te blue, yes nearly black with cold; but he did not
observe it, for she had kissed away all feeling of cold from his body,
and his heart was a lump of ice. He was dragging along some pointed
flat pieces of ice, which he laid together in all possible ways, for he
wanted to make something with them; just as we have little flat pieces
of wood to make geometrical figures with, called the Chinese Puzzle.
Kay made all sorts of figures, the most complicated, for it was
an ice-puzzle for the understanding. In his eyes the figures were
extraordinarily beautiful, and of the utmost importance; for the bit
of glass which was in his eye caused this. He found whole figures which
represented a written word; but he never could manage to represent just
the word he wanted--that word was "eternity"; and the Snow Queen had
said, "If you can discover that figure, you shall be your own master,
and I will make you a present of the whole world and a pair of new
skates." But he could not find it out.

"I am going now to warm lands," said the Snow Queen. "I must have a look
down into the black caldrons." It was the volcanoes Vesuvius and Etna
that she meant. "I will just give them a coating of white, for that is
as it ought to be; besides, it is good for the oranges and the grapes."
And then away she flew, and Kay sat quite alone in the empty halls of
ice that were miles long, and looked at the blocks of ice, and thought
and thought till his skull was almost cracked. There he sat quite
benumbed and motionless; one would have imagined he was frozen to death.

Suddenly little Gerda stepped through the great portal into the palace.
The gate was formed of cutting winds; but Gerda repeated her evening
prayer, and the winds were laid as though they slept; and the little
maiden entered the vast, empty, cold halls. There she beheld Kay: she
recognised him, flew to embrace him, and cried out, her arms firmly
holding him the while, "Kay, sweet little Kay! Have I then found you at
last?"

But he sat quite still, benumbed and cold. Then little Gerda shed
burning tears; and they fell on his bosom, they penetrated to his
heart, they thawed the lumps of ice, and consumed the splinters of the
looking-glass; he looked at her, and she sang the hymn:

"The rose in the valley is blooming so sweet, And angels descend there
the children to greet."

Hereupon Kay burst into tears; he wept so much that the splinter rolled
out of his eye, and he recognised her, and