Long ago, a wicked magician made an evil mirror which made all good things reflected in it look ugly and distorted.
Some naughty goblins heard about this mirror and they stole it. But as they were carrying it through the air it slipped from their hands, fell to earth and shattered into a million pieces which blew all over the world.
Even if a tiny shard of the broken mirror entered a person’s heart he became wicked. And if a tiny piece entered someone’s eye they would see everything in a distorted way and be very quarrelsome.
Gerda and Kay
A girl, Gerda and a boy Kay lived very close to where some of the shards of the mirror had fallen. The two were very good friends and always played together.
One night in Winter, Kay’s grandmother told the children about the wicked Snow Queen who lived in an ice palace in the far North. She f;ew around during snowstorms. If the Snow Queen peeped through a window that window would be covered with ice.
One day, when Gerda and Kay were playing Kay gave a sudden cry of pain. Two tiny pieces of the magic mirror glass had gone into his eyes and heart.
Instantly, Kay changed. He became very wicked. He said, nasty things to Gerda and broke the snowman she had had built. He also told her that he never wanted to play with her again.
The Snow Queen
One day, when Kay was playing by himself there came a beautiful carriage drawn by reindeer. The carriage looked as if it was mace of ice and glittered in the sunlight. The lovely lady driving the carriage was dressed in beautiful white furs. Kay knew at once that the lady was the Snow Queen that his grandmother had told Gerda and him about.
Suddenly, the Snow Queen halted, the carriage and beckoned Kay. When Kay went to the carriage she asked him whether he would like to go with her to see her beautiful ice castle in the frozen North. Kay was thrilled and at once said yes.
Kay got into the carriage and the Snow Queen took off swiftly in her carriage and headed North. Snow flakes swirled around them.
Naughty Kay never thought of telling his grandmother or Gerda about where he was going. Though Kay had told gerda that he did not ever want to play with her she still was fond of him and kept an eye on him from a distance.
When Kay went away and was not seen Gerda missed him and looked for him all over but Kay was not to be seen. Gerda was unaware that the Snow Queen had taken Kay. She thought that he may have gone sailing on the river and decided to look for him there.
The witch
After sailing on the river for a little while Gerda came to a little thatched cottage. A sweet, old woman wearing an enormous, floral hat came to meet Gerda. Though she was very friendly the old woman was a wicked witch. She cast a spell on Gerda to make her forget everything including kay. Gerda stayed for a while with the witch.
Gerda runs away
One day, she noticed a rose on the fabric of the witch’s hat.
It reminded of Gerda of the the roses in the garden where she and Kay used to play. Then, she remembered Kay and realised she must find him soon. Gerda ran away from the witch’s house and went into the forest.
Late in the evening and as night fell Gerda felt very tired and sat down under a tree to rest. A crow flew down and perched on a branch and asked Gerda whether she was lost. Gerda said, yes and also said that she was looking for her friend Kay and asked the crow if it had seen him. The crow said it may have. It said that a princess in a nearby castle had married a prince and that he maybe Kay.
To be continued
