Chapter 1: What motivates Gerda to find Kay despite the odds?
I'm Keith Morrison, and this is the final episode of Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen. Young Gerda is racing along in a carriage on a quest to find her best friend. A foolish quest, many said, a pointless one. Kay disappeared so long ago. Surely he's dead by now. But Gerda's heart just can't let him go. So now here she is, sitting in that coach, lurching forward into the unknown.
Soon enough she comes to a forest, and the black trees close in around her. That's where her next trouble begins. Once again, the Snow Queen. The coach carrying Gerda 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 safely. It's gold, it's gold, they cried, rushing forward.
And seizing the horses, they struck the little jockeys and the coachmen and the footmen and pulled Gerda out of the carriage. She's young and pretty, and she's been fed with kernels of nuts, said an old robber woman, who had a long beard and eyebrows that hung over her eyes. She's as good as a little lamb. How nice she will taste!
And as she said this, she drew forth a shining knife that glittered horribly. "'Oh!' screamed the old woman at the same moment, for her own daughter, who held her back, had bitten her in the ear. She was wild and naughty, and the mother turned to punish her, completely forgetting about killing 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.' Then she bit her mother again, and made her spring in the air and jump about, and all the robbers laughed." 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. Her eyes were cold black, and she had a mournful look. She clasped little Gerda around the waist and said, "'They shall not kill you, as long as you don't make me vexed with you.'
"'I suppose you're a princess.' "'No,' said Gerda, and then she told her all her history and how fond she was of 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 bullfrogs, both of which looked as if they could swallow a man, were jumping about. In the large old smoky hall a bright fire was burning on the stone floor.
Soup was boiling in the 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 something to eat and drink, she took Gerda to a corner of the hall, where some straw and carpets were laid down.
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Chapter 2: How does Gerda encounter the robbers in the forest?
The poor animal began to kick, and the little robber girl laughed and pulled down Gerda into bed. "'Will you have that knife with you while you're asleep?' asked Gerda, looking at it in great fright. "'I don't always sleep with the knife by me,' said the robber girl. "'There's no telling what might happen. But now tell me again about Kay, and why you went out into the world.'
Gerda repeated her story over again, while the wood pigeons cooed gently in their cages. As she spoke, the 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 didn't know whether she was to live or die.
The robber sat around the fire, singing and drinking, and the old woman stumbled about. It was a terrible sight for a little girl to witness. But then, quite suddenly, the wood pigeons piped up and said, We have seen Kay. A white bird carried his sled, and he sat in the carriage of the Snow Queen, which drove through the wood while we were lying in our nest. 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's always snow and ice. Ask the reindeer that's fastened up there with a rope. Yes, there's always snow and ice, said the reindeer, and it is glorious. It's a glorious place. You can leap and run about freely on the sparkling icy plains.
The Snow Queen has her summer tent there. But her castle is at the North Pole, on an island called Spitsbergen. Oh, Kay, little Kay, cried 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 robber girl looked quite serious and nodded her head and said, That's all talk.
Do you know where Lapland is? She asked the reindeer. Who should know better than I do, said the animal. Well, his eyes sparkled. I was born and brought up there and used to run about on the snow-covered plains. Now listen, said the robber girl. All our men are gone away.
Only Mother is here, and she will stay, but at noon she always drinks out of a great bottle, and afterwards she sleeps for a little while. That's when I'll do something for you.
Later that day, when the mother had drunk out of the bottle and was gone to sleep, the little robber maiden went to the reindeer and said, "'I should like very much to tickle your neck a few times 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 heard what she told me, for she spoke loud enough and you were listening. Then the reindeer jumped for joy, and the robber girl lifted Gerda on his back and tied her on and even gave her a little cushion to sit on.
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Chapter 3: What challenges does Gerda face with the little robber girl?
So the reindeer told the woman all about Gerda's story. Oh, you poor things, said the Lapland woman. You have a long way to go yet. You must travel more than a hundred miles farther to Finland. The Snow Queen lives there now, and she burns lights every evening. I will write a few words on a dried fish, for I have no paper, and you can take it from me to the Finland woman who lives there.
She can give you better information than I can. So when Gerda was warmed and had taken something to eat and drink, the woman wrote a few words on the dried fish and told Gerda to take great care of it. Then she tied her again on the reindeer, and he set off at full speed. Flash, flash went the beautiful blue northern lights in the air the whole night long,
And at length they reached Finland and knocked at the chimney of the Finland woman's hut. They crept in and were surprised to find it was terribly hot inside. The woman of the house was small and grungy-looking. She loosened little Gerda's dress and took off the fur boots and the mittens, for Gerda would have been unable to bear the heat.
And then she placed a piece of ice on the reindeer's head, and redwood was written on the dried fish. After she had read it three times, she knew it by heart, and so she popped the fish into the soup saucepan, since she knew it would be delicious, and she never wasted anything. The reindeer told Gerda's story, 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, and 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.
Can't 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.' Then she turned around and went about her usual business, cooking and cleaning.
But the reindeer begged so hard for 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 a secret to him. Little Kay is really with the Snow Queen, but he finds everything there so much to his taste and his liking that he believes it'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 or he will never be a human again and the Snow Queen will retain her power over him. But can you not give Gerda something to help her conquer this power?" "'I can give her no greater power than she already has,' 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? She cannot receive any power from me greater than she now has, which consists of her own purity and innocence of heart.' If she cannot herself obtain access to the Snow Queen and remove the glass fragments from Kay, we can do nothing to help her. Two miles from here, the Snow Queen's garden begins.
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