in
or out. Nobody was at home except an old Lapland woman, who was dressing
fish by the light of an oil lamp. And the Reindeer told her the whole
of Gerda's history, but first of all his own; for that seemed to him of
much greater importance. Gerda was so chilled that she could not speak.

"Poor thing," said the Lapland woman, "you have far to run still. You
have more than a hundred miles to go before you get to Finland; there
the Snow Queen has her country-house, and burns blue lights every
evening. I will give you a few words from me, which I will write on a
dried haberdine, for paper I have none; this you can take with you to
the Finland woman, and she will be able to give you more information
than I can."

When Gerda had warmed herself, and had eaten and drunk, the Lapland
woman wrote a few words on a dried haberdine, begged Gerda to take care
of them, put her on the Reindeer, bound her fast, and away sprang the
animal. "Ddsa! Ddsa!" was again heard in the air; the most charming
blue lights burned the whole night in the sky, and at last they came to
Finland. They knocked at the chimney of the Finland woman; for as to a
door, she had none.

There was such a heat inside that the Finland woman herself went about
almost naked. She was diminutive and dirty. She immediately loosened
little Gerda's clothes, pulled off her thick gloves and boots; for
otherwise the heat would have been too great--and after laying a piece
of ice on the Reindeer's head, read what was written on the fish-skin.
She read it three times: she then knew it by heart; so she put the fish
into the cupboard--for it might very well be eaten, and she never threw
anything away.

Then the Reindeer related his own story first, and afterwards that of
little Gerda; and the Finland woman winked her eyes, but said nothing.

"You are so clever," said the Reindeer; "you can, I know, twist all the
winds of the world together in a knot. If the seaman loosens one knot,
then he has a good wind; if a second, then it blows pretty stiffly; if
he undoes the third and fourth, then it rages so that the forests are
upturned. Will you give the little maiden a potion, that she may possess
the strength of twelve men, and vanquish the Snow Queen?"

"The strength of twelve men!" said the Finland woman. "Much good that
would be!" Then she went to a cupboard, and drew out a large skin rolled
up. When she had unrolled it, strange characters were to be seen written
thereon; a