The Snow Queen is a wonderful fairy tale by G. H. Andersen, which can be read online for free or downloaded as text in DOC and PDF format. You can read the entire story or just a summary. The tale is divided into separate chapters and consists of several short stories.
The main characters of the fairy tale The Snow Queen:
Girl- Gerda who saved her friend Kai from the spell of the Snow Queen.
Kai- a neighbor boy who was taken by the Snow Queen and turned his heart into a piece of ice.
- a cold heartless woman living in the lands of permafrost, among snow and ice.
Troll- an evil wizard who created a magic mirror that distorts reality. A fragment of this mirror hit Kai's eye, after which he became heartless and lost all warm feelings for Gerda and grandmother.
Grandmother- a wise old woman who reads fairy tales to Kai and Gerda.
Old woman florist- the sorceress of flowers, lives by the river, where her wonderful garden is spread. The old woman was lonely, so she accepted Gerda, but the blooming rose in the garden reminded the girl of Kai and she continued on her way in search of her friend.
Prince and Princess- simple good-natured young people, having listened to the story of Gerda, gladly helped her in search of Kai, providing her with everything she needed on the way.
Raven and crow- Court talking birds.
Rogues- a gang of bandits from the main road, headed by an old ataman. They plundered Gerda's carriage and took her in.
Little Robber- the daughter of the chieftain, who took Gerda to herself. Upon learning that Gerda was going to look for Kai in Lapland, the robber took pity and released them, along with the Reindeer, to freedom.
Finca and Lapland- two old women who helped Gerda get to the halls of the Snow Queen.
Summary of the fairy tale The Snow Queen chapter by chapter:
boy and girl
In one big city there lived a boy Kai and a girl Gerda. They went to visit each other on the roof and sat on a bench under roses. The children were not relatives, but they loved each other very much. In the evenings, grandmother often told the children a story about the Snow Queen, the children believed, but not in the least afraid of her.
Mirror and its fragments
Meanwhile, the evil Troll made a magic mirror in which everything good and beautiful was distorted and became ugly. Having fun with the mirror, the Troll's students dropped it, the mirror shattered into millions of pieces and scattered all over the world. If such a fragment fell into the eye or, even worse, into the heart, then the person became evil and saw only the bad side in every thing. It was such a fragment that hit Kai's eye and heart when he and Gerda sat and admired the roses. From that moment on, Kai changed dramatically, began to be rude to Gerda, to mimic the old grandmother, and began to hate roses in boxes.
Once in the winter, after being rude to Gerda as always, he ran off to sled in a large square. He tied the sled to a passing white sleigh, not suspecting that it was the sleigh of the Snow Queen herself. She took the boy to the land of eternal cold in the ice kingdom, where Kai forgot about Gerda, his grandmother and all his relatives.
Flower garden of a woman who knew how to conjure
Gerda cried for a long time, everyone decided that Kai had drowned in the river, but she did not believe it and went in search of him. First, she came to an old flower girl, who had such a wonderful garden that Gerda almost forgot that she was looking for Kai. The old woman was a kind sorceress, and did not want Gerda to be evil, but she really liked the girl, so with the help of witchcraft she left her with her. Gerda spent a lot of time there, and only thanks to the roses she accidentally saw did she remember her friend.
Prince and Princess
Deep autumn came, Gerda continued on her way and met a talking raven. He told her a story about living in the palace of a princess who married a poor but very smart guy. Gerda was sure that this was her Kai and went to the palace. But Gerda was disappointed, the prince looked like Kai only from the back. Despite this, knowing the history of Gerda, the princess and the prince warmly received the girl and left her to stay in their palace. Gerda was very grateful to them, but she needed to keep looking for Kai. She was dressed in the best clothes, given a golden carriage with footmen, and she went on.
Little Robber
On the way, misfortune happened to Gerda, she was attacked by robbers. They killed the lackeys, plundered the carriage, and Gerda would not have survived if the chieftain's daughter had not taken her to her. Outwardly, the girl was as evil and ferocious as her mother, but in her soul she was completely human and able to sympathize. She released Gerda and gave her Reindeer to help.
Lapland and Finca
The reindeer brought Gerda to Lapland, where they were met by an old Lapland woman. She wrote a message to Finka, who was supposed to help Gerda defeat the Snow Queen. But, Finca, having learned the story of the girl and looking into her eyes, told the deer that there was nothing stronger than Gerda herself. Only her innocent kind heart and love will help to disenchant Kai from evil spells and extract the pieces from his heart.
What happened in the halls of the Snow Queen and what happened next.
The girl reached the halls of the Snow Queen, entered the deserted ice hall, and saw Kai. It was not the same boy as before, he was pale, motionless, as if not alive. Kai, my dear Kai! Finally I found you! Gerda screamed, but Kai sat motionless and cold. The girl began to cry, and her hot tears rolled down the boy's chest. Kai's heart melted and the boy burst into tears. He cried for so long that the fragments flowed out of his eyes along with the tears. Kai immediately remembered Gerda, grandmother, roses in boxes, and home.
Kai and Gerda joined hands and went together to their native lands. Along the way, they met and thanked all those who helped them, the Reindeer, the Finns and Laplanders, the young robber, the prince and princess. Unfortunately, we could not see the old raven, as he died. So they returned home and noticed that during this time they had grown up and became adults, but with a childish heart and soul.
Roses are blooming... Beauty, beauty!
We will soon see the Christ child.
They sang a psalm, holding hands.
What does the Snow Queen fairy tale teach and what is her main idea.
First of all, the fairy tale teaches children friendship, devotion and fidelity. Only kindness and love will help overcome any difficulties and melt even an icy heart. The fairy tale also teaches to be firm in your decision, to be persistent and stubbornly go towards your goal. This is what the girl Gerda did, she did not give up and overcame all difficulties in order to find Kai.
The main idea of ​​the fairy tale and the secret message from the author is to love and believe in spite of everything, if love lives in the heart, then a person can do anything.
Proverbs for the fairy tale The Snow Queen:
Happiness helps the brave, Fear does not go to the one who loves, For a lover, even a hundred miles is not a distance, Do not leave a friend in misfortune, Happiness helps the brave, Strong faith means victory, The heart is not a stone, The most difficult road is the one you do not know, Mind is true is enlightened, the heart is warmed by love.

Very briefly Poisoned by fragments of a magic mirror, the boy Kai ends up with the Snow Queen. His named sister Gerda finds the boy and melts the pieces with the love of her pure heart.

Once upon a time there was an evil troll. Once he made such a mirror in which everything good and beautiful diminished to the utmost, and everything worthless and ugly stood out even brighter and seemed even worse. The troll was terribly amused, and his students ran around with a mirror. Finally, they decided to climb up to heaven and laugh at the Creator himself. They rose higher and higher, and suddenly the mirror fell out and broke into many fragments. The fragments scattered across the wide world. Some began to get into people's eyes, and a person saw only bad things in every thing, while others got into people's hearts, and the heart turned into a piece of ice. The evil troll saw all this and laughed.

In a big city, two poor children lived next door - Kai and Gerda. They loved each other like brother and sister. Both families grew flowers, and the children loved to sit near the rose bushes.

Once, sitting near the bushes and reading a book, Kai cried out: something hit him in the eye and pricked in his heart. They were shards of the devil's mirror. Now Kai's heart has turned into a piece of ice, and he began to see everything in a distorted form. Beautiful roses began to seem ugly to him, and he mimicked adults and was rude to them.

Winter came. One day, Kai went to the big square to sled. Suddenly there appeared a dazzling woman in white on a large sled - the Snow Queen. Kai tied his sled to her and rolled. Soon they drove out of the gates of the city. The Snow Queen wrapped Kai in her fur coat, kissed the boy, and he forgot about Gerda and all the household.

When Kai did not return home, Gerda cried a lot. She did not believe that Kai was dead and went looking for him. On the way, the girl came to an old sorceress who had a wonderful garden. The charms of the old woman made Gerda forget about everything, and she stayed in a house with a wonderful garden, where it was always summer. But one day the girl saw roses that reminded her of home, and she remembered everything. She asked the flowers in the garden if they had seen Kai underground. Having received a negative answer, Gerda realized that Kai was alive.

Soon Gerda met a big raven. The raven had a bride who lived in the palace. From her, the raven learned that the princess, a great clever one, was getting married. The crows described the appearance of the groom, and Gerda decided that this was Kai.

With the help of a raven and his bride, Gerda entered the palace, but the princess' fiancé was not Kai. After listening to the story of the girl, the princess gave her a golden carriage with a coachman and servants, new shoes and beautiful clothes.

Robbers attacked Gerda in the forest. They killed the coachman and servants, the girl was taken prisoner. The little robber, the daughter of the chieftain, left Gerda with her. She showed Gerda her menagerie, which included reindeer from Lapland and wood pigeons. After hearing Gerda's story, the wood pigeons said they saw Kai in the Snow Queen's sled on the way to Lapland. The little robber released Gerda, along with the Reindeer, to his homeland.

The reindeer brought the girl to an old Lapland woman, who gave a letter to an old Finnish woman living near the kingdom of the Snow Queen. Finca said that as long as Kai has fragments of a mirror in his heart and in his eye, he will not be the same, but Gerda will melt the ice with the power of her innocent childish heart. Gerda came to the kingdom of the Snow Queen alone, the Reindeer could not accompany her there.

Turned blue from the cold, but not feeling it because of the kiss of the Snow Queen, Kai made various figures out of ice. He wanted to add the word "eternity", then the Snow Queen would give him the whole world and a pair of new skates. Gerda rushed to Kai and melted the ice with hot tears. Kai cried, and the shard fell out of his eye.

Kai and Gerda returned home. On the way, they met a Reindeer and drank the milk of his young wife, warmed up with a Finn, visited a Lapland woman. In the forest they met a young robber who told that the raven had died and the crow was left a widow. The robber promised to visit them if possible. And at home, two bushes strewn with beautiful roses were waiting for them.

The first story, WHERE IT IS ABOUT THE MIRROR AND ITS SHARDS

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

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

And so they ran with the mirror everywhere; soon there was not a single country, not a single person who would not be reflected in it in a distorted form. Finally, they wanted to get to

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

The story of the second BOY AND GIRL

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

My parents each had a large wooden box; in them grew onions, parsley, peas, and small bushes of roses, one in each, showered with marvelous flowers. It occurred to the parents to put these boxes on the gutter; thus, from one window to another stretched like two flower beds. Peas descended from the boxes in green garlands, rose bushes peeped through the windows and intertwined branches; something like a triumphal gate of greenery and flowers was formed.

Since the boxes were very high and the children knew for sure that they should not be hung over the edge, the parents often allowed the boy and girl to walk to each other on the roof to visit and sit on a bench under roses. And what fun games they played here!

In winter, this pleasure ceased, the windows were often covered with ice patterns. But the children heated copper coins on the stove and applied them to the frozen panes - a wonderful round hole immediately thawed, and a cheerful, affectionate eye peered into it - each boy and girl, Kai and Gerda, looked out of their window. In 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. Snowflakes fluttered outside.

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

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

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

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

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

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

In the evening, when Kai was already at home and had almost completely undressed, about to go to bed, he climbed onto a chair by the window and looked into a small circle that had thawed out on the window glass. Snowflakes fluttered outside the window; one of them, a larger one, fell on the edge of a flower box and began to grow, grow, until at last it turned into a woman wrapped in the thinnest white tulle, woven, it seemed, from millions of snow stars.

She was so lovely, so tender, all of dazzling white ice, and yet alive! Her eyes sparkled like stars, but there was neither warmth nor meekness in them. She nodded to the boy and beckoned him with her hand. The little boy jumped down from his chair in fright; something like a large bird flashed past the window.

The next day there was a glorious frost, but then a thaw came, and then spring came. The sun was shining, the grass was peeping through, the flower boxes were all green again, the swallows were nesting under the roof. The windows were opened, and the children were again allowed to sit in their little garden on the roof. the osses bloomed delightfully all summer. Children, holding hands, kissed roses and rejoiced in the sun. The girl learned a psalm, which also spoke of roses; she sang it to the boy, thinking about her roses, and he sang along with her: Roses bloom, .. Beauty, beauty! We will soon see the Christ child.

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

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

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

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

It must have popped up! - he said.

But that's the point, it's not. Two fragments of the devil's mirror hit him in the heart and in the eye. Poor Kai! Now his heart should have turned into a piece of ice! The pain in the eye and in the heart has already passed, but the fragments themselves remained in them.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Look in the glass, Gerda! - he said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The story of the third flower garden of a woman who knew how to conjure

And what happened to Gerda when Kai did not return? Where did he go? Nobody knew it, nobody could say anything. The boys said only that they saw him tying his sledge to a large magnificent sledge, which then turned into an alley and drove out of the city gates. Nobody knew where he had gone. Many tears were shed for him; Gerda wept bitterly and for a long time.

But then spring came, the sun came out.

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

I do not believe! Sunlight answered.

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

We don't believe! they answered.

In the end, Gerda herself stopped believing it.

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

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

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

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

Gerda was frightened and began to cry, but no one except the sparrows heard her cries; the sparrows only flew after her along the shore and chirped, as if wishing to console her: “We are here! We are here!"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Having done her job, the old woman took Gerda to the flower garden. The girl's eyes widened: there were flowers of all kinds, all seasons. What a beauty, what a fragrance! Gerda jumped for joy and played among the flowers until the sun went down behind the tall cherry trees. Then they put her in a wonderful bed with red silk feather beds stuffed with blue violets; the girl fell asleep, and she had such dreams as only a queen sees on her wedding day.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I don't understand anything! Gerda said.

This is my fairy tale! - answered the fiery lily. What did the bindweed say?

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

Are you talking about Kai? asked Gerda.

I tell my story, my dreams! - answered the bindweed. What did the little snowdrop say?

A long board swings between the trees - this is a swing. Two little girls are sitting on the board; their dresses are as white as snow, and long green silk ribbons flutter from their hats. The brother, older than them, stands on the swing behind the sisters, clinging to the ropes with his elbows; in one hand he has a small cup of soapy water, in the other a clay tube. He blows bubbles, the board sways, the bubbles fly through the air, shimmering in the sun with all the colors of the rainbow. Here is one hanging on the end of the tube and swaying from the wind. A little black dog, light as a soap bubble, stands up on its hind legs, and puts its front paws on the board, but the board flies up, the dog falls, yelps and gets angry. Children tease her, bubbles burst ... The board sways, foam scatters - that's my song! - She may be good, but you say all this in such a sad tone! And again, not a word about Kai! What will the hyacinths say?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Maybe you know something?

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

I see myself! I see myself! O,

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

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

And she ran out of the garden.

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

Kar-kar! Hello!

May be!

But listen! - said the raven. “But it’s terribly difficult for me to speak your way!” Now, if you understood like a crow, I would tell you about everything much better. foot, and set off to run along the road! She turned back three times, but no one pursued her. Finally she got tired, sat down on a stone and looked around: the summer had already passed, it was late autumn in the yard, and in the old woman’s wonderful garden, where the sun always shone and flowers of all seasons bloomed, this was not noticeable!

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

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

Story Four PRINCE AND PRINCESS

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

Kar-kar! Hello!

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

Raven shook his head thoughtfully and said:

May be!

How? Truth? - exclaimed the girl and almost strangled the raven with kisses.

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

Does he live with the princess? asked Gerda.

But listen! - said the raven. “But it’s terribly difficult for me to speak your way!” Now, if you understood like a crow, I would tell you about everything much better. No, they didn't teach me that! Gerda said. - Grandma understands! It would be nice if I could too!

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

And he told about everything that only he knew.

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

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

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

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

Wait! Wait! Now we just got to it! On the third day, a little man appeared, not in a carriage, not on horseback, but simply on foot, and entered the palace directly. His eyes shone like yours; his hair was long, but he was poorly dressed. - It's Kai! Gerda rejoiced. - So I found it! And she clapped her hands.

Behind him was a knapsack! continued the raven.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He returned quite late in the evening and croaked:

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

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

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

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

My fiancé told me so many good things about you, Miss! said the tame crow. - Your vita1 - as they say - is also very touching! Would you like to take a lamp, and I will go ahead. You can safely go, here we will not meet anyone!

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

These are dreams! said the tame crow. “They come here so that the thoughts of high people are carried away to hunt. So much the better for us - it will be more convenient to consider sleeping!

Then they entered the first room, all covered with pink satin, woven with flowers. Dreams flashed past the girl again, but so quickly that she did not even have time to look at the riders. One room was more magnificent than the other - just taken aback.

Finally they reached the bedroom: the ceiling looked like the top of a huge palm tree with precious crystal leaves; from the middle of it descended a thick golden stalk, on which hung two beds in the form of lilies. One was white, a princess slept in it, a friend I am red, and in it Gerda hoped to find Kai. The girl slightly uncurled one of the red petals of the blanket and saw a dark blond nape. It's Kai! She called him by name loudly and held the lamp close to his face. Dreams rushed away with noise; the prince woke up and turned his head... Ah, it wasn't Kai!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Goodbye! Goodbye! the prince and princess shouted. Gerda began to cry, and so did the crow. So they passed the first three

miles. Then the raven said goodbye to the girl. It was a hard parting! The raven flew up into the tree and flapped its wings until the carriage, shining like the sun, was out of sight.

Fifth story THE LITTLE ROBBER

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Look how he rides with his girl! - I want to get in the carriage! - the little robber screamed loudly and insisted on her own - she was terribly spoiled and stubborn.

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

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

Not! - the girl answered and told what she had to experience and how she loves Kai.

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

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

And she wiped away Gerda's tears, and then hid both her hands in her pretty, soft and warm muff. Here the carriage stopped; they entered the courtyard of the robber's castle. He was covered in deep cracks; crows and crows flew out of them; huge bulldogs jumped out from somewhere; they looked so ferocious, as if they wanted to eat everyone, but they didn’t bark - it was forbidden.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Always! - answered the little robber. - How do you know what might happen! But tell me again about Kai and how you set out to wander the wide world! Gerda told. Caged wood pigeons cooed softly; the other doves were already asleep; the little robber wrapped one arm around Gerda's neck - she had a knife in the other - and began to snore, but Gerda could not close her eyes, not knowing whether they would kill her or let her live. The robbers sat around the fire, sang songs and drank, and the old robber woman tumbled. It was terrible to look at this poor girl.

Suddenly the wood pigeons cooed:

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

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

Probably to Lapland - there is eternal snow and ice! Ask the reindeer what is on the leash!

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

Oh Kai, my dear Kai! Gerda sighed.

Lie still! - said the little robber. - 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 her mother gave her nose clicks, so that the girl's nose turned red and blue, but all this was done lovingly.

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

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

The reindeer jumped for joy. The little robber put Gerda on it, tied her tightly for safety's sake, and slipped a soft cushion under her so that she could sit comfortably.

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

Gerda wept for joy.

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

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

Well, live! Look at the girl!

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

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

The story of the sixth LAPLAND AND FINCA

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 Lapland woman 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 to a Finnish woman who lives in those parts and will be able to teach you what to do better than I can.

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

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

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

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

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

With these words, she took a large leather scroll from the shelf and unfolded it: on it stood some amazing writing; The Finn began to read them and read them until her sweat broke out. But the deer again began to ask for Gerda, and Gerda herself looked at the Finn with such pleading eyes full of tears that she blinked again, took the deer aside and, changing the ice on his head, whispered:

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

But can you help Gerda somehow destroy this power?

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

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

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

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

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

Gerda began to read "Our Father"; it was so cold that the girl's breath immediately turned into a thick fog. This fog thickened and thickened, but then small, bright angels began to stand out from it, which, having stepped on the ground, grew into large formidable angels with helmets on their heads and spears and shields in their hands. Their number kept increasing, and when Gerda finished her prayer, a whole legion had already 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 at all about Gerda, and least of all about the fact that she was standing in front of the castle.

Story Seven

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

The walls of the halls of the Snow Queen were swept by a blizzard, the windows and doors were done by violent winds. Hundreds of huge, aurora-lit halls stretched one after another; the largest stretched for many, many miles. How cold, how deserted it was in those white, brightly shining halls! In the middle of the largest deserted snow hall was a frozen lake.

Its ice cracked into a thousand pieces, even and marvelously regular. In the middle of the lake stood the throne of the Snow Queen; on it she sat when she was at home, saying that she was sitting on the mirror of the mind; in her opinion, it was the only and best mirror in the world.

Kai turned completely blue, almost turned black from the cold, but did not notice this - the kisses of the Snow Queen made him insensitive to the cold, and his very heart became a piece of ice. Kai fiddled with flat, pointed ice floes, laying them in all sorts of frets. After all, there is such a game when figures are put together from wooden planks, it is called "Chinese puzzle". Kai also folded various intricate figures from ice floes, and this was called the "ice game of the mind." In his eyes, these figures were a miracle of art, and putting them together was an occupation of the first importance. This was because he had a shard of a magic mirror in his eye! He put together whole words from ice floes, but he could not put together what he especially wanted, the 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'm off to warmer climes! The Snow Queen said. - I'll look into the black cauldrons!

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

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

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

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

Kai, my dear Kai! Finally I found you!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have a good trip! - the escorts shouted to them.

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

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

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

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

And a raven with a raven? asked Gerda.

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

Gerda and Kai told her about everything.

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

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

Roses are blooming... Beauty, beauty! We will soon see the Christ child.

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

Story one
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, feisty-preslying; it was the devil himself. Once he was in a particularly good mood: he made such a mirror in which everything good and beautiful was utterly reduced, everything worthless and ugly, on the contrary, appeared even brighter, it seemed even worse. The most beautiful landscapes looked like boiled spinach in it, and the best of people looked like freaks, or it seemed that they were standing upside down, but they had no bellies at all! Faces were distorted to the point that it was impossible to recognize them; if someone had a freckle or a mole on his face, it spread all over his face.

The devil was terribly amused by all this. A kind, pious human thought was reflected in the mirror with an unimaginable grimace, so that the troll could not help laughing, rejoicing at his invention. All the students of the troll - he had his own school - talked about the mirror as if it were some kind of miracle.

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

And so they ran with the mirror everywhere; soon there was not a single country, not a single person who would not be reflected in it in a distorted form. Finally, they wanted to get to heaven to laugh at the angels and the creator himself. The higher they climbed, the more the mirror grimaced and writhed from grimaces; they could barely hold it in their hands. But then they got up again, and suddenly the mirror was so skewed that it escaped from their hands, flew to the ground and shattered. Millions, billions of its fragments, however, have done even more trouble than the mirror itself. Some of them were no more than a grain of sand, scattered around the wide world, fell, it happened, into people's eyes, and so they remained there. A person with such a shard in his eye began to see everything upside down or to notice only the bad sides in every thing, because each shard retained the property that distinguished the mirror itself.

For some people, the fragments hit right in the heart, and this was the worst: the heart turned into a piece of ice. Between these fragments there were also large ones, such that they could be inserted into window frames, but it was not worth looking at your good friends through these windows. Finally, there were also such fragments that went on glasses, only the trouble was if people put them on in order to look at things and judge them more correctly! And the evil troll laughed to the point of colic, the success of this invention tickled him so pleasantly.

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

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

In winter, this pleasure ceased, the windows were often covered with ice patterns. But the children heated copper coins on the stove and applied them to the frozen panes - a wonderful round hole immediately thawed, and a cheerful, affectionate eye peered into it - each looked out of his window, a boy and a girl, Kai and Gerda. 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.

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

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

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

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

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

- Let him try! the boy said. - I'll put her on a warm stove, now she's growing!

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

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

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

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

Roses are blooming... Beauty, beauty!
We will soon see the Christ child.

The children sang, holding hands, kissed roses, looked at the clear sun and talked to it - it seemed to them that the infant Christ himself was looking at them from it.

What a wonderful summer it was, and how good it was under the bushes of fragrant roses, which, it seemed, were supposed to bloom forever!

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

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

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

It must have jumped out! - he said.

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

- What are you crying about? he asked Gerda. - Wu! How ugly are you now! It doesn't hurt me at all! Ugh! he suddenly shouted. - This rose is sharpened by a worm! And that one is completely crooked!

What ugly roses! No better than boxes in which they stick out!

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

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

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

What a head this little boy has!

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

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

“Look in the glass, Gerda!” - he said. Each snowflake seemed much larger under the glass than it actually was, and looked like a magnificent flower or a ten-pointed star. What a miracle!

See how well done! Kai said. “This is much more interesting than real flowers!”

And what precision! Not a single wrong line! Ah, if only they had not melted!

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

“They let me ride in the big square with the other boys!” - And running.

There were a lot of children on the square. Those who were more daring tied their sledges to the peasants' sledges and thus rode away contentedly. The fun went on and on. In the midst of it, large sleighs painted white appeared on the square. In them sat a man, all gone in a white fur coat and a similar cap. The sleigh circled the square twice: Kai quickly tied his sledge to it and drove off.

The big sledges sped faster and then turned off the square into a side street. The man sitting in them turned around and nodded to Kai, as though he were familiar. Kai several times tried to untie his sled, but the man in the fur coat nodded to him, and he rode on. Here they are outside the city gates. Snow suddenly fell in flakes, it got so dark that not a single light could be seen all around. The boy hurriedly let go of the rope, which caught on the big sledge, but his sledge seemed to stick to the big sledge and continued to rush along in a whirlwind. Kai screamed loudly - no one heard him! The snow was falling, the sledges were racing, diving in snowdrifts, jumping over hedges and ditches. Kai was trembling all over, he wanted to read the Our Father, but in his mind one multiplication table was spinning.

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