The Snow Queen

All winter, Gerda despairs that Kai is dead. In the spring, she decides this is nonsense and goes in search of him. When she throws her shoes into the river in exchange for news of Kai, the river returns her shoes. Then she climbs aboard a reed boat, which brings her downriver to a house where an old woman lives. The woman combs Gerda’s hair until she forgets about Kai. To make sure Gerda doesn’t remember, the woman makes all the roses in her garden disappear so they won’t remind Gerda of Kai. One day, however, Gerda sees a rose in the woman’s hat and remembers Kai. She cries, which causes the rose bushes to blossom from their hiding places under the ground. The roses confirm they did not sense Kai underground, where the dead lie. The other flowers tell her stories that are of no help, so Gerda leaves the garden to find Kai on her own. Out in the world, she runs and runs until she is tired and the world feels cold, “heavy[,] and grey” (42).