The Snow Queen ~Story The First~

Which Describes The Looking-Glass And The Fragments

Well! We will begin. When we get to the end of the story we shall know more that we do now about a certain wicked goblin. He was one of the very worst, for he was Old Nick himself. One day, he was in a very good temper, for the had made a mirror that possessed the power of making everything good and beautiful that was reflected in it shrink to almost nothing, while all that was worthless and bad looked still larger and worse.

The most beautiful landscapes appeared like boiled spinach, and the best people looked repulsive, or stood on their heads and had no bodies. Their faces were so distorted that no one could recognize them, and if there was one freckle on any one's face, he might be sure that it would spread all over his nose and mouth. Old Nick thought this extremely amusing. When a good pious thought passed through any one's mind, it was reflected in the mirror as a frin, and the devil could not help laughing at his cunning invention.

Those who wen to the goblin's school -for he kept a school of his own- related everywhere that a miracle had taken place, and declared that now people could see for the first time how the world and mankind really looked.

They carried the mirror about everywhere, till at last there was not a country nor any person who had not been distorted in it. Then they even wanted to fly up to Heaven with it to see the angels, but the higher they flew with the mirror the more hideously did it grin. They could hardly hold it, but still flying upwards, they came near the angels; then the grins of the mirror shook it so terribly, that it slipped from their hands and fell to earth, where it was shattered into millions and billions of pieces.

"They carried the mirror about everywhere, till at last there was not a country nor any person who had not been distorted in it."

And now it caused far more unhappiness than before, for some pieces were no larger than a grain of sand. These flew about in the world, and when they got into any one's eyes, they would stay there, and then the people saw everything distorted, or could only see the bad side of a thing; for every fragment of the mirror retained the same power that the whole mirror had possessed. Some people even got a fragment into their heart, and that was a horrible thing; the heart at once became like a lump of ice. Some fragments were so large that they were used for window panes; but it was a bad thing to look at one's friends through such windows. Other pieces were made into spectacles, and when people put these on, it was difficult for them to see straight or to be just; the evil one laughed till his sides shook -it tickled him so. But there were still some of these small fragments floating about in the air. Well, we shall hear about them...

The Golden Key

In the winter time, when deep snow lay on the ground, a poor boy was forced to go out on a sledge to fetch wood. When he had gathered it together, and packed it, he wished, as he was so frozen with cold, not to go home at once, but to light a fire and warm himself a little. So he scraped away the snow, and as he was thus clearing the ground, he found a tiny, gold key.

"And as he was thus clearing the ground, he found a tiny, gold key."

Hereupon he thought that where the key was, the lock must be also, and dug in the ground and found an iron chest. "If the key does but fit!" thought he; "no doubt there are precious things in that little box." He searched, but no keyhole was there. At last he discovered one, but so small that it was hardly visible. He tried it, and the key fitted it exactly.

Then he turned it once round, and now we must wait until he has quite unlocked it and opened the lid, and the we shall learn what wonderful things were lying in that box.