The Snow Queen lives in a cold ice palace in the Arctic. Every winter, she sets out from her palace to travel the world, with snowflakes and cold winds as her guards. Everywhere she goes, the land is left frozen.
The Snow Queen is dazzlingly beautiful, but also unspeakably evil.
She created an evil mirror that turns beauty into ugliness, makes ugly things even uglier, and shows people a world that looks twisted and hideous, causing their hearts to grow cold and unfeeling.
In the end, the Snow Queen threw the mirror into the air, and it shattered into countless fragments, scattering across the world.
One shard landed in the eye of a boy named Kay, and another pierced his heart, transforming the once kind boy into someone cold and cruel.
The Snow Queen took advantage of this, taking Kay away to her ice palace.
A little girl named Gerda, Kay’s best friend and neighbor, grew worried about him and decided to go find him.
She passed through a magical garden owned by a witch. The witch was very fond of the beautiful and lovely Gerda, and wanted to keep her there. She gave Gerda everything best she could offer, hoping to make her forget about finding Kay.
The magical garden contained every flower in the world, and each flower could speak!
Gerda spent her days playing in the garden, eating the most delicious food, and sleeping on the softest bed, living like a princess. She did indeed forget about Kay for a time.
But one day, she noticed a hidden rose—the kind that Kay loved most—and suddenly remembered him.
Ashamed of how she had become lost in comfort, Gerda left the magical garden to continue her search.
Later, she encountered a band of robbers and was nearly killed, but a robber’s daughter saved her.
The reindeer raised by the robber’s daughter told Gerda that he had seen Little Kay being taken to the Ice Palace by the Snow Queen.
Gerda pleaded with the robber’s daughter to let her go to the palace to rescue Kay, and, moved by Gerda’s love, the robber’s daughter allowed the reindeer to take Gerda to the Snow Queen’s palace.
Along the way, they stopped at a wise woman’s house, where the reindeer begged her to give Gerda the strength to defeat the Snow Queen.
The wise woman shook her head and said, “No number of people could defeat the Snow Queen. Gerda’s purity and love are the greatest powers of all.”
She told the reindeer that the Snow Queen happened to be away, so for Gerda’s sake, he should take her to the entrance of the Ice Palace and then return.
The reindeer, with tears in his eyes, did as she said.
Gerda began walking toward the palace, but the Snow Queen’s snowflake and wind guards repeatedly knocked her back, blowing her farther and farther away.
But every time, Gerda got up and moved forward again.
After many attempts, the snowflakes and winds realized they could no longer stop her. She seemed to possess a greater power, one that ignored their attacks, allowing her to walk calmly into the ice palace.
At last, Gerda found Kay. But Kay had forgotten everything about the past and didn’t recognize her.
Gerda began to cry, and her tears fell onto Kay’s chest and eyes, washing away the mirror shards lodged in his heart and eye.
Kay finally remembered everything and recognized Gerda.
They returned home together. By then, they had grown up, but the purity and love in their hearts remained unchanged and eternal, lasting until they grew old together.
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