stay gossiping, but come back here as quickly as you can.” Then the
Finland woman lifted little Gerda upon the reindeer, and he ran away with
her as quickly as he could.
“Oh, I have forgotten my boots and my mittens,” cried little Gerda, as
soon as she felt the cutting cold, but the reindeer dared not stop, so he ran
on till he reached the bush with the red berries; here he set Gerda down, and
he kissed her, and the great bright tears trickled over the animal’s cheeks;
then he left her and ran back as fast as he could.
There stood poor Gerda, without shoes, without gloves, in the midst of
cold, dreary, ice-bound Finland. She ran forwards as quickly as she could,
when a whole regiment of snow-flakes came round her; they did not,
however, fall from the sky, which was quite clear and glittering with the
northern lights. The snow-flakes ran along the ground, and the nearer they
came to her, the larger they appeared. Gerda remembered how large and
beautiful they looked through the burning-glass. But these were really
larger, and much more terrible, for they were alive, and were the guards of
the Snow Queen, and had the strangest shapes. Some were like great
porcupines, others like twisted serpents with their heads stretching out, and
some few were like little fat bears with their hair bristled; but all were
dazzlingly white, and all were living snow-flakes. Then little Gerda
repeated the Lord’s Prayer, and the cold was so great that she could see her
own breath come out of her mouth like steam as she uttered the words. The
steam appeared to increase, as she continued her prayer, till it took the
shape of little angels who grew larger the moment they touched the earth.
They all wore helmets on their heads, and carried spears and shields. Their
number continued to increase more and more; and by the time Gerda had
finished her prayers, a whole legion stood round her. They thrust their
spears into the terrible snow-flakes, so that they shivered into a hundred
pieces, and little Gerda could go forward with courage and safety. The
angels stroked her hands and feet, so that she felt the cold less, and she
hastened on to the Snow Queen’s castle.
