Rogue from the snow queen name. Online reading of the book the snow queen the snow queen story fifth. little robber. Screen adaptations and the use of a fairy tale as a literary basis

It sometimes seems to me that Hans Christian Andersen, oddly enough, understands the female psyche better than all psychologists. After all, he created a completely unique gallery of the most believable female portraits ... And they all live their own separate life, independent of time and space: both the seeker of warmth Gerda, and the seeker of absolute perfection the Snow Queen, and the touching champion of masochism The Little Mermaid, and many, many ... But, I confess, what intrigues me most in this company is the Little Robber.

Little robber

Seeing Life as an adventure and a fun game, the World as a challenge and a battlefield, your own domineering mother as an object of upbringing, and Love as the right to dispose of others like a boss - this is the choice of this little, but already completely independent girl. "A terrible, ill-mannered child with unwashed hands" - a respectable housewife, a supporter of comfort, hygiene and predictable actions, will think of her. "Cruel animal tormentor" - the people from "Greenpeace" might say about her. "A girl who tries to behave like a man, does not accept traditional female roles; does not part with a knife day or night, and is prone to paranoia - of course, she needs the help of a psychoanalyst!" - something like this would be estimated by the psychoanalyst himself. "A stupid, eccentric girl with bad instincts and disordered mind" - this is how the Snow Queen would have seen her ... As for Gerda, she was not inclined to think in the presence of our heroine - she just "... did not close her eyes, not knowing whether they would kill her or leave her alive(However, Gerda is not inclined to think in other situations - her strength is not in this. But today we are not talking about Gerda, but about her opposite ...) What can I say about her? The Little Rogue is like a knot in which all sorts of things are tightly bound. Generosity in her is inseparable from selfishness, and generosity from cruelty. menagerie ... And only she, the Little Robber, could at the end of the tale so accurately assess the main culprit of the "road-movie": " Look, you vagabond! she said to Kai. - I wish I knew if you are worth it to be followed to the ends of the world? "It seems to me that something is concentrated in her that can often be found in real, not fabulous women (and in the most sincere of them), but this" something "is rarely conscious. Let's take a closer look - what kind of person she is, what she needs from life and how she achieves it. " Her eyes were black, but somehow sad"- so in a nutshell, Andersen warns the reader: do not believe all the nasty things that this girl will do next. After all, all her shocking and rudeness is just a way to escape from melancholy and loneliness. The Little Robber is really very lonely. Therefore, the appearance of Gerda (whom she is saved her life, by the way - the robbers were going to eat Gerda) inspires her. She unambiguously declares her intentions: " She will play with me. She will give me her muff, her pretty dress and will sleep with me in the same bed.". She takes Gerda for a princess. Of course, it would be great: to put a real princess in her menagerie, along with other inhabitants. The robber, apparently, is inclined to collecting ... She proudly shows Gerda her possessions: a reindeer who has fun for the sake of her every evening she tickles her neck with a huge knife - after all, he is so hilariously scared to death! .. Forest pigeons, which must be kept on a leash so that they do not fly into the forest, home ... it just means to scare half to death, so that no one is bored ... Everything that excites blood attracts our heroine with extraordinary power. If the Snow Queen is a philosophical and mathematical treatise, Gerda is a sentimental love story, then The Robber is no doubt a thriller. And Gerda for her is, first of all, a new adventure, new strong sensations ... She hugs Gerda, looks at her seriously and says: " They won't kill you even if I get angry with you. I'd rather kill you myself!". Whatever you say, but this is a declaration of love. Gerda must be given tribute: she is a good spectator and listener, she acts wisely: she does not throw hysterics, does not argue with anyone and does not interfere with the Robber to enjoy her power, her treasures and make plans But then these plans are suddenly violated. Gerda tells her about her super task: to find Kai and save him from the terrible cold clutches of the Mind (read: The Snow Queen). And what in response does the cruel, spoiled and stubborn inhabitant of the forests She, it would seem, is acting extremely illogical: not only immediately releases the captive, not only helps her escape, deceiving the other robbers, but also returns her almost everything stolen, and even gives her beloved deer as companions. Why? What prompted her to do this? Just don't say that she felt sorry for Gerda. On the contrary, after Gerda the Robber's story, it seems, finally began to respect her and stopped looking at her as a "Princess" doll, saw her as an equal player in this grandiose performance of life ... And not sympathy for the sad fate of the confused Kai, I think , was the reason. Pity is not at all the feeling that could force our heroine to act, but with sympathy she generally has big problems. She does not feel, but acts... She does not regret, but simply helps ... "Just do it" - could have been written on her coat of arms. It seems to me that she realized that confronting the Snow Queen is in itself an adventure, a meaningful action, a strong move in the plot of a fairy tale ... After all, the Snow Queen, Gerda and the Little Robber are figures behind which there are three great forces. These are not only three female types, but also three parts of the psyche of any woman (and indeed any person, probably ... Only men will have different figures, different faces for these forces). These forces are Reason, Feeling and Activity. Having stolen Kai, the Queen (mind) has too strengthened her position and thus upset the balance ... The remaining two forces, having united, successfully restore this balance. And it’s not about Kai, but the fact that this dance for three should be symmetrical, and no one has a leading party in it ... In our ordinary mental life, the Snow Queen rules the ball, and Gerda is her servant. Sometimes it's the other way around. Kai, apparently, is still trying to put together the word "eternity" from the pieces of ice ... As for the Robber, it seems that she was caught, locked up and starved to death ... And she is so lacking. " Gerda cried with joy. "I hate it when they whine," said the little robber. Now you should be happy. Here are two more breads for you so that you don't have to starve"... Isn't it good when you have such friends?

Snow Queen (fairy tale)

Fifth story
Little robber

They rode through a dark forest, the carriage burned like a flame, the light cut the robbers' eyes: they could not tolerate this.

Gold! Gold! - they shouted, jumped out onto the road, grabbed the horses by the bridle, killed the little posters, coachman and servants, and pulled Gerda out of the carriage.
- Look, how plump! Fattened with nuts! - said the old robber with a long, hard beard and shaggy overhanging eyebrows.
-Like a well-fed lamb! Let's see how it tastes? And she pulled out her sharp knife; it was so sparkling that it was scary to look at it.
-Hey! - the robber suddenly shouted: it was her own daughter, who was sitting behind her, bit her ear. She was so capricious and mischievous that you love to see.
- Oh, you mean girl! - shouted the mother, but she did not have time to kill Gerda.
-Let her play with me! - said the little robber. - Let her give me her muff and her pretty dress, and she will sleep with me in my bed!
Then she again bit the robber, so much so that she jumped in pain and spun in one place.
The robbers laughed and said:
- Look how she dances with her girl!
-I want to go to the carriage! - said the little robber and insisted on her own, - she was so spoiled and stubborn.
The little robber and Gerda got into the carriage and rushed along the snags and stones, right into the thicket of the forest. The little robber was as tall as Gerda, but stronger, broader in the shoulders and much darker; her hair was dark, and her eyes were completely black and sad. She hugged Gerda and said:
-They will not dare to kill you until I myself am angry with you. Are you a princess?
-No, - Gerda answered and told her about everything that she had to endure, and how she loves Kai.
The little robber looked at her seriously and said:
-They will not dare to kill you, even if I am angry with you - rather, I will kill you myself!
She wiped away Gerda's tears and thrust her hands into her beautiful, soft and warm muff.
Here the carriage stopped; they drove into the courtyard of the robber's castle. The castle cracked from top to bottom; crows and ravens flew out of the cracks. Huge bulldogs, so fierce as if they were eager to swallow a man, jumped about the yard; but they did not bark - that was forbidden.
In the middle of a huge, old, smoke-blackened hall, a fire blazed right on the stone floor. The smoke rose to the ceiling and itself had to look for a way out; in a large cauldron stew was cooked, and hares and rabbits were fried on spits.
-This night you will sleep with me, next to my animals, - said the little robber.
The girls were fed and watered, and they went to their corner, where there was straw covered with carpets. Above this bed, on perches and poles, sat about a hundred pigeons: it seemed that they were all asleep, but when the girls approached, the pigeons stirred slightly.
-It's all mine! - said the little robber. She grabbed the one that was sitting closer, took him by the paw and shook him so hard that he beat his wings.
-On, kiss him! she shouted, poking the dove right in Gerda's face. - And there are forest rascals! - she continued, - These are wild pigeons, whitutni, those two over there! - and pointed to the wooden lattice covering the recess in the wall. - They need to be kept locked up, or they will fly away. And here is my favorite, old deer! - And the girl pulled at the antlers of a reindeer in a shiny copper collar; he was tied to the wall. - He, too, needs to be kept on a leash, or he will get away in an instant. Every night I tickle his neck with my sharp knife. Wow, how he is afraid of him!
And the little robber pulled out a long knife from a crevice in the wall and ran it along the deer's neck; the poor animal began kicking, and the little robber laughed and dragged Gerda to the bed.
-What are you sleeping with a knife? - Gerda asked and looked scaredly at the sharp knife.
-I always sleep with a knife! - answered the little robber. - You never know what can happen? Now tell us again about Kai and how you wandered around the world.
Gerda told everything from the very beginning. The forest pigeons cooed quietly behind the bars, while the rest were already asleep. The little robber put her arm around Gerda's neck with one hand — she had a knife in the other — and began to snore; but Gerda could not close her eyes: the girl did not know whether they would kill her or leave her alive. The robbers sat around the fire, drank wine and sang songs, and the old robber woman tumbled. The girl looked at them in horror.
Suddenly wild pigeons cooed:
-Kurr! Curr! We saw Kai! The white hen carried his sleigh on its back, and he himself sat next to the Snow Queen in her sleigh; they raced over the forest while we were still in the nest; she died on us, and all the chicks, except me and my brother, died. Curr! Curr!
-What are you talking about? - exclaimed Gerda. - Where did the Snow Queen run away? Do you know anything else?
- Apparently, she flew to Lapland, because there is eternal snow and ice. Ask the reindeer what's on the leash here.
-Yes, there is ice and snow! Yes, it's wonderful there! - said the deer. - It's good there! Ride yourselves across the vast, sparkling snowy plains! There the Snow Queen pitched her summer tent, and her permanent halls North Pole on the island of Svalbard!
-O Kai, my dear Kai! - sighed Gerda.
- Lie still! - grumbled the little robber. - Or I'll stab you with a knife!
In the morning Gerda told her everything that the forest pigeons had said. The little robber looked at her seriously and said:
- Okay, okay ... Do you know where Lapland is? she asked the reindeer.
- Who knows this if not me! - answered the deer, and his eyes sparkled. - There I was born and raised, there I rode on the snowy plains!
-Listen! - said the little robber to Gerda. “You see, all of our people are gone, only the mother stayed at home; but after a while she will take a sip from a large bottle and take a nap - then I will do something for you.
Then she jumped out of bed, hugged her mother, pulled her beard and said:
-Hello, my dear goat!
And her mother pinched her nose, so that he turned red and blue - it was they, loving, caressing each other.
Then, when the mother took a sip from her bottle and dozed off, the little robber went up to the deer and said:
- I would have tickled you with this sharp knife more than once! You're trembling so funny. Anyway! I will untie you and set you free! You can go to your Lapland. Just run as hard as you can and take this girl to the Snow Queen's palace to her dear friend. You heard what she was saying, didn't you? She spoke quite loudly, and you are always eavesdropping!
The reindeer jumped for joy. The little robber put Gerda on it, tied her tightly just in case, and even slipped a soft pillow under her to make her sit comfortably.
- So be it, - she said, - take your fur boots, because you will be cold, and I will not give up the muff, I really like it! But I don't want you to be cold. Here are my mother's mittens. They are huge, right up to the elbows. Put your hands in them! Well, now your hands are like those of my ugly mother!
Ger da cried with joy.
“I can't stand it when they roar,” said the little robber. - You should be happy now! Here are two loaves of bread and a ham; so that you do not starve.
The little robber tied all this to the deer on the back, opened the gate, lured the dogs into the house, cut the rope with her sharp knife and said to the deer:
-Well, run! Look, take care of the girl!
Gerda stretched out both hands in huge mittens to the little robber and said goodbye to her. The deer set off at full speed through the stumps and bushes, through the forests, through swamps, through the steppes. Wolves howled, crows croaked. “Fuck! Fuck! ” - I suddenly heard from above. It seemed that the entire firmament was engulfed in a scarlet glow.
-This is my native northern lights! - said the deer. - Look how it burns!
And he ran even faster, not stopping day or night. It took a long time. The bread was eaten, the ham too. And here they are in Lapland.

A LITTLE robber in the fairy tale by X. K. Anderson "The Snow Queen"

Gerda met the robbers in the forest after she parted with the prince and princess. At first, the little robber does not arouse sympathy. She is very cheeky and moody. I ordered Gerda to give her the boots she liked and a warm muff. She promised to give her up to be eaten by robbers as soon as Gerda dares to anger her. She teased the poor deer by running a sharp knife along its neck.

But gradually you begin to understand that the little robber is not so bad. On the contrary, she is capable of compassion, although she does not want to look kind. And her cheeky behavior is just the influence of the environment in which the girl grew up.

Hearing Gerda's story about her adventures and love for Kai in trouble, the little robber does not skimp on kindness. She releases the reindeer, which is to take Gerda to Lapland. She returns warm boots to the girl and even gives her mother's huge, warm mittens. She supplies Gerda with bread and ham so that she does not starve on the road.

After that, is it possible to call the little robber evil and callous, as she seems at the beginning of the tale? No and no again! Only a person with a kind heart can show such sympathy for someone else's misfortune.

Illustration for "The Snow Queen" by Wilhelm Pedersen, one of the first illustrators of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales.

Plot

First story. Mirror and its fragments

Trolls carrying a mirror.

An evil troll makes a mirror in which everything good seems evil, and evil only catches the eye more clearly. Once, the troll's disciples took this mirror and ran with it everywhere, pointing it at people for fun, and finally decided to get to the sky "to laugh at the angels and the Creator himself."

The higher they rose, the more the mirror grimaced and writhed; they barely held him in their hands. But then they got up again, and suddenly the mirror was so distorted that it tore out of their hands, flew to the ground and shattered into smithereens. Millions, billions of its fragments have done, however, even more troubles than the mirror itself. Some of them were no more than a grain of sand, scattered around the world, hit, it happened, people in the eyes and stayed there. A person with such a splinter in his eye began to see everything reversed or to notice only bad sides in each thing - after all, each splinter retained a property that distinguished the mirror itself. For some people, shrapnel fell right into the heart, and this was the worst of all: the heart turned into a piece of ice. There were also large fragments between these fragments, such that they could be inserted into the window frames, but it was not worth looking at your good friends through these windows. Finally, there were such fragments that went to glasses, only the trouble was if people put them on in order to look at things and judge them more accurately! And the evil troll laughed until colic, so pleasantly tickled his success with this invention.

Original text (Danish)

Jo høiere de fløi med Speilet, des stærkere grinede det, de kunde neppe holde fast paa det; høiere og høiere fløi de, nærmere Gud og Englene; da zittrede Speilet saa frygteligt i sit Griin, at det foer dem ud af Hænderne og styrtede ned mod Jorden, hvor det gik i hundrede Millioner, Billioner og endnu flere Stykker, og da just gjorde det megen større Ulykke end f thi nogle Stykker vare knap saa store som et Sandkorn, og disse fløi rundt om i den vide Verden, og hvor de kom Folk i Øinene, der bleve de siddende, og da saae de Mennesker Alting forkeert, eller havde kun Øine for hvad der var galt ved en Ting, thi hvert lille Speilgran havde beholdt samme Kræfter, som det hele Speil havde; nogle Mennesker fik endogsaa en lille Speilstump ind i Hjertet, og saa var det ganske grueligt, det Hjerte blev ligesom en Klump Iis. Nogle Speilstykker vare saa store, at de bleve brugte til Rudeglas, men gjennem den Rude var det ikke værd at see sine Venner; andre Stykker kom i Briller, og saa gik det daarligt, naar Folk toge de Briller paa for ret at see og være retfærdige; den Onde loe, saa hans Mave revnede, og det kildede ham saa deiligt.

Second story. Boy and girl

Kai and Gerda, a boy and a girl from poor families, are not relatives, but love each other like brother and sister. Under the roof they have their own garden "bigger than a flowerpot" where they plant roses. True, you can't play in the kindergarten in winter, so they visit each other.

In the summer they could find themselves visiting each other in one jump, and in the winter they had to first go down many, many steps, and then climb the same amount up. A snowball was flitting in the yard.
- It's white bees swarming! - said the old grandmother.
- Do they also have a queen? the boy asked; he knew real bees had one.
- There is! - answered the grandmother. - Snowflakes surround her with a dense swarm, but she is larger than all of them and never remains on the ground - she always rushes on a black cloud. Often at night she flies through the city streets and looks through the windows; that's why they are covered with ice patterns, like flowers.

Original text (Danish)

Om Sommeren kunde de i eet Spring komme til hinanden, om Vinteren maatte de først de mange Trapper ned og de mange Trapper op; ude fygede Sneen.
“Det er de hvide Bier, som sværme,” sagde den gamle Bedstemoder.
"Har de ogsaa en Bidronning?" spurgte den lille Dreng, for han vidste, at imellem de virkelige Bier er der saadan een.
"Det har de!" sagde Bedstemoderen. “Hun flyver der, hvor de sværme tættest! hun er størst af dem alle, og aldrig bliver hun stille paa Jorden, hun flyver op igjen i den sorte Sky. Mangen Vinternat flyver hun gjennem Byens Gader og kiger ind af Vinduerne, og da fryse de saa underligt, ligesom med Blomster. "

Some time passes. In the summer, Kai and Gerda are sitting in their garden among the roses - and then a fragment of the devil's mirror falls into Kai's eye. His heart becomes callous and "icy": he laughs at his grandmother and mocks Gerda. The beauty of flowers no longer touches him, but he admires snowflakes with their mathematically ideal forms ("not a single wrong line"). One day he goes tobogganing and out of self-indulgence ties his children’s sledges to the luxuriously decorated “adult” sledges. Suddenly, they accelerate - faster than he could have imagined, soar into the air and rush away: the Snow Queen took him with her.

Third story. Flower garden of a woman who knew how to conjure

Gerda goes in search of Kai. In her wanderings, she meets a sorceress who lets her in to spend the night and ultimately decides to keep her in order to make her her adopted daughter. She puts a spell on Gerda, because of which the latter forgets about her named brother, and by magic hides all the roses in her garden under the ground so that they do not inadvertently remind the heroine of the roof garden that belongs to her and Kai. But she forgets to remove the roses from her hat.

Once this hat catches the eye of Gerda. The latter remembers everything and begins to cry. Where her tears flow, roses hidden by the sorceress bloom. Gerda asks them:

Having received a negative answer, she realizes that Kai can still be saved, and sets out on a journey.

Fourth story. Prince and Princess

Leaving the garden of the sorceress, where eternal summer reigns, Gerda sees that in fact autumn has long come, and decides to hurry up. On the way, she meets a crow who lives with his bride at the court of the local king. From a conversation with him, she concludes that the princess's groom, who came from unknown lands, is Kai, and persuades the crow to take her to the palace to look at him. It becomes clear that she was wrong; but the princess and her fiancé, after hearing Gerda's story about her misadventures, pity her and give her “shoes, a muff, and a wonderful dress” and a golden carriage so that she can quickly find Kai.

Fifth story. Little robber

On the way, robbers attack the carriage. They kill posters, coachmen and servants, and also take away Gerda's carriage, horses and expensive clothes. Gerda herself goes as a friend to a little robber, the daughter of the leader of a local gang - ill-mannered, greedy and stubborn, but in fact - lonely. She arranges her in her menagerie; the girl tells her story to the mistress, and the latter penetrates and introduces her to the reindeer - the pride of the menagerie. He tells Gerda about his distant homeland, where the Snow Queen rules:

There you jump free on the endless glittering ice plains! There will be a summer tent of the Snow Queen, and her permanent palaces - at the North Pole, on the island of Spitsbergen!

Original text (Danish)

Der springer man frit om i de store skinnende Dale! Der har Sneedronningen sit Sommertelt, men hendes faste Slot er oppe mod Nordpolen, paa den Ø, som kaldes Spitsberg!

Gerda realizes that it is the Snow Queen who keeps Kai with her and, with the permission of the little robber, sets out on a journey on a reindeer.

Sixth story. Lapland and Finca

On the way, Gerda and the reindeer spend the night with a hospitable Lapland woman, who, after listening to their story, advises travelers to visit the Finnish witch. The deer, following her words, goes with Gerda to the Finnish woman and asks her for a drink for the girl, which would give her the strength of twelve heroes. In response, the Finnish woman says that Gerda will not need such a drink: "strength is in her sweet, innocent childish heart." Having said goodbye to the Finnish woman, Gerda and the deer arrive at the kingdom of the Snow Queen. There they part - then the girl must go on her own.

Seventh story. What happened in the palaces of the Snow Queen and what happened next

Despite all the obstacles, Gerda gets to the palace of the Snow Queen and finds Kai alone: ​​he is trying to put together the word “eternity” from fragments of ice - such a task was offered to him by the queen before leaving (according to her, if he manages to do this, he will yourself a master ", and she will give him" the whole world and a pair of new skates "). At first he cannot understand who she is, but then Gerda sings to him their favorite psalm:

Roses are blooming ... Beauty, beauty!
We will soon see the baby Christ.

Original text (Danish)

Roserne voxe i Dale,
Der faae vi Barn-Jesus i Tale!

Kai remembers her, and the ice floes with joy automatically add up to the right word... Now Kai is his own master. The named brother and sister return home, and it turns out that they are already adults.

Censorship

Parallels in folk tales

In Scandinavian folklore, there are references to the Ice Maiden, the embodiment of winter and death (later this image was developed by many children's writers, in particular, Tove Jansson in The Magic Winter). They say that the last words of Father Andersen were: "Here comes the Ice Maiden and she came to me." Similar characters are known to many peoples - in Japan this is Yuki-onna, in the Slavic tradition, possibly Mara-Marena. It is interesting that Andersen himself also has a fairy tale "The Maiden of Ice".

Screen adaptations and the use of a fairy tale as a literary basis

Screen adaptations

• The tale of wanderings (film using fairy tale motives, 1982).
• The Snow Queen (cartoon, 1987) (Czechoslovakia).
• Revenge of the Snow Queen (cartoon, 1996).

Theatre

"The Snow Queen" - a performance of the Lomonosov Arkhangelsk Drama Theater, 2009.

"Gerda's Room" - a performance by Yana Tumina's Theater Laboratory on the stage of the "Osobnyak" Theater, St. Petersburg, 2018.

Here Gerda drove into the dark forest in which the robbers lived; the carriage burned like heat, it cut the robbers' eyes, and they simply could not bear it.

Gold! Gold! - they shouted, grabbing the horses by the bridle, killed the little posters, coachman and servants, and pulled Gerda out of the carriage.

Look how nice and fat she is! Fattened with nuts! - said the old robber with a long, hard beard and shaggy, drooping eyebrows. - Fat, what is your lamb! Well, what will it taste like?

And she pulled out a sharp, glittering knife. Horrible!

Ay! she cried out suddenly: she was bitten in the ear by her own daughter, who was sitting behind her and was so unbridled and self-willed that she just liked it. - Oh, you mean girl! - shouted the mother, but did not have time to kill Gerda.

She will play with me, ”said the little robber. - She will give me her muff, her pretty dress and will sleep with me in my bed.

And the girl again bit her mother so that she jumped up and spun in place. The robbers burst out laughing.

Look how she dances with her girl!

I want to go to the carriage! - cried the little robber and insisted on her own - she was terribly spoiled and stubborn.

They sat down with Gerda in the carriage and rushed over the stumps and bumps into the thicket of the forest.

The little robber was as tall as Gerda, but stronger, broader in the shoulders and much darker. Her eyes were completely black, but somehow sad. She hugged Gerda and said:

They won't kill you until I get angry with you. Are you a princess, right?

No, - answered the girl and told what she had to experience and how she loves Kai.

The little robber looked at her seriously, nodded slightly and said:

They won't kill you, even if I get angry with you - I'd rather kill you myself!

And she wiped away Gerda's tears, and then hid both hands in her pretty, soft, warm muff.

Then the carriage stopped: they drove into the courtyard of the robber's castle.

He was covered in huge cracks; ravens and ravens flew out of them. Huge bulldogs jumped out from somewhere, it seemed that each of them did not care to swallow a person, but they only jumped high and did not even bark - it was forbidden. A fire blazed in the middle of a huge room with crumbling, soot-covered walls and stone floors. The smoke rose to the ceiling and he himself had to look for a way out. Soup was boiling over the fire in a huge cauldron, and hares and rabbits were roasting on skewers.

You will sleep with me here, near my little menagerie, - the little robber told Gerda.

The girls were fed and watered, and they went to their corner, where the straw was laid, covered with carpets. More than a hundred pigeons sat on poles higher up. They all seemed to be asleep, but when the girls approached, they stirred slightly.

All mine! - said the little robber, grabbed one pigeon by the legs and shook it so that it beat its wings. - On, kiss him! - she shouted and poked the pigeon Gerda right in the face. “And here are the forest rogues sitting,” she continued, pointing to two pigeons sitting in a small depression in the wall, behind a wooden lattice. “These two are forest rogues. They must be kept locked up, or they will fly away quickly! And here is my dear old man! And the girl pulled at the antlers of a reindeer tied to the wall in a shiny brass collar. - He also needs to be kept on a leash, otherwise he will run away! Every night I tickle him under the neck with my sharp knife - he's scared to death of it.

With these words, the little robber pulled out a long knife from a crevice in the wall and ran it over the deer's neck. The poor animal snapped up, and the girl burst out laughing and dragged Gerda to the bed.

Are you sleeping with a knife? Gerda asked her.

Is always! - answered the little robber. - You never know what can happen! Well, tell me once more about Kai and how you started to wander around the world.

Gerda told. The forest pigeons in the cage cooed softly; the other pigeons were already asleep. The little robber put one hand around Gerda's neck - she had a knife in the other - and began to snore, but Gerda could not close her eyes, not knowing whether they would kill her or let her live. Suddenly the forest pigeons cooed:

Curr! Curr! We saw Kai! A white hen carried a sled on his back, and he sat in the Snow Queen's sleigh. They flew over the forest when we chicks were still in the nest. She died on us, and everyone died, except for the two of us. Curr! Curr!

What. you speak! - exclaimed Gerda. - Where did the Snow Queen fly? Do you know?

Probably to Lapland - after all, there is eternal snow and ice. Ask the reindeer what's on the leash here.

Yes, there is eternal snow and ice. Wonderful how good it is! said the reindeer. - There you jump at will on the huge glittering plains. There will be a summer tent of the Snow Queen, and her permanent palaces - at the North Pole, on the island of Spitsbergen.

Oh Kai, my dear Kai! - sighed Gerda.

Lie still, ”said the little robber. - Or I'll stab you with a knife!

In the morning Gerda told her what she had heard from forest pigeons. The little robber looked at Gerda seriously, nodded her head and said:

Well, so be it! .. Do you know where Lapland is? she then asked the reindeer.

Who knows, if not me! - answered the deer, and his eyes sparkled. - There I was born and raised, there I jumped on the snowy plains.

So listen, - said the little robber to Gerda. - You see, all of our people are gone, one mother is at home;

after a while she'll take a sip from a big bottle and take a nap, then I'll do something for you.

And so the old woman took a sip from her bottle and began to snore, and the little robber went up to the reindeer and said:

It would be a long time to make fun of you! Painfully you are hilarious when you are tickled with a sharp knife. Well, so be it! I will untie you and set you free. You can run to your Lapland, but for this you must take this girl to the palace of the Snow Queen - there is her named brother. Surely you heard what she was saying? She spoke loudly, and you always have ears on the top of your head.

The reindeer jumped for joy. And the little robber put Gerda on it, tied her tightly for fidelity, and even slipped a soft pillow under her to make it more comfortable for her to sit.

So be it, - she said then, - take back your fur boots - it will be cold! And I'll keep the muff for myself, it hurts too good. But I will not let you freeze: here are my mother's huge mittens, they will reach your very elbows. Put your hands in them! Well, now your hands are like those of my ugly mother.

Gerda cried with joy.

I hate it when they whine! - said the little robber. - Now you should be happy. Here's two more loaves and a ham so you don't have to starve.

Both were tied to the deer. Then the little robber opened the door, lured the dogs into the house, cut the rope with which the deer was tied with her sharp knife, and said to him:

Well, live! Yes, take care, look girl. Gerda stretched out both hands in huge mittens to the little robber and said goodbye to her. The reindeer set off at full speed over stumps and hummocks through the forest, through swamps and steppes. Wolves howled, crows croaked.

Phew! Phew! - it was suddenly heard from the sky, and it seemed to sneeze away with fire.

Here is my native northern lights! - said the deer. - Look how it burns.