So Gerda climbs into a boat and the river carries her away, to start her on the right path.
She offers her new red shoes to the river in exchange for Kai by not taking the gift at first, the river lets her know that Kai did not drown. Gerda, heartbroken, goes out the next summer, to look for him and questions everyone and everything about Kai's whereabouts. The people of the city conclude that Kai died in the nearby river. She takes Kai in her sleigh to her palace. Outside the city she reveals herself to Kai and kisses him twice: once to numb him from the cold, and a second time to make him forget about Gerda and his family a third kiss would kill him. The following winter, Kai goes out with his sledge to play in the snowy market square and hitches it to a curious white sleigh carriage, driven by the Snow Queen, who appears as a woman in a white fur-coat. The only beautiful and perfect things to him now are the tiny snowflakes that he sees through a magnifying glass. He destroys their window-box garden, he makes fun of his grandmother, and he no longer cares about Gerda, since everyone now appears bad and ugly to him.
On a pleasant summer day, splinters of the troll-mirror get into Kai's heart and eyes. Kai draws back in fear from the window.īy the following spring, Gerda has learned a song that she sings to Kai: Roses flower in the vale there we hear Child Jesus' tale! Because roses adorn the window box garden, the sight of roses always reminds Gerda of her love for Kai. Looking out of his frosted window one winter, Kai sees the Snow Queen, who beckons him to come with her. As bees have a queen, so do the snow bees, and she is seen where the snowflakes cluster the most. Kai's grandmother tells the children about the Snow Queen, who is ruler over the "snow bees" - snowflakes that look like bees. Gerda and Kai have a window box garden to play in, and they become devoted to each other as playmates, and as close as if they were siblings. The two families grow vegetables and roses in window boxes placed on the gutters. They could get from one's home to the other's just by stepping over the gutters of each building. Years later, a little boy Kai (often spelled "Kay" or "Kaj" in translations) and a little girl Gerda live next door to each other in the garrets of buildings with adjoining roofs in a large city. It is regularly included in selected tales and collections of his work and is frequently reprinted in illustrated storybook editions for children. The story is one of Andersen's longest and most highly acclaimed stories. The story centers on the struggle between good and evil as experienced by Gerda and her friend, Kai. It was first published 21 December 1844 in New Fairy Tales. " The Snow Queen" ( Danish: Snedronningen) is an original fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was produced at the Soyuzmultfilm studio in Moscow and is based on the story of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen. The Snow Queen (Russian: Снежная королева, Snezhnaya koroleva) is a 1957 Soviet animated film directed by Lev Atamanov. Snezhnaya Koroleva on You Channel - English Subtittles "The Snow Queen" illustration by Rudolf Koivu