Once  upon  a  time,  there  was  an  evil  magician.  He  made  a  magical  mirror  that  made  everything  good  and  beautiful  look  bad  and  ugly.  If  a  kind  person  looked  into  the  mirror,  than  the  reflection  was  hideous.  If  a  person  had  a  kind  thought,  then  an  ugly  smile  would  appear.  The  mirror  would  laugh  meanly  at  nice  people,  and  the  magician  would  laugh  because  he  thought  he  was  so  smart.  “This  mirror  is  so  much  fun,”  he  would  say.    

But  then  one  day,  the  mirror  broke  into  a  million  pieces.  Those  pieces  caused  more  unhappiness,  as  they  were  spread  around  the  world  by  the  wind.  When  a  piece  got  into  someone’s  eye,  it  made  him  see  the  world  as  bad.  If  a  piece  of  the  mirror  went  into  someone’s  heart,  their  heart  became  like  ice.    

There  once  lived  a  little  boy  and  a  girl,  who  grew  up  to  be  good  friends.  They  played  in  the  rose  garden  all  the  time.  The  little  boy  was  called  Kay  and  the  girl’s  name  was  Gerda.  Kay  lived  with  his  grandmother.  

One  day  the  snow  was  coming  down  hard,  and  Kay  asked  “Is  there  a  queen  of  the  snow?”  His  grandmother  said  “Oh  yes,  The  Snow  Queen.  On  winter  nights  she  flies  through  the  streets  and  looks  through  the  windows.”  

“Could  The  Snow  Queen  come  in  here?”  asked  Gerda.    

“Let  her  try,”  said  the  boy,  Kay.  “I  will  push  her  into  the  stove,  and  she  will  melt  because  she  is  made  of  snow.”  

That  night  when  Kay  was  getting  ready  for  bed,  he  looked  out  the  window.  He  saw  a  snowflake  that  was  small  at  first,  and  then  it  gradually  got  bigger  until  it  was  the  size  of  a  woman.  She  was  made  of  ice  and  had  bright  eyes.  Kay  was  frightened  and  jumped  back  from  the  window.  The  next  day  there  was  more  snow,  and  then  spring  came.  The  birds  came  back  and  the  windows  were  open  again.    

When  it  was  summer,  Kay  and  Gerda  sat  reading  a  book.  Then  Kay  cried  out,  “ouch,  something  has  hurt  my  heart.”  Then  he  said  “ouch,  something  has  hurt  my  eye.”  Gerda  looked  into  his  eyes,  but  didn’t  see  anything.    

“I  think  it’s  gone”  Kay  said,  but  it  was  not.  It  was  a  piece  from  the  mirror.  The  pain  was  gone,  but  the  piece  of  the  mirror  remained.  It  made  everything  good  look  bad.  Kay  also  had  a  piece  in  his  heart,  and  his  heart  grew  cold  and  would  soon  become  like  a  piece  of  ice.    

From  then  on,  when  he  saw  flowers  he  said  they  were  ugly.  Whenever  his  grandma  tried  to  tell  him  lovely  stories,  he  would  argue  with  her.  Whenever  anyone  came  to  the  house  he  would  make  fun  of  his  grandma.  Because  of  the  pieces  of  the  mirror  in  his  eye,  he  hurt  everyone,  including  his  best  friend  Gerda.    

He  stopped  playing  with  Gerda.  Stopped  thinking  the  flowers  were  pretty  and  started  thinking  that  snow  was  more  beautiful  than  flowers  ever  could  be.  

One  day  he  shouted  to  Gerda  that  he  was  going  to  play  in  the  snow  on  his  sled  and  Gerda  could  not  come.    It  was  there  that  a  woman  on  a  big  white  sleigh  came  and  kidnapped  him,  taking  him  away  to  a  big  ice  castle.  When  they  stopped,  she  invited  him  to  get  under  her  blanket,  and  touched  his  forehead.    

“You  feel  cold”  he  said.  He  thought  he  would  die,  but  he  was  only  cold  for  a  minute,  and  then  he  felt  warm.  He  forgot  about  Gerda,  his  grandmother  and  home.    

Kay  looked  at  the  Snow  Queen.  She  was  so  beautiful  and  perfect.  He  was  no  longer  afraid.  The  Snow  Queen  smiled  at  him,  and  Kay  fell  asleep  under  his  warm  blanket  beside  the  Snow  Queen.    

Gerda  didn’t  know  where  Kay  was.  Where  did  he  go?  No  one  knew.  But  some  of  the  boys  Kay  was  sledding  with  when  he  was  kidnapped,  said  they  saw  a  white  woman  on  a  white  sleigh.  Others  said  that  he  may  have  drowned  in  the  river  because  the  water  was  so  cold  and  Kay  could  not  swim.  Gerda  cried.  It  was  a  long,  cold  winter.  

Finally  spring  came.  Gerda  said  “Kay  is  dead  and  gone”    

“We  don’t  believe  that”  said  the  sun.  “Neither  do  we”  said  the  birds.    

Gerda  wondered  what  she  could  do  or  who  she  could  ask.  She  decided  to  put  on  her  shoes  and  go  to  the  river  to  ask  about  her  friend,  Kay.  

“Is  it  true  you  have  taken  my  friend?”  she  asked  the  river.  “I  will  give  you  my  beautiful  shoes  if  you  give  him  back  to  me.”  She  threw  her  shoes  in  the  river,  but  the  river  would  not  take  them.  Then  she  got  into  a  boat,  and  it  started  to  float  away.  Gerda  was  scared  as  the  boat  went  faster  and  faster  down  the  river,  but  she  was  wondering  if  the  river  was  taking  her  to  Kay.  She  watched  the  beautiful  landscape.  

She  saw  a  house,  and  an  old  woman  pulled  the  boat  ashore  with  her  stick.  “Poor  child.  What  a  long  way  the  river  has  carried  you.”  Said  the  old  woman.    “Tell  me  who  you  are  and  how  you  got  here.”  

Gerda  told  her  everything,  and  asked  her  if  she  had  seen  little  Kay.  The  old  woman  said  “no”  but  that  he  would  come  soon,  and  in  the  meantime  Gerda  should  eat  some  cherries  and  come  into  her  house.  The  old  woman  combed  her  hair,  “Oh,  I  have  wanted  a  little  girl  like  you  for  a  long  time.  What  good  friends  we  shall  be.”  Gerda  thought  less  and  less  about  Kay  while  her  hair  was  being  combed.    

The  old  woman  was  a  witch,  but  she  wasn’t  a  bad  witch.  She  just  wanted  to  keep  Gerda.  She  took  Gerda  out  into  the  garden  where  she  played.    

Gerda  thought  there  was  something  missing,  but  could  not  sense  what  it  was.  One  day  she  saw  the  old  woman’s  hat  had  a  rose  on  it,  and  she  remembered  Kay.  She  cried.    

“I  have  stayed  here  for  too  long”  she  cried.  “I  left  home  to  search  for  Kay.  Do  you  know  where  he  is?  Is  he  dead?”  

The  old  woman  used  her  magic  powers.  “He  is  not  dead”  she  said.    

“Oh  thank  you!”  She  said.  

The  old  woman  was  sad  to  see  Gerda  go,  but  knew  she  missed  her  best  friend.  

“I  need  to  go  find  Kay”  said  Gerda.  

It  was  winter  now,  and  Gerda  needed  to  stop  and  rest.  While  she  was  resting  a  bird  came  down  from  the  sky.  

“Caw,  Caw,  good  day,  good  day.”    

Gerda  told  the  bird  her  story  and  asked  if  he  had  seen  Kay.    

The  raven  sad  “I  may  have,  it  is  possible.”  

“Oh,  he  is  alive!”  said  Gerda.  She  hugged  the  bird  tight.  

“Gently,  gently.”  Said  the  Raven.    “I  have  seen  Kay,  but  I  think  he  has  forgotten  you  because  of  a  princess.”  

“A  princess?  Does  he  live  with  a  princess?”  

The  bird  told  her  everything.  “I  remember  a  boy,  he  was  wearing  boots  and  he  thought  the  princess  was  so  beautiful.  He  went  to  her  castle  to  try  and  live  there.  I  think  he  lives  there  now.”  

“Can  you  take  me  to  him?”  she  asked.    

“I’ll  see  what  I  can  do.”    

And  so  the  bird  flew  off,  and  then  came  back  later  that  day.  Gerda  snuck  into  the  palace.  She  saw  a  boy  sleeping  on  a  bed,  but  then  when  she  saw  the  boy’s  face  she  said  “oh,  I’m  so  sad,  that  is  not  my  friend.”  

Just  then  the  princess,  woke  up.  At  first  she  was  afraid  because  there  was  a  stranger  in  her  castle.  But  Gerda  explained  “I’m  sorry.  My  friend  has  been  taken  and  I  have  been  trying  to  find  him  for  more  than  one  year.  I  am  tired  and  hungry  and  I  have  no  shoes”  

“Please  sleep  here,”  said  the  princess.  “Tomorrow  you  can  go,  and  I  will  give  you  things  that  might  help  you.”  

So  Gerda  left  on  the  next  day  with  new  clothes  and  a  carriage  with  a  horse.  But  soon    after  she  left,  a  robber  family  saw  her.  They  stopped  to  carriage,  and  stole  some  of  her  pretty  new  clothes.    

“I  like  this  scarf,”  said  one  of  the  robbers.  “I  think  it  will  keep  it,  but  I  also  like  you  so  come  with  me  and  you  will  live  with  me.”  

Gerda  came  because  she  was  scared.  When  she  got  to  the  robber’s  house,  the  girl  said,  “don’t  you  dare  run  away,  or  else  I  will  have  one  of  my  dogs  hurt  you  badly.”  

When  the  girl  left  the  room,  Gerda  started  talking  with  a  pigeon.  The  pigeon  said,  “I  have  seen  your  friend  Kay,  he  was  riding  north  on  a  sleigh.”  

“But  how  do  I  get  there?”  asked  Gerda.    

“I  would  ask  the  reindeer.  He  knows  about  the  north.”  

She  walked  over  to  the  reindeer.  “Reindeer,  do  you  know  what  is  north  of  here?”  

“Yes,  it  is  Lapland.  I  grew  up  there!  Lapland  is  beautiful!”  

“Could  you  take  me  there?  Would  you  let  me  ride  you?”  

“Well  my  master  would  have  to  let  me  go.”  

The  robber  came  back  in,  and  Gerda  explained,  “I  have  to  get  to  my  friend  Kay.  He  was  taken  away  and  is  now  up  north.  He  is  my  best  friend  and  I’m  worried  that  he  might  be  in  danger!”  

“Ok”  she  said.  “I  can  see  that  you  like  your  friend  a  lot,  I  will  let  you  go  and  you  can  even  use  my  reindeer,  but  you  have  to  let  me  keep  your  hat  and  scarf.”  

“That’s  fine,”  she  agreed.  

So  she  and  the  reindeer  were  off  to  the  north,  to  go  to  the  Lapland  and  find  Kay.  They  travelled  for  many  miles  together,  until  a  magical  old  woman  invited  them  inside  her  house.    

“Please  come  in,  and  have  some  fish.”  She  said.  Gerda  and  the  reindeer  did.  

“What  brings  you  so  far  up  north?”  said  the  woman.  

Gerda  explained  that  she  was  trying  to  find  her  friend  Kay.  

“Oh  you  poor  dear,”  said  the  old  woman.  

“Please”  said  the  reindeer.  “Can  you  give  Gerda  a  potion,  some  kind  of  magic  soup  that  will  make  her  as  strong  as  twelve  men?”  

“It  will  be  no  use,”  said  the  old  woman.  “That  boy,  Kay,  has  a  magic  piece  of  evil  mirror  in  his  heart.  He  thinks  he  is  happy  with  the  queen,  and  you  can’t  change  his  mind.  Even  if  you  try  to  make  the  boy  leave,  he  will  want  to  stay  with  The  Ice  Queen,  in  her  castle.”  

“Can’t  you  give  Gerda  something  else  to  take  out  the  glass?”  asked  the  reindeer.  

“That  girl  already  has  great  power.  Why  else  would  the  river,  the  sun  and  animals  help  her?  She  has  a  pure  and  loving  heart  and  with  that  power  she  can  free  Kay.”  

The  Reindeer  took  her  to  the  castle,  and  left  her  there.    

She  saw  two  snowflakes,  that  were  getting  larger  and  larger.  They  became  the  queen’s  giant  ice  monster  body  guards.  She  touched  them  and  they  broke  into  pieces.    

The  walls  of  the  castle  were  made  of  snow.  There  were  hundreds  of  rooms  but  most  were  empty  and  cold.  In  the  middle  of  the  palace  was  a  large  frozen  lake.  When  the  snow  queen  was  home  her  throne  was  in  the  middle  of  the  lake.  She  thought  the  lake  was  the  best  mirror  in  the  world.    

Kay  was  black  and  blue  with  cold,  but  couldn’t  feel  it.  He  felt  warm,  even  though  his  body  was  cold.  His  heart  was  already  ice.    

The  queen  had  left  to  visit  warmer  countries,  since  she  liked  to  put  snow  on  the  top  of  mountains  in  warm  countries.  She  left  Kay  sitting  all  alone  on  the  frozen  lake.    

The  winds  blew  terribly  as  Gerda  entered  the  castle.  She  entered  the  front  and  say  Kay.  “Kay,  Kay,  at  last  I  have  found  you!”  She  hugged  him,  but  Kay  sat  cold  and  stiff.  Gerda  cried,  and  her  warm  tears  fell  onto  Kay’s  chest  and  warmed  his  heart.  Gerda  looked  at  him,  hoping  he  would  remember  how  they  were  friends.  Then  Kay  looked  at  her  and  cried  so  much  that  the  piece  of  mirror  in  his  eye  was  washed  out.  

“Gerda,  my  good  friend.  Where  have  you  been?”  He  looked  around  and  asked  “Where  have  I  been?  It’s  so  cold  in  here.”  Gerda  was  laughing  and  crying  at  the  same  time.  They  left  the  Snow  Queen’s  palace.  The  sun  came  out  and  the  wind  returned  to  normal.  The  reindeer  was  waiting  for  them.  He  brought  another  reindeer  that  had  warm  milk.  They  drank  and  then  rode  off  to  the  magic  old  woman’s  house.  She  gave  them  a  meal  of  warm  fish.  Then  they  left  her  house  and  rode  her  sled.  

They  rode  the  sled  all  the  way  home,  and  lived  happily  ever  after  in  their  home,  playing  together  and  enjoying  the  roses  in  the  summer.