THE SNOW QUEEN by Hans Christian Andersen 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 coachmen,
And the footmen dead,
And pulled little Gerda out of the carriage.
She is fat and pretty,
And she's 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 shiny 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 around the waist and said,
They shall not kill you 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 shan't 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 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 tonight,
Said the robber girl,
After they had had something to eat and drink.
So she took Gerda to the corner of the hall,
Where some straw and carpets were laid out.
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,
Cried she,
Flapping it in Gerda's face.
There sit the wood pigeons,
Continued she,
Pointing to a number of laths and a cage which had been fixed onto 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,
Baa,
And she dragged out a reindeer by the horn.
He wore a bright copper ring around 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 the 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 the bed with her.
Will you have that knife with you while you're 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 K 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 going 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 pigeon said,
Coo,
Coo,
We have seen little K.
A white fowl carried his sledge,
And he sat in the carriage of the snow queen,
Which drove through the wood while we were laying in our nest.
She blew upon us,
And all the young ones died excepting us two.
Coo,
Coo.
What are you saying up there,
Cried 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 Spitsbergen.
Okay,
Little K,
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 the bed,
Clasped her mother round the neck,
And pulled her by the beard,
Crying,
My own little nanny goat,
Good morning.
Then her mother flipped 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 more times 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 playfellow 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 a little cushion to sit on.
Here are your fur boots for you,
She said.
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 in which the reindeer was fastened,
And said,
Now run,
But mind you take care of that little girl.
And then Gerda stretched out her hand,
With the great mitten on it,
Towards the 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 raven 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 thing,
Said the Lapland woman.
You have a long way yet to go.
I am a hundred miles further 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 then 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 a dried fish and told Gerda to take great care of it.
Then she tied her again on the reindeer,
And he set off on 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 the woman was scarcely wearing 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 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 K is really with the Snow Queen,
But he finds everything there so much in his taste and his liking that he believes it's 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,
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 can't 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 K,
We can do nothing to help her.
Two miles from here,
The Snow Queen's gardens begin,
And you can carry the little girl so far 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.
Gerda dared not stop,
So he ran on till he reached the bush with the red berries.
Here he set Gerda down and 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 snowflakes came round her.
They did not,
However,
Fall from the sky,
Which was quite clear and glittering with the northern lights.
The snowflakes 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,
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 stretched out,
And some few were like little fat bears with their hair bristled.
But all were dazzling white,
And all were living snowflakes.
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 snowflakes 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 front of the palace.
And that is the end of our story this evening.
Until next time,
Sweet dreams.
