Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
I'm Keith Morrison, and this is episode two of Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen.
Chapter 2: What motivates Gerda to embark on her journey?
Our heroine, Gerida, is on a desperate quest to find her best friend, Kay. Her search has sent her down a rushing river far away from home and everything she knows. She is frightened, of course she is, but determined too. She has spotted a small house on the riverbank. and she's cried out for help, hoping someone inside that little place can save her.
Chapter 3: Who is the mysterious old woman that Gerda encounters?
And now, an old woman has emerged, and she casts her beady eyes on Gerda. Who is this strange woman? Friend or foe? Here again is The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen. She wore a large hat to shade her from the sun, painted with all sorts of pretty flowers.
"'You poor little child,' said the old woman, "'how did you manage to come all this distance into the wide world on such a fast-flowing stream?'
Chapter 4: How does the old woman manipulate Gerda's memories?
And then the old woman walked into the water and seized the boat with her crutch and drew it to land and lifted little Gerda out." Gerda was glad to feel herself on dry ground again, although she was rather afraid of the strange old woman. Come and tell me who you are, the old lady said, and how you came here.
Then Gerda told her everything, but the old woman shook her head and made sympathetic sounds. When she had finished, Gerda asked if she had seen Kay, and the old woman told her he had not passed by that way, but he very likely would come. She told Gerda not to be sad, but to taste the cherries and look at the flowers. They were better than any picture book, for each of them could tell a story.
Chapter 5: What magical elements does the old woman use to keep Gerda?
And then the old woman took Gerda by the hand, led her into the little house, and closed the door. The windows were very high, and as the panes were red and blue and yellow, the daylight shone through them in all sorts of shining colors. On the table stood some beautiful cherries, and Gerda had permission to eat as many as she wanted.
While she was munching on them, the old woman combed out her long golden ringlets with a shiny comb. and the glossy curls hung down on each side of the little round pretty face, which looked as fresh and blooming as a rose.
Chapter 6: How does Gerda's longing for Kay influence her actions?
"'I have long been wishing for a dear little maiden like you,' the old woman said. "'And now you must stay with me, and see how happily we shall live together.' And well she went on combing little Gerda's hair.
Chapter 7: What role does the crow play in Gerda's quest?
The girl thought less and less about her adopted brother Kay, for the old woman could conjure. That's right, she could call upon spirits and craft magic. But she was not a wicked witch. No, she conjured only a little for her own amusement. And she did so now because she wanted to keep Gerda.
Therefore she went into the garden and stretched out her crutch toward all the rose trees, beautiful though they were, and they immediately sunk into the dark earth so that no one could tell where they had once stood. The old woman was afraid that if little Gerda saw those roses, they would remind her of the ones at home, and then she would remember little Kay and run away.
Next, the old lady took Gerda to the flower garden. How fragrant and beautiful it was!
Chapter 8: How does Gerda plan to enter the palace to find Kay?
Every flower that could be thought of for every season of the year was here in full bloom. No picture book could have more beautiful colors. Gerda jumped for joy and played until the sun went down behind the tall cherry trees. And then she slept in an elegant bed with red silk pillows embroidered with colored violets. And then she dreamed as pleasantly as a queen on her wedding day.
The next day, and for many days after, Gerda played with the flowers in the warm sunshine. She knew every flower, and yet, although there were so many of them, it seemed as if one were missing, but which it was, she could not tell. One day, however, as she sat looking at the old woman's hat with the painted flowers on it, she saw that the prettiest of them all was a rose.
The old woman had forgotten to erase it from her hat when she made all the roses sink into the earth, and now that one little mistake was upsetting her whole plot. "'What? Are there no roses here?' cried Gerda, and she ran out into the garden. She examined all the flower beds and searched and searched. There was not one to be found.'
Then she sat down and wept, and her tears fell precisely on one spot, the one spot where rose trees once stood. Her warm tears moistened the earth, and the rose trees sprouted up at once, as blooming as when it had sunk. Gerda embraced it and kissed the roses, and thought of the beautiful roses at home, and with them, of course, of little Kay. Oh, how I've been detained, said the little maiden.
I want to look for Kay. Do you know where he is? she asked the roses. Do you think he's dead? And the roses answered, No, he is not dead. We have been in the ground where all the dead lie. But Kay is not there. Thank you, thank you, said little Gerda. And then she went to the other flowers and looked into their cups and asked, Do you know where little Kay is?
But each flower, as it stood in the sunshine, dreamed only of its own fairy tale or history. No one knew anything of Kay. But Gerda was determined. She asked each of the flowers, one after the other, about Kay. And they each recounted their own colorful but very mysterious stories. What said the tiger lily? This is the tale she told.
In her long red robe stands the Hindu widow by the funeral pile, said the tiger lily. The flames rise around her as she places herself on the dead body of her husband. But the Hindu woman was thinking of the living one in the circle, of him, her son, who lighted those flames. Those shining eyes trouble her heart more painfully than the flames which will soon consume her body to ashes.
Can the fire of the heart be extinguished in the flames of a funeral pile? I don't understand you at all, said little Gerda. That is my story. What said the morning glory? Near yonder narrow road stands an old knight's castle, said the glory. Thick ivy creeps over the old ruined walls, leaf over leaf, even to the balcony. "'in which stands a beautiful maiden.
"'She bends over the railing and looks up the road. "'No rose on its stem is fresher than she, "'no apple blossom floats more lightly than she moves. "'Her rich silk rustles as she bends over and exclaims, "'Will he not come?' "'Is it gay, you mean?' asked Gerda. "'I'm only speaking of a story of my dream,' replied the flower.' What said the snowdrop? Between two trees is a swing.
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