Close to the place where it fell, there lived two good friends - Kay and Gerda. The two kids were neighbours and they were playing all day long until their parents called them for dinner.

That incident changed Kay very much and he didn’t play with Gerda anymore. The few times they met by accident Kay was teasing her like they were never friends before. His attitude was completely strange and Gerda couldn’t understand him at all but she believed that he will come back to her sooner or later.

The driver asked him to get on and as soon as he hopped in, Kay saw to his amazement how the driver turned into a woman. Before he could even scream, she pulled the reins and the horses sped away in no time.

“Who are you?” Kay asked the unknown lady. “Oh, I’m the Snow Queen! Nice to meet you, Kay!” she said and tugged the reins with such a strength one would think she wasn’t a human. The horses and the sledge headed upwards to another land over the clouds.

Gerda knew nothing of Kay’s missing but when she heard that her old friend was missing she decided to look for him in the river where they used to play. She arrived at the banks, where her boat was, untiеd it and sailed away in search for her friend.

The woman invited the poor child in her garden, where flowers of all sorts were growing. “What a lovely garden you have!” exclaimed Gerda. “These are the most beautiful flowers with the most exquisite adour, which I have ever seen!”. “My flowers are not only beautiful but each of them can tell you a story. Why don’t you ask them about your friend?”said the woman. So, Gerda asked each of the flowers about Kay and they all told her their story, but none of them mentioned anything about the boy and so she left the house in sorrow.

“Oh, yes, I may have seen a boy who looks like him in the palace. It was a few months ago, when the Princess decided to get married. Although many candidates entered the palace, none of them could win the Princess’s heart. But on the third day a boy with long hair and new creaking boots entered the palace. He wasn’t blinded by all the silver and gold in the palace like all the others. He was really clever in his responses to the Princess and so she liked him and married him. They live happily now in the palace.”

When they entered the bedroom where the princess and the new prince were sleeping Gerda approached the bed anxiously. The sleeping prince had the same hair as Kay. He rolled in his sleep and thus turned his face towards Gerda.

Wandering in the woods in search for Kay, Gerda came to a robber girl and her reindeer. They thought that she was lost at first but then she told them her story. “I saw your friend!” said the reindeer. “He was taken by the Snow Queen - I saw them flying by on her sledge and I believe they were going to Lapland where it is always cold and...I can take you there if you want.” Gerda was overjoyed with the news and thankful to the reindeer for the help he offered. That night they stayed with the robber girl’s people who gave her food and a bed to sleep on but Gerda was restless.

Inside it was so hot that their host was almost naked. The woman helped Gerda take off her coat and set the table for them to eat. During the dinner Gerda told her the reason they were in a land so far away from her home and asked the woman if she knew anything about Kay. “Yes, dear girl, your friend is about a hundred miles away from here in the Snow Queen’s palace just as your friend the reindeer has told you. But you should sleep now, take a good rest and you will go on with your search tomorrow.”

“I can’t give her any more power than she has already. Don’t you see how powerful she is and how men and animals on her way serve her. Her power lies in her heart and we must not tell her about it. You will leave tomorrow and will ride until you are two miles away from the Snow Queen’s castle. You will drop the girl by the big bush with the red fruits. From there on she should continue on her own.”

Its walls were made of snow and it’s glasses were of ice, through which the northern lights were penetrating inside. No one else but the Snow Queen and Kay lived inside.

The sight frightened Gerda so much that she hugged him and wept quietly. One of her tears fell on his chest and went right into his heart. It immediately melted the ice cover around. Another tear fell on his face and went right into his eye, so his sight went back to normal. Kay looked around him, “How cold it is here!” he said “And empty!” he added. Only then he saw his long lost friend Gerda and wept aloud. One of his tears fell on the ice chunks and at once the word ETERNITY was spelled before them - this was a task by the Snow Queen. She had promised to set him free if he solved it but he couldn’t, because of the crystal in his eye.