The Snow Queen by Alexandra Soranescu

HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN’S

d THE

SNOW QUEEN

ILLUSTRATED BY

ALEXANDRA SORANESCU

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HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN’S

THE

SNOW QUEEN

ILLUSTRATED BY

ALEXANDRA SORANESCU

THE

SNOW QUEEN

nce upon a time there lived a wicked goblin who built a magic mirror. Anything that was beautiful or good was reflected in it as ugly and bad. The devil wants to take it up to heaven to make fools of the angels as God, but as he gets closer and closer to heaven, the mirror begins to shake and eventually breaks into pieces. The mirror fragments are blown all over the world and wedge themselves into peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eyes and hearts, turning them cold and wicked. Kai and Gerda are neighbors who are the best of friends, and grow vegetables and roses together in little window boxes. One winter day, Kaiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s grandmother tells them about snowflakes, sharing tales of how they are white bees and the largest of all the flakes is the Snow Queen. 7

She flies around when the snow is thickest, and comes back to the villages in the evening, breathing on window panes leaving shapes like flowers and castles. One evening while Kai was watching out the window, he saw the largest snowflake land on his windowsill and slowly begin to grow into the shape of a woman dressed in white. She waved at Kai and he was frightened. Then the Spring came. Suddenly, the clock struck twelve and something struck his heart and flew into his eye, and he became wicked. Then the winter came once again, and Kai went off to play with the boys of the village. As he was doing so, a stranger came into town on a magnificent winter sled. Kai attached his own small sled to the runner of the magnificent one and went away with the stranger. As they came to a place of stopping, the stranger stood up and Kai realized it was the Snow Queen. He thought she was beautiful and lovely, and when she scoped him up to take him to her castle in the clouds, he didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t say no. 9

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oor Gerda was deeply saddened by Kaiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s absence and when spring came once again, she had given up hope that he was dead and gone. But the sunshine heard her cry and said he didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t believe it. And so, Gerda put on her new red shoes and set off to find her friend. She came upon a river which she thought had taken her friend. She told the river she would give it her shoes if the river gave back her friend. When she threw them in, the river washed them back to her, and so she climbed upon a little boat on the bank to take her shoes out further. The boat floated her down the river to a little bank full of flowers. It was here, after reveling in the beautiful garden on the bank, that Gerda meets the old women. The old woman asks Gerda her story, and Gerda tells of her friend and their time with the roses asking if the old woman had seen him. She had not, and as Gerda rested, the women decided she wanted the child to stay with her. As to not remind her of her past life, the old woman buried all of her rose bushes, and charmed Gerda into staying. 11

Seasons passed before Gerda realized she had been tricked. She began to talk to the flowers to find wisdom about traveling and finding her friend. Finally, she found the gate to the garden and was able to escape, only to realize autumn had come and the world was dark. As Gerda travels along, she meets a crow who begins to tell her a story about a lonely Princess. Men come from all over to win her hearts, but have no such luck. Suddenly, the crow begins to describe Kai who went to the princess not to woo her, but to hear wisdom. The Princess and Kai were taken with each other, and so he stayed. At this point, Gerda begs the crow to get her into the palace, believing Kai to be the new prince . 14

The crow is able to sneak Gerda into the palace because his betrothed crow lives inside. Finally, Gerda comes to the Prince and Princessâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; room, and her heart is heavy for she discovers the Prince is not Kai. The Princess rewards the crow, and offers Gerda a place to stay. After a night spent in the palace, Gerda asks for boots and a carriage so that she may continue on to find Kai. 16

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s Gerda is traveling away from the palace, her carriage is robbed. A robber decides Greda will taste good and as she tries to kill her, her daughter bites her on the ear, stopping her. The little robber girl says Greda will be her friend, and must live. However, the little robber girl admits to Gerda that she will be the one to kill her. As she was avoiding sleep, Gerda began to listen to the pigeons for they told her of seeing Kai with the Snow Queen. They tell her that most likely the Snow Queen was headed up to Lapland, and as Gerda talks in her sleep, the little robber girl threatens her again. But it is the little robber girl who helps her in the morning. She distracts her robber mother, and then sets their reindeer free, persuading the animals to run home to Lapland and take Gerda with them. 17

The reindeer stops at a little hut during the journey where it’s occupant, a Lapland woman, tells them they have one hundred more miles to go to Finland if they wish to reach the Snow Queen. The Lapland woman writes a note to the Finland woman on a golden fish. But, when they reach the Finland woman, the woman cannot give her the help the reindeer wants Gerda to have the power of twelve men but she does tell her of the piece of mirror stuck in Kai’s eye and heart. When asked if she can give Gerda the power to conquer this issue, the woman sais she can give nothing more than the power she already has inside of her, talking of Gerda strength. The woman explains to the reindeer that neither one of them must help Gerda, she must save Kai herself. The reindeer takes Gerda into the forest, drops her off, and then suddenly leaves. Gerda becomes scared and begins to say the Lord’s Prayer. As she does, her breath turns into a legion of angels that helps her to go forward to the Snow Queen’s castle with courage and safety. 19

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he Snow Queen’s palace was made out of ice. It was cold and dark and no one except the Snow Queen lived in it. One day, she challenged Kay to spell the word “Eternity” from an assorted chunk of alphabets; all made of ice, and promised him his freedom in return. Kay couldn’t spell the word. Just then Gerda arrived and seeing her long lost friend she cried out in joy and embraced him. Just as her warm tears fell on his hard cheeks Kay felt his cold heart begin melting. Gerda kisses him and he becomes alive again, and so the two spell out the word eternity. The two leave and travel the path Gerda has traveled to find Kai, only backwards. They meet the people and animals she befriended. As they finally reach their home, spring arrives and the roses are in bloom. They pass through their doorway and are suddenly grown. They finally understand the words of their song and summer, bright, warm summer, blossoms. 22

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