The Snow Queen

 

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Hans Christian Andersen

First story: Which Treats of a Mirror and of the Splinters

Now then, let us begin. When we are at the end of the story, we shall know more than we know now: but so begin.

Once upon a time there was a wicked sprite, indeed he was the most mischievous of all sprites. One day he was in a very good humor, for he had made a mirror with the power of causing all that was good and beautiful when it was reflected therein, to look poor and mean, but that which was good-for-nothing and looked ugly was shown magnified and increased in ugliness. In this mirror the most beautiful landscapes looked like boiled spinach, and the best persons were turned into frights, or appeared to stand on their heads, their faces were so distorted that they were not to be recognised; and if anyone had a mole, you might be sure that it would be magnified and spread over both nose and mouth.

"That's glorious fun!" said the sprite. If a good thought passed through a man's mind, then a grin was seen in the mirror, and the sprite laughed heartily at his clever discovery. All the little sprites who went to his school-for he kept a sprite-told each other that a miracle had happened; and that now only, as they thought, it would be possible to see how rhe world really looked. 

They run about with the mirror; and at last there was not a land or a person who was not represented distorted in the mirror. So then they thought they would fly up to the sky, and have a joke there. The higher they flew with the mirror, the more terribly it grinned; they could hardly hold it fast. Higher and higher still they flew, nearer and nearer to the stars, when suddenly the mirrorshook so terribly with grinning, that it flew out of their hands and fell to the earth, where it was dashed in a hundred million and more pieces. And now it worked much more evil than before; for some of these pieces were hardly so large as a grain of sand, and they flew about in the wide world, and when they got into people's eyes, there they stayed, and then people saw everything perverted, or only had an eye for that which was evil. This happenned because the very smallest bit had the same power which the whole mirror had possessed. Some persons even got a splinter in their heart, and then it made one shudder, for their heart became like a lump of ice. Some of the broken pieces were son large that they were used for windowpanes, through which one could not see one's friends. Other pieces were put in spectacles, and that was a sad affair when people put on their glasses to see well and rightly. Then the wicked sprite laughed till he almost chocked, for all this tickled his fancy. The fine splinters still flew about in the air: and now we shall hear what happenned next.

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The Fir Tree IV

                             

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                                                              Hans Christian Andersen

At last the little Mice stayed away also; and the Tree sighed: 'After all, it was very pleasant when sleek little Mice sat round me, and listened to what I told them. 

Now that too is over. But I will take good care to enjoy myself when I am brought out again.'

But when was that to be? Why, one morning there came quantity of people and set to work in the loft. The trunks were moved, the tree was pulled out and thrown-rather hard, it is true- down on the floor, but a man drew him towards the stairs, where the daylight shone.

'Now a merry life will began again,' thought the Tree. He felt the fresh air, the first sunbeam-and now he was out in the courtyard. All passed so quickly, there was so much going on around him, the Tree quite forgot to look to himself. The court adjoined a garden, and all was in flower; the roses hung so fresh and odorous over the balustrade, the lindenswere in blossom, the Swallos flew by, and said, 'Quirre-vit! My husband is come!' but it was not the Fir Tree that they meant.

'Now, then, I shall really enjoy life,' said he exultingly, and spread out his branches; but, alas, they were all withered and yellow! It was in a corner that he lay, among weeds and nettles. The golden star of tinsel was still on the top of the Tree, and glittered in the sunshine.

In the court-yard some of the merry children were playing who had danced at Christmas round the Fir Tree, and were so glad at the sight of him. One of the youngest ran and tore off the golden star.

'Only look what is still on the ugly old Christmas tree!' said he, trampling on the branches, so that they all cracked beneath his feet.

And the Tree beheld all the beauty of the flowers, and the freshness in the garden; he beheld himself, and wished he had remained in his dark corner in the loft; he thought of his first yout in the wood, of the merry Christmas-eve, and of the little Mice who had listened with so much pleasure to the story of Humpy-Dumpy.

'Tis cover-'tis past1' said the poor Tree. 'Had I but rejoiced when I had a reason to do so! But now 'tis past, 'tis past!'

And the gardener's boy chopped the Tree into small pieces; there was a whole heap lying there. The wood flamed up splendidly under the large brewing copper, and it sighed so deeply! Each sigh was like a shot.

The boys played about in the court, and the youngest wore the gold star on his breast which the Tree had had on the happiest evening of his life. However, that was over no-the Tree gone, the story at and end. All, all was over-every tale must end at last.

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The Fir Tree III

                            

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                                                              Hans Christian Andersen

 He knew very much about the matter-but he was so impatient that for sheer longing he got a pain in his back, and this with trees is the same thing as a headache with us.

The candles were now lighted-what brightness! What splendor! The Tree trembled so in every bough that one of the tapers set fire to the foliage. It blazed up famously.

'Help! Help! cried the young ladies, and they quickly put out the fire.

Now the Tree did not even dare tremble. What a state lie was in! He was so uneasy lest he should lose something of his splendor, that he was quite bewildered amidst the glare and brightness; when suddenly both folding-doors opened and a troop of children rushed in as if they would upset the Tree. The older persons followed quietly; the little ones stood quite still. But it was only for a moment; then they shouted that the whole place re-echoed with their rejoicing; they danced round the Tree, and one present after the other was pulled off.

'What are they about?' thought the Tree. 'What is to happen now!' And the lights burned down to the very branches, and as they burned down they were put out one after the other, and then the children had permission to plunder the Tree. So they fell upon it with such violence and all its branches cracked; if had not been fixed firmly in the ground, it would certainly have tumbled down.

The children danced about with their beautiful playthings; no one looked at the Tree except the old nurse, who peeped between the branches; but it was only to see if there was a fig or an apple left that had been forgotten.

'A story! A story!' cried the children, drawing a little fat man towards the Tree. He seated himself under it and said.

'Now we are in the shade, and the Tree can listen too. But I shall tell only one story. Now which will you have; that about Ivedy-Avedy, or about Humpy-Dumpy, who tumbled downstairs, and yet after all came to the throne and married the princess?

'Ivedy-Avedy,' cried some; 'Humpy-Dumpy,' cried the others. There was such a bawling and screaming-the Fir Tree alone was silent, and he thought to himself. 'Am I not to bawl with the rest? Am I to do nothing whatever?' for he was one of the company, and had done what he had to do.

And the man told about Humpy-Dumpy that tumbled down, who notwithstanding came to the throne, and at last married the princess. And the children clapped their hands, and cried. 'Oh, go on! Do go on!' They wanted to hear about Ivedy-Avedy too, but the little man only told them about Humpy-Dumpy. The Fir Tree stood quite still and absorbed in thought; the birds in the wood had never related the like of this. 'Humpy-Dumpy fell downstairs, and yet he married the princess! Yes, yes! That's the way of the world!' thought the Fir Tree, and believed it all, because the man who told the story was so good -looking.

'Well, well! who knows, perhaps I may fall downstairs, too, and get a princess as wife! And he looked forward with joy to the morrow, when he hoped to be decked out again with lights, plauthings, fruits, and tinsel.

'I won't tremble to-morrow!' thought the Fir Tree. 'I will enjoy to the full all my splendor! To-morrow I shall hear again the story of Humpy-Dumpy, and perhaps that Ivedy-Avedy too.' And the whole night the Tree stood still and in deep thought.

In the morning the servant and the housemaid came in.

'Now then the splendorwill begin again,' thought the Fir. But they dragged him out of the room, and up the stairs into the loft; and here, in a dark corner, where no daylight could enter, they left him. 'What's the meaning of this?' thought the Tree. 'What am I to do here? What shall I hear now, I wonder?' And he leaned against the wall lost in reverse. Time enough had he too for his reflections; for days and nights passed on, and nobody came up; and when at last somebody did come, it was only to put some great trunks in a corner, out of the way. 

There stood the Tree quite hidden; it seemed as if he had been entirely forgotten.

'Tis now winter out-of-doors!' thought the Tree. 'The earth is hard and covered with snow; men cannot plant me now, and therefore I have been put up here under shelter till the spring-time comes! How thoughtful that is! How kind man is, after all! If it only were not so dark here, and so terribly lonely! Not even a hare! And out in the woods it was so pleasant, when the snow was on the ground, and the hare leaped by; yes-even when he jumped over me; but I did not like it then! It is reallyterribly lonely here!'

'Squeak! Squeak!'said a little Mouse, at the same moment, peeping out of his hole. And then another little one came. They snuffled about the Fir Tree, and rustled among the branches.

'It is dreadfully cold,' said the Mouse. 'But for that, it would be delightful here, old Fir, wouldn't it?'

'I am by no means old,' said the Fir Tree. 'There's many a one coniderably older than I am.'

'Where do you come from,' asked the Mice; 'and what can you do?' They were so extremely curious. 'Tell us about the most beautiful spot on the earth. Have you never been there? Were you never in the larder, where cheeses lie on the shelves, and hams hang from above; where one dances about on tallow candles; that place where one enters lean, and comes ut again fat and portly?'

'I know no such place, ' said the Tree. 'But I know the wood, where the sun shines and where the little birds sing.' And then he told all about his youth; and the little Mice had never heard the like before; and they listened and said.

'Well, to be sure! How much you have seen! How happy you must have been!'

'I!' said the Fir Tree, thinking over what he had himself related. 'Yes, in realitiy those were happy times.' And then he told about Christmas eve, when he was decked out with cakes and candles.

¿Oh' said the little Mice, 'how fortunate you have been, old Fir Tree!'

'I am by no means old.' said he. 'I came from the wood this winter; I am in my prime, and am only rather short for my age.'

'What delightful stories you know,' said the Mice; and the next night they came with four other little Mice, who were to hear what Tree recounted; and the moore he related, the more he remembered himself; and it appeared as if those times had really been happy times. 'But they may still come-they may still come! Humpy-Dumpy fell downstaris, and yet he got a princess!' and he thought at the moment of a nice litlle Birch Tree growing out in the woods to the Fir, that would be a real charming princess.

'Who is Humpy-Dumpy?' asked the Mice. So then the Fir Tree told the whole fairy tale, for he could remembervery single word of it; and the little Mice jumped for joy up to the very top of the Tree. Next night two more Mice came, and on Sunday two Rats even; but they said the stories were not interesting, which vexed the little Mice; and they, too, now began to think them not so very amusing either.

¿Do you know only one story?' asked the Rats.

'Only that one,' answered the Tree. 'I heard it on my happiest evening; but I did not then know how happy I was.'

'It is a very stupid story! Don't you kniw one about bacon and tallow candles? Can't you tell any larder stories?'

'No,' said the Tree.

'Then good-bye,' said the Rats; and they went home.

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The Fir Tree II

                            

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                                                              Hans Christian Andersen

The swallows did not know anything about it; but the Stork looked musing, nodded his head, and said, 'Yes; I think I know; I met many ships as I was flying hither from Egypt; on the ships were magnificent masts, and I venture to assert that it was they that smelt so of fir. I may congratulate you, for they lifted themselves on high most majestically!'

'Oh, were I but old enough to fly across the sea! But how does the sea look in reality? What is it like?'

'That would take a long time to explain, ' said the Stork, and with these words off he went.

'Rejoice in thy growth!' said the Sunbeams. 'Rejoice in thy vigorous growth, and in the fresh life that moveth within thee!'

And the Wind kissed the Tree, and the Dew wept tears over him; but the Fir understood it not.

When Christmas came, quite young trees were cut down; trees which often were not even as large  or of the same age as this Fir Tree, who could never rest, but always wanted to be off. These young trees, and they were always the finest looking, retained their branches; they were laidon carts, and the horses drew them out of the wood.

'Where are they going to?' asked the Fir. 'They are not taller than I; there was one indeed that was considerably shorter; and why do they retain all their branches? Whither are they taken?

'We know! We know! chirped the Spartows. We have peeped in at the windows, and saw them planted in the middle of the warm room and ornamented with the most splendid things, with gilded apples, with gingerbread, with toys, and many hundred lights!

'And then?' asked the Fir Tree, trembling in every bough. 'And then?' What happens then?'

'We did not see anything more: it was incomparably beautiful.'

'I would fain know if I am destined for so glorious a career,' cried the Tree, rejoicing. 'That is still better than to cross the sea! What a longing do I suffer! Were Christmas but come! I am now tall, and my branches spread like the others that were carried off last year! Oh! were I but already on the cart! Were I in the warm room with all the splendor and magnificence! Yes, then something better, something still grander, will surely follow, or wherefore should they thus ornament me? Something better, something still grander must follow but what? Oh, how I long, how I suffer! I do not know myself what is the matter with me!'

'Rejoice in our presence!'  said the Air and the Sunlight. 'Rejoice in thy own fresh youth!'

But the Tree did not rejoice at all; he grew and grew, and was green both winter and summer. People that saw him said, 'What a fine tree!' and towards Christmas he was one of the first that was cut down. The axe struck deep into the very pith; the Tree fell to the earth with a sigh; he felt a pang- it was like a swoon; he could not think of happiness, for he was sorrowful at being separated from his home, from the place where he had sprung up. He well knew that should never see his dear old comrades, the little bushes and flowers around him, anymore; perhaps not even the birds! The departure was not at all agreeable.

The Tree only came to himself when he was unloaded in a court-yard with the other trees, and heard a man say, 'That  one is splendid! We don't want the others.' Then two servants came in rich livery and carried the Fir Tree into a large and splendid drawing-room. Portraits were hanging on the walls, and near the white porcelain stove stood two large. Chinese vases with lions on the covers.

There, too, were large easy-chairs, silken sofas, large tables full of picture-books and full of toys, worth hundreds and hundreds of crowns- at least the children said so. and the Fir Tree was stuck upright in a cask that was filled with sand; but no one could see that it was a cask, for green cloth was hung all round it, and it stood on a large gaily-colored carpet. Oh! how the Tree quivered! What was to happen? The servants, as well as the young ladies, decorated it. On one branch there hung little nets cut out of colored paper, and each net was filled with sugarplums; and among the other boughs gilded apples and walnuts were suspended, looking as though tey had grown there, and little blue and white tapers were placed among the leaves. Dolls that looked for all the world like men- the Tree had never beheld such before- were seen among the foliage, and at the very top a large star of gold tinsel was fixed. It was really splendid-beyond description splendid.

'This evening!' they all said. 'How it will shine this evening!'

'Oh!' thought the Tree. 'If the evening were but come! If the tapers were but lighted! And then I wonder what will happen! Perhaps the other trees from the forest will come to look at me! Perhaps the other trees from the forest will come to look at me! Perhaps the sparrows will beat against the windowpanes! I wonder if I shall take root here, and winter and summer stand covered with ornaments!'

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