"The Power of twelve men!" said the Finland woman; "that wouldbe of very little use." But she went to a shelf and took down andunrolled a large skin, on which were inscribed wonderful characters,and she read till the perspiration ran down from her forehead. But thereindeer begged so hard for little Gerda, and Gerda looked at theFinland woman with such beseeching tearful eyes, that her own eyesbegan to twinkle again; so she drew the reindeer into a corner, andwhispered to him while she laid a fresh piece of ice on his head,"Little Kay is really with the Snow Queen, but he finds everythingthere so much to his taste and his liking, that he believes it isthe finest place in the world; but this is because he has a piece ofbroken glass in his heart, and a little piece of glass in his eye.These must be taken out, or he will never be a human being again,and the Snow Queen will retain her power over him."
  "But can you not give little Gerda something to help her toconquer this power?"
  "I can give her no greater power than she has already," said thewoman; "don't you see how strong that is? How men and animals areobliged to serve her, and how well she has got through the world,barefooted as she is. She cannot receive any power from me greaterthan she now has, which consists in her own purity and innocence ofheart. If she cannot herself obtain access to the Snow Queen, andremove the glass fragments from little Kay, we can do nothing tohelp her. Two miles from here the Snow Queen's garden begins; youcan carry the little girl so far, and set her down by the large bushwhich stands in the snow, covered with red berries. Do not staygossiping, but come back here as quickly as you can." Then the Finlandwoman lifted little Gerda upon the reindeer, and he ran away withher as quickly as he could.
  "Oh, I have forgotten my boots and my mittens," cried littleGerda, as soon as she felt the cutting cold, but the reindeer darednot stop, so he ran on till he reached the bush with the redberries; here he set Gerda down, and he kissed her, and the greatbright tears trickled over the animal's cheeks; then he left her andran back as fast as he could.
  There stood poor Gerda, without shoes, without gloves, in themidst of cold, dreary, ice-bound Finland. She ran forwards asquickly as she could, when a whole regiment of snow-flakes cameround her; they did not, however, fall from the sky, which was quiteclear and glittering with the northern lights. The snow-flakes ranalong the ground, and the nearer they came to her, the larger theyappeared. Gerda remembered how large and beautiful they looked throughthe burning-glass. But these were really larger, and much moreterrible, for they were alive, and were the guards of the SnowQueen, and had the strangest shapes. Some were like greatporcupines, others like twisted serpents with their heads stretchingout, and some few were like little fat bears with their hair bristled;but all were dazzlingly white, and all were living snow-flakes. Thenlittle Gerda repeated the Lord's Prayer, and the cold was so greatthat she could see her own breath come out of her mouth like steamas she uttered the words. The steam appeared to increase, as shecontinued her prayer, till it took the shape of little angels who grewlarger the moment they touched the earth. They all wore helmets ontheir heads, and carried spears and shields. Their number continued toincrease more and more; and by the time Gerda had finished herprayers, a whole legion stood round her. They thrust their spears intothe terrible snow-flakes, so that they shivered into a hundred pieces,and little Gerda could go forward with courage and safety. Theangels stroked her hands and feet, so that she felt the cold less, andshe hastened on to the Snow Queen's castle.
  But now we must see what Kay is doing. In truth he thought notof little Gerda, and never supposed she could be standing in the frontof the palace.
  SEVENTH STORY
  OF THE PALACE OF THE SNOW QUEEN
  AND WHAT HAPPENED THERE AT LAST
  The walls of the palace were formed of drifted snow, and thewindows and doors of the cutting winds. There were more than a hundredrooms in it, all as if they had been formed with snow blowntogether. The largest of them extended for several miles; they wereall lighted up by the vivid light of the aurora, and they were solarge and empty, so icy cold and glittering!