THE SNOW QUEEN. 273

teresting than real flowers; and there’s not a single fault in it—
they’re quite regular until they begin to melt.”

Soon after Kay came in thick gloves, and with his sledge upon
his back. He called up to Gerda, “I’ve got leave to go into the
great square, where the other boys play,” and he was gone.

In the great square the boldest among the boys often tied their
sledges to the country people’s carts, and thus rode with them a
good way. They went capitally. When they were in the midst
of their playing there came a great sledge. It was painted quite
white, and in it sat somebody wrapped in a rough white fur, and
with a white rough cap on his head. The sledge drove twice
round the square, and Kay bound his little sledge to it, and‘so
he drove on with it. It went faster and faster, straight into the
next street. The man who drove turned round and nodded in a
familiar way to Kay; it was as if they knew one another: each
time when Kay wanted to cast loose his little sledge, the stranger
nodded again, and then Kay remained where he was, and thus
they drove out at the town gate. Then the snow began to fall so
rapidly that the boy could not see a hand’s breadth before him,
but still he drove on. Now he hastily dropped the cord, so as
to get loose from the great sledge, but that was no use, for his
sledge was fast bound to the other, and they went on like the
wind. Then he called out quite loudly, but nobody heard him ;
and the snow beat down, and the sledge flew onward ; every now
and then it gave a jump, and they seemed to be flying over
hedges and ditches. The boy was quite frightened. He wanted
to say his prayer, but could remember nothing but the multipli-
cation table.

The snow-flakes became larger and larger ; at last they looked
like white fowls. All at once they sprang aside and the great
sledge stopped, and the person who had driven it rose up. The
fur and the cap were made altogether of ice. It was a dady, tall
and slender, and brilliantly white ; it was the Snow Queen !

“We have driven well!” said she. “ But why do you tremble
with cold? Creep into my fur.”

And she seated him beside her in her own sledge, and
wrapped the fur round him, and he felt as if he sank into a
snow-drift. .

“Are you still cold?” asked she, and then she kissed him on
the forehead.

Oh, that was colder than ice ; it went quite through to his heart,
half of which was already a lump of ice: he felt as if he were going
to die; but only for a moment; for then he seemed quite well,
and he did not notice the cold all about him.

“My sledge! don’t forget my sledge.”

That was the first thing he thought of; and it was bound fast
to one of the white chickens, and this chicken flew behind him
with the sledge upon its back. The Snow Queen Fe Kay

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