The Snow Queen (short version) Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, there were two children living in the neighboring house: a boy named Kai and a girl named Gerda.

One winter, they sat by the window, watching the swirling snowflakes outside.

"I wonder," said Kai thoughtfully, "does she have a princess?" "Of course," his grandmother nodded. "At night, she flies through the streets in her sleigh and looks into the windows. Then icy patterns appear on the glass." The next day, while the children were playing by the window again, Kai suddenly exclaimed:

"Oh, something has pricked my eye and then my heart!" Poor boy did not yet know that it was a shard of the ice mirror that would turn the Snow Queen's heart to ice. One day, the children went out to play in the square. In the midst of their fun, a large white sleigh suddenly appeared. No one had time to close their eyes when Kai got tied to the sleigh. In the sleigh sat the Snow Queen, who laughed and ran away with Kai to her ice palace. The magical Kai forgot both Gerda and his grandmother: his heart had turned to ice. But Gerda did not forget Kai. She set out to find him: she got into a boat and wherever she looked, it drifted away. Soon, the boat turned towards a marvelous garden. A sorceress appeared before Gerda:

"What a lovely girl! Have you seen Kai?" Gerda asked.

"No, I haven't seen him. Why do you need Kai? Stay, we will have a good life together!" The sorceress showed Gerda a magical garden filled with wonderful flowers that could tell stories. It was always sunny there and very beautiful, but Gerda began to look for Kai. On her way, she met an old crow.

"I have seen Kai," the crow said in a serious tone. "He is living with the queen now!" And Gerda went to the palace. But it turned out it was not Kai! She told the queen and prince her story. "Oh, poor thing!" cried the queen.

"We will help you. To quickly find Kai, Gerda was given food, warm clothes, and a golden carriage." But then misfortune struck: robbers attacked the wealthy carriage in the forest. Gerda fell asleep that night. Two doves told her they had seen the Snow Queen's sleigh, in which Kai was sitting. "She must have taken him to Lapland," the doves said. The little daughter of the robber chief wanted Gerda to stay with her, but when she learned of her sad story, she was greatly moved, and she let Gerda go, ordering her beloved reindeer to take her to Lapland. The reindeer ran day and night. He was completely exhausted when the Snow Queen's ice palace appeared among the snow. Gerda cautiously entered. The Snow Queen sat on her ice throne, and Kai was playing with ice at her feet. He did not recognize Gerda; nothing trembled in his heart because it was frozen! Then Gerda hugged him and cried. The Snow Queen's heart melted from her warm tears. "Gerda!" he said as if awakening.

"Kai, my dear Kai!" Gerda breathed. "Do you recognize me? The end of the magic! Now they were no longer afraid of the Snow Queen. Kai and Gerda returned home and lived happily and harmoniously as before.