Snow Queen (Condensed Version)

Moral of the Story, Short Stories Reading Time: 2 minutes

Snow Queen

Once upon a time, there was a wicked hobgoblin who made a mirror that reflected only the bad and ugly aspects of people and things. While carrying it up to heaven to mock the angels, the hobgoblin dropped the mirror, and it shattered into billions of pieces that fell down to earth. Some shards got into people’s eyes, making them see the world as ugly and bad, and some got into their hearts, turning them into ice.

In a small village lived two best friends, Gerda and Kay. One day, a shard of the hobgoblin’s mirror got into Kay’s eye and heart, instantly turning him cold and even mean to Gerda.

While playing one winter, Kay saw a beautiful sleigh, jumped on it, but found it was being pulled by the Snow Queen. She kissed him twice, making him forget about the cold and Gerda, and flew away with him to her ice palace.

Gerda, heartbroken by Kay’s disappearance, set off to find him. After various encounters, including a wise old woman who delayed Gerda with enchantments and the generous Prince and Princess who gave Gerda a golden coach, she ended up being captured by robbers.

At the robbers’ home, she met a little robber girl and her friendly reindeer who helped Gerda escape and told her about the Snow Queen’s palace.

The reindeer carried Gerda to the Lapp woman and the Finn woman, who provided useful advice and a new pair of shoes. Finally, Gerda arrived at the Snow Queen’s palace.

She found Kay almost lifeless, playing with ice shards. Remembering a song from their childhood, Gerda began to cry, and her tears, melting with the warmth of her love, reached Kay’s heart, dissolving the ice fragment. Kay began to cry, flushing out the splinter from his eye.

As they embraced, their love for each other defeated the Snow Queen’s power. They left the icy palace and returned home, finding that everything was the same, and they had grown into adults. From then on, they lived happily, remembering that the real power is love, understanding, and the ability to see beauty in the world.

The End.