur coat kept nodding to him, and he continued to follow him.
So they got out of the city gates. The snow suddenly fell in flakes, and it became dark, even if you gouged out your eye. The boy hurriedly let go of the rope, which caught on a large sledge, but his sledge seemed to stick to it and continued to rush along in a whirlwind. Kai screamed loudly - no one heard him. The snow was falling, the sleds raced, diving into snowdrifts, jumping over hedges and ditches. Kai was trembling.
The snowflakes kept growing and finally turned into big white chickens. 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 you are completely cold - get into my fur coat!
She put the boy in the sleigh, wrapped him in her bearskin coat. Kai sank into a snowdrift.
"Are you still cold?" she asked and kissed him on the forehead.
- My sleds! Don't forget my sled! he said.
The sled was tied on the back of one of the white chickens, and she flew with them after the big sled. 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. "I'll kiss you to death."
Kai looked at her. How good she was! He could not imagine a smarter and prettier face. Now she did not seem to him icy, as she had been sitting outside the window and nodding to him.
At the same moment, the Snow Queen soared with him onto a black cloud. The storm howled and groaned as if singing old songs; they flew over forests and lakes, over seas and land; cold winds blew under 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 fell asleep at the feet of the Snow Queen.
Story Three Flower garden 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 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.
Many tears were shed over him, Gerda wept bitterly and for a long time. Finally they decided that Kai 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 is dead and will never come back! she repeated to the swallows.
- We do not 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, “and I’ll go and ask about him by the river.”
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?” 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 somehow strangely nod to her. Then she took off her red shoes - the most precious thing she had - and threw them into the river. But they fell near the shore, and the waves immediately carried them 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, 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 from its push moved away from the shore. The girl wanted to jump ashore as soon as possible, but while she was making her way from stern to bow, the boat had already completely sailed away and was quickly rushing downstream.
- We are here! We are here!
The boat was getting further and further away. Gerda sat quietly, in nothing but stockings: her red shoes floated behind the boat, but could not overtake her.
“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 a house huddled under a thatched roof, with red and blue panes in the windows. Two wooden soldiers stood at the door and saluted all who passed by. Gerda screamed at them - she mistook them for living ones - 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.
An old, old woman came out of the house with a stick, in a big straw hat painted with wonderful flowers.
“Oh, you poor child! said the old woman. “And how did you get on such a big fast river and get so far?”
With these words, the old woman entered the water, hooked the boat with a stick, pulled it to the shore and landed Gerda.
Gerda was glad, dear, that she finally found herself on land, although she was afraid of an unfamiliar 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!” When the girl had finished, 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 there was nothing to grieve about yet, let Gerda better taste the cherries and admire the flowers that grow in the garden: they are more beautiful than in any picture book, and that’s all. know 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; from this the room itself was illuminated by some amazing iridescent light.
There was a basket of wonderful cherries on the table, and Gerda could eat as many of them as she liked. And while she ate, the old woman combed her hair with a golden comb. Her hair curled in curls and a golden glow surrounded the sweet, friendly, round, like a rose, face of a girl.
"I've wanted to have such a pretty girl for a long time!" said the old woman. “You’ll see how well we’ll 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. 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 a 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 these roses, would remember her own, and then Kaya and run away from her.
Then the old woman took Gerda to the flower garden. Oh, what a fragrance there was, what beauty: a variety of flowers, and for every season! In all the world there would be no picture book more colorful, more beautiful than this flower garden.
The next day, Gerda was again allowed to play in the 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 which one?
And once she sat and looked at the old woman's straw hat, painted with flowers, and the most beautiful of them was a rose - the old woman forgot to erase it when she sent the living roses underground. That's what distraction means!
- How! Are there any roses here? - said Gerda, and immediately ran into the garden, looking for them, looking, but she 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, as 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 hesitated! the girl said. “I have to look for Kai! .. You don’t know where he is?” she asked the roses. Is it true that he died and will not return again?
He didn't die! answered the roses. “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 thought only of its own fairy tale or story. Gerda heard a lot of them, but not a single one said a word about Kai.
Then Gerda went to a 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!
— It was the first spring day, the sun was warm and shone so friendly 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 that it gave way, 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: the summer had already passed, it was late autumn in the yard. 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 around! The long leaves on the willows were completely yellowed, the mist 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!
Story Four The Prince and the Princess
Gerda had to sit down again to rest. A large raven was hopping in the snow right in front of her. He looked at the girl for a long time, nodding his head to her, and finally said:- Kar-kar! Hello!
Having told the raven all her life, the girl asked if he had seen Kai.
Raven shook his head thoughtfully and said:
- May be! May be!
- How? Is it true? the girl exclaimed, and almost strangled the raven, she kissed him so hard.
- 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? Gerda asked.
“Now 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,” said Gerda. - What a pity!
“Well, nothing,” said the raven. “I’ll tell you what I can, even if it’s bad.
And he told everything he knew.
“In the kingdom where you and I are, there is a princess who is so smart that it’s impossible to say! I read all the newspapers in the world and forgot everything I read in them - what a clever girl! One day she sits on the throne - and there's not much fun in it, as people say - and sings 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 could answer when spoken to, and not someone who could only put on airs - it's so boring!
And now, with a drumbeat, all the ladies of the court are summoned, and the will of the princess is announced to them. They were all so happy! “That's what we like! - They say. “We’ve been thinking about this ourselves recently!” All this is true! added the raven. - I have a bride at court - a tame crow, from her I know all this.
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 at ease, as at home, and will be more eloquent than everyone else, the princess will choose as 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 crush and crush, but all to no avail either on the first or on the second day.
On the street, all the suitors speak perfectly, but as soon as they step over the palace threshold, see the guards in silver and footmen in gold and enter the huge, light-filled halls, they are dumbfounded. They will approach the throne where the princess sits, and repeat her own words after her, but she did not need it at all. Well, it was as if they had spoiled them, drugged them with dope! And they will go out the gate - they will again find the gift of words.
From the very gates to the doors stretched a long, long tail of suitors. I have been there and seen it.
- Well, what about Kai, Kai? Gerda asked. - When did he come? And he came to marry?
— Wait! Wait! Here we have come to it! On the third day, a little man appeared, not in a carriage, not on horseback, but simply on foot, and straight to the palace. Eyes shine like yours, hair is long, only poorly dressed.
It's Kai! Gerda rejoiced. - I found him! And she clapped her hands.
“He had a knapsack on his back,” continued the raven.
— No, it must have been his sled! Gerda said. — He left the house with a sled.
- Very likely! said the raven. “I didn't look too hard. So, my fiancee told how he entered the palace gates and saw the guards in silver, and along the entire staircase the lackeys in gold, he was not at all embarrassed, he only nodded his head and said: “It must be boring to stand here on the stairs, I’ll go in -ka I better in the rooms! And all the halls are filled with light. The Privy Councilors and their Excellencies are walking about without boots, carrying golden dishes - there is nowhere more solemn! His boots creak terribly, but he doesn't care.
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 did creak in order,” continued the raven. But he boldly approached the princess. She was sitting on a pearl the size of a spinning wheel, and all around stood court ladies with their maids and maids of maids and gentlemen with servants and servants of servants, and those again had servants. The closer someone stood to the door, the higher his nose turned up. It was impossible even to look at the servant of the servant, attending the servant and standing in the very doorway, without trembling - he was so important!
- That's fear! Gerda said. Did Kai marry the princess after all?
“If I weren’t a raven, I would have married her myself, even though I’m engaged. He started a conversation with the princess and spoke no worse than I did in a crow - so, at least, my tame bride told me. He behaved very freely and sweetly and declared that he had come not to woo, but only to listen to the intelligent speeches of the princess. Well, he liked her, and she liked him too.
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!
“Easy to say,” replied the raven, “hard to do.” 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 away? Why, they don't let girls like that in!
- They'll let me in! Gerda said. “When Kai hears that I am here, he will immediately come running after me.
“Wait for me here by the grate,” said the raven, shook its head and flew away.
He returned quite late in the evening and croaked:
- Kar, Kar! My bride sends you a thousand bows and this 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 where to get the key.
And so they entered the garden, went along the long avenues, where autumn leaves fell one after another, and when the lights in the palace went out, the raven led the girl through the half-open door.
Oh, how Gerda's heart beat with fear and impatience! It was as if she was going to do something bad, and she only wanted to know if her Kai was here! Yes, yes, he is right here! Gerda so vividly imagined his intelligent eyes, long hair, and 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 way she made up her mind for him, she would find out how all the household grieved for him! Oh, 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, young lady! said the tame crow. “And your life is also very touching!” Would you like to take a lamp, and I will go ahead. We will take the straight road, we will meet no one here.
“But it seems to me that someone is following us,” said Gerda, and at the same moment some shadows rushed past her with a slight noise: horses with waving 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 the sleeping ones.
Then they entered the first room, where the walls were upholstered in pink satin woven with flowers. Dreams flashed past the girl again, but so quickly that she did not have time to see the riders. One room was more magnificent than the other, so there was something to be confused about.
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 wept and told her whole story, mentioning also what the ravens had done for her.
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 and crow bowed and asked for positions at court. They thought of 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 yet. And she folded her hands and 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 were carrying Kai on a small sleigh, who was nodding his head to Gerda. Alas, it was all just 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 stayed only a few days and began to ask for 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 carriage of pure gold drove up to the gate, with the coats of arms of the prince and princess shining like stars: the coachman, footmen, postilions - they gave her the 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 could not ride, sitting 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! shouted the prince and princess.
Gerda began to cry, and so did the crow. Three miles later 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 Robber
Here Gerda entered the dark forest in which the robbers lived; the carriage burned like a fever, it cut the eyes of the robbers, and they simply could not bear it.
“Look, what a pretty, fat little one! 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, shining knife. Horrible!
- Ai! she suddenly cried out: 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 simply a pleasure.
"Oh, you mean girl! the mother screamed, 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 that she jumped and spun on the spot. The robbers laughed.
- Look how he dances with his girl!
- I want a 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 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 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 warm muff.
Here the carriage stopped: they drove into the courtyard of the robber's castle.
A fire was burning in the middle of a huge hall with dilapidated, soot-covered walls and a stone floor. The smoke rose to the ceiling and had to find its own way out. Over the fire, soup was boiling in a huge cauldron, 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 poles higher up. They all seemed to be asleep, but when the girls approached, they stirred slightly.
- All mine! 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 shouted and poked the dove in Gerda's face. “And here sit the forest crooks,” she continued, pointing to two pigeons sitting in a small depression in the wall, behind a wooden grate. “These two are woodland crooks. 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 scared to death 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 and dragged Gerda to the bed.
“Are you really sleeping with a knife?” Gerda asked her.
- Always! answered the little robber. — You never know what could happen! Well, tell me again about Kai and how you set out to wander the wide world.
Gerda told. Caged wood pigeons cooed softly; the other pigeons 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. 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?
- Probably to Lapland - because there is eternal snow and ice. Ask the reindeer what is leashed here.
— Yes, there is eternal snow and ice. Wonder how good! said the reindeer. - There you jump at will on the huge sparkling plains. The Snow Queen's summer tent is set up 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. "I'm not going to 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, there is only 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.
And so the old woman took a sip from her bottle and began to snore, and the little robber went up to the reindeer and said:
“We could still make fun of you for a long time!” You're too hilarious to be tickled with a sharp knife. Well, so be it! I will untie you and set you free. You can run to your Lapland, but in return you must take this girl to the Snow Queen's palace - there is her named brother. Surely you heard what she said? She spoke loudly, and you always have ears on top of your head.
The reindeer jumped for joy. And the little robber put Gerda on him, tied her tightly for fidelity, and even 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 leave the clutch for myself, it hurts good. But I won’t let you freeze: here are my mother’s huge mittens, they will reach you to the very 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 should be happy. Here's two more loaves and a ham for you so you don't have to 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, live! Look, take care of the 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 the swamps and steppes. Wolves 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 bread was eaten, the ham too, and now they found themselves in Lapland.
Story Six Lapland and Finnish
The deer stopped at a miserable shack. 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.
“Oh, you poor fellows! said the Laplander. “You still have a long way to go!” You'll have to walk a hundred odd miles before you get to Finland, 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 down the message to the Finnish woman who lives in those places 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.
Phew! Phew! - was heard again from the sky, and it began to throw out pillars of wonderful blue flame. So the deer ran with Gerda to Finland and knocked on the Finnish chimney - she didn’t even have doors.
Well, the heat was in her home! The Finn herself, a short fat woman, went about half-naked. She quickly pulled off Gerda's dress, mittens and boots, otherwise the girl would be hot, put a piece of ice on the reindeer'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. Finca blinked her intelligent eyes, but did not say a word.
“You are such a wise woman…” said the deer. “Won’t you make a drink for the girl that would give her the strength of twelve heroes?” Then she would have defeated the Snow Queen!
- The strength of twelve heroes! Finn said. — Is there much use in that!
With these words, she took a large leather scroll from the shelf and unfolded it: it was covered all over with some amazing writing.
Finca began to read them and read them until sweat rolled down 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 the Snow Queen will retain her power over him.
“But can’t you give Gerda something that will make her stronger than everyone else?”
- Stronger than it is, I can not 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 is not for us to borrow her strength, her strength is in her heart, in the fact that she is an innocent sweet child. If she herself cannot penetrate into the halls of the Snow Queen and extract a shard 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 sprinkled with red berries, and, without delay, come back.
With these words, the Finnish girl put 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.
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 in it - no, they ran along the ground straight at Gerda and became bigger and bigger.
Gerda remembered the big beautiful flakes under the magnifying glass, but these were much bigger, scarier and all alive.
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.
However, Gerda boldly walked on and on and finally 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 so close to him.
Seventh story What happened in the halls of the Snow Queen and what happened next
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 the Northern Lights, and the largest one stretched for many, many miles.How cold, how deserted it was in those white, brightly shining halls! Fun never came here. Bear balls with dances to the music of the storm were never held here, at which polar bears could distinguish themselves by grace and the ability to walk on their hind legs; games of cards with quarrels and fights were never drawn up, little white chanterelle gossips did not converge for a conversation over a cup of coffee.
Cold, deserted, grandiose! The northern lights flashed and burned so regularly that it was possible to calculate exactly at what minute the light would increase and at what time it would fade.
In the middle of the largest deserted snow hall was a frozen lake. The ice cracked on it into a thousand pieces, so identical and regular that it seemed like some kind of trick.
In the middle of the lake sat the 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.
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 like 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 - folding figures from wooden planks - which is called the Chinese puzzle. So Kai also folded various intricate figures, only from ice floes, and this was called an icy mind game.
In his eyes, these figures were a marvel of art, and folding them was an occupation of paramount importance. This was due to the fact that a fragment of a magic mirror sat in his eye.
He also put together such figures from which whole words were obtained, but he 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,” said the Snow Queen. — I'll look into the black cauldrons.
So she called the craters of the fire-breathing mountains - Etna and Vesuvius.
- 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 sat there, so pale, motionless, as if lifeless. You might think he was completely cold.
At this time, Gerda entered the huge gate, which was the violent winds. And before her the winds subsided, as if asleep. She entered a huge deserted ice hall and saw Kai. She 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. And then Gerda wept; her hot tears fell on his chest, penetrated into his heart, melted the ice crust, melted the shard. Kai looked at Gerda and suddenly burst into tears and wept so hard that the shard flowed out of his eye along with his tears. Then he recognized Gerda and was delighted:
— Gerda! 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. And she laughed and cried with joy.
Gerda kissed Kai on both cheeks, and they again blushed like roses; kissed his eyes, and they shone; kissed his hands and feet, and he again became vigorous and healthy.
The Snow Queen could return at any time—his vacation card lay there, written in glittering ice letters.
Kai and Gerda left the ice halls hand in hand. They walked and talked about their grandmother, about the roses that bloomed in their garden, and before them the violent winds subsided, the sun peeped through. And when they reached the bush with red berries, the reindeer was already waiting for them.
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 deer 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 him and the Laplander.
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 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 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.
- And the raven? Gerda asked.
- 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 them in the city.
Then she went on her way, and Kai and Gerda went on theirs.
They walked, and spring flowers bloomed on their way, the grass turned green. Then the bells rang out, and they recognized the bell towers of their native city.
They climbed the familiar stairs and entered the room, where everything was the same as before: the clock said “tick-tock”, the hands moved along the dial. But, passing through the low door, they noticed that they had become quite adults.
Blooming rose bushes peered through the open window from the roof; right there were their highchairs. Kai and Gerda each sat on their own, took each other's hands, and the cold desert splendor of the halls of the Snow Queen was forgotten like a heavy dream.
So they sat side by side, both already adults, but children in heart and soul, and it was summer outside, a warm, fertile summer.
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Story six
Lapland and Finnish
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 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 down 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 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 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! 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. 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. Yes, it makes a lot of sense!
With these words, she took a large leather scroll from the shelf and unfolded it: on it stood some amazing writing; The Finnish woman 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 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 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 not 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! The strength is 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.
- 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 blazing 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 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.