The coach drove on through a thick forest, where it lighted up the
way like a torch, and dazzled the eyes of some robbers, who could
not bear to let it pass them unmolested.
"It is gold! it is gold!" cried they, rushing forward, and seizing
the horses. Then they struck the little jockeys, the coachman, and the
footman dead, and pulled little Gerda out of the carriage.
"She is fat and pretty, and she has been fed with the kernels of
nuts," said the old robber-woman, who had a long beard and eyebrows
that hung over her eyes. "She is as good as a little lamb; how nice
she will taste!" and as she said this, she drew forth a shining knife,
that glittered horribly. "Oh!" screamed the old woman the same moment;
for her own daughter, who held her back, had bitten her in the ear.
She was a wild and naughty girl, and the mother called her an ugly
thing, and had not time to kill Gerda.
"She shall play with me," said the little robber-girl; "she
shall give me her muff and her pretty dress, and sleep with me in my
bed." And then she bit her mother again, and made her spring in the
air, and jump about; and all the robbers laughed, and said, "See how
she is dancing with her young cub."
"I will have a ride in the coach," said the little robber-girl;
and she would have her own way; for she was so self-willed and
obstinate.
She and Gerda seated themselves in the coach, and drove away, over
stumps and stones, into the depths of the forest. The little
robber-girl was about the same size as Gerda, but stronger; she had
broader shoulders and a darker skin; her eyes were quite black, and
she had a mournful look. She clasped little Gerda round the waist, and
said,--
"They shall not kill you as long as you don't make us vexed with
you. I suppose you are a princess."
"No," said Gerda; and then she told her all her history, and how
fond she was of little Kay.
The robber-girl looked earnestly at her, nodded her head slightly,
and said, "They sha'nt kill you, even if I do get angry with you;
for I will do it myself." And then she wiped Gerda's eyes, and stuck
her own hands in the beautiful muff which was so soft and warm.
The coach stopped in the courtyard of a robber's castle, the walls
of which were cracked from top to bottom. Ravens and crows flew in and
out of the holes and crevices, while great bulldogs, either of which
looked as if it could swallow a man, were jumping about; but they were
not allowed to bark. In the large and smoky hall a bright fire was
burning on the stone floor. There was no chimney; so the smoke went up
to the ceiling, and found a way out for itself. Soup was boiling in
a large cauldron, and hares and rabbits were roasting on the spit.
"You shall sleep with me and all my little animals to-night," said
the robber-girl, after they had had something to eat and drink. So she
took Gerda to a corner of the hall, where some straw and carpets
were laid down. Above them, on laths and perches, were more than a
hundred pigeons, who all seemed to be asleep, although they moved
slightly when the two little girls came near them. "These all belong
to me," said the robber-girl; and she seized the nearest to her,
held it by the feet, and shook it till it flapped its wings. "Kiss
it," cried she, flapping it in Gerda's face. "There sit the
wood-pigeons," continued she, pointing to a number of laths and a cage
which had been fixed into the walls, near one of the openings. "Both
rascals would fly away directly, if they were not closely locked up.
And here is my old sweetheart 'Ba;'" and she dragged out a reindeer
by the horn; he wore a bright copper ring round his neck, and was tied
up. "We are obliged to hold him tight too, or else he would run away
from us also. I tickle his neck every evening with my sharp knife,
which frightens him very much." And then the robber-girl drew a long
knife from a chink in the wall, and let it slide gently over the
reindeer's neck. The poor animal began to kick, and the little
robber-girl laughed, and pulled down Gerda into bed with her.
"Will you have that knife with you while you are asleep?" asked
Gerda, looking at it in great fright.
"I always sleep with the knife by me," said the robber-girl. "No
one knows what may happen. But now tell me again all about little Kay,
and why you went out into the world."
Then Gerda repeated her story over again, while the wood-pigeons
in the cage over her cooed, and the other pigeons slept. The little
robber-girl put one arm across Gerda's neck, and held the knife in the
other, and was soon fast asleep and snoring. But Gerda could not close
her eyes at all; she knew not whether she was to live or die. The
robbers sat round the fire, singing and drinking, and the old woman
stumbled about. It was a terrible sight for a little girl to witness.
Then the wood-pigeons said, "Coo, coo; we have seen little Kay.
A white fowl carried his sledge, and he sat in the carriage of the
Snow Queen, which drove through the wood while we were lying in our
nest. She blew upon us, and all the young ones died excepting us
two. Coo, coo."
"What are you saying up there?" cried Gerda. "Where was the Snow
Queen going? Do you know anything about it?"
"She was most likely travelling to Lapland, where there is
always snow and ice. Ask the reindeer that is fastened up there with a
rope."
"Yes, there is always snow and ice," said the reindeer; "and it is
a glorious place; you can leap and run about freely on the sparkling
ice plains. The Snow Queen has her summer tent there, but her strong
castle is at the North Pole, on an island called Spitzbergen."
"Oh, Kay, little Kay!" sighed Gerda.
"Lie still," said the robber-girl, "or I shall run my knife into
your body."
In the morning Gerda told her all that the wood-pigeons had
said; and the little robber-girl looked quite serious, and nodded
her head, and said, "That is all talk, that is all talk. Do you know
where Lapland is?" she asked the reindeer.
"Who should know better than I do?" said the animal, while his
eyes sparkled. "I was born and brought up there, and used to run about
the snow-covered plains."
"Now listen," said the robber-girl; "all our men are gone away,--only
mother is here, and here she will stay; but at noon she always
drinks out of a great bottle, and afterwards sleeps for a little
while; and then, I'll do something for you." Then she jumped out of
bed, clasped her mother round the neck, and pulled her by the beard,
crying, "My own little nanny goat, good morning." Then her mother
filliped her nose till it was quite red; yet she did it all for love.
When the mother had drunk out of the bottle, and was gone to
sleep, the little robber-maiden went to the reindeer, and said, "I
should like very much to tickle your neck a few times more with my
knife, for it makes you look so funny; but never mind,--I will untie
your cord, and set you free, so that you may run away to Lapland;
but you must make good use of your legs, and carry this little
maiden to the castle of the Snow Queen, where her play-fellow is.
You have heard what she told me, for she spoke loud enough, and you
were listening."
Then the reindeer jumped for joy; and the little robber-girl
lifted Gerda on his back, and had the forethought to tie her on, and
even to give her her own little cushion to sit on.
"Here are your fur boots for you," said she; "for it will be
very cold; but I must keep the muff; it is so pretty. However, you
shall not be frozen for the want of it; here are my mother's large
warm mittens; they will reach up to your elbows. Let me put them on.
There, now your hands look just like my mother's."
But Gerda wept for joy.
"I don't like to see you fret," said the little robber-girl;
"you ought to look quite happy now; and here are two loaves and a ham,
so that you need not starve." These were fastened on the reindeer, and
then the little robber-maiden opened the door, coaxed in all the great
dogs, and then cut the string with which the reindeer was fastened,
with her sharp knife, and said, "Now run, but mind you take good
care of the little girl." And then Gerda stretched out her hand,
with the great mitten on it, towards the little robber-girl, and said,
"Farewell," and away flew the reindeer, over stumps and stones,
through the great forest, over marshes and plains, as quickly as he
could. The wolves howled, and the ravens screamed; while up in the sky
quivered red lights like flames of fire. "There are my old northern
lights," said the reindeer; "see how they flash." And he ran on day
and night still faster and faster, but the loaves and the ham were all
eaten by the time they reached Lapland.