chapter one The magician’s apprentices revelled in the misery that the mirror created and they flew around the world with it until there was no one left who had not gazed into it Everyone turned aside in horror at their hideous reflections or at the sight of the cruelty and vice that the mirror displayed One day the apprentices brought the mirror to the Snow Queen She knew at once that the mirror would be her perfect weapon against happiness and contentment and she formed a plan She commanded the apprentices to fly up into the sky with the mirror As they did so the mirror began to crack until it shattered into millions of tiny pieces and the Queen laughed with a cruel joy at what would come next
the mirror and its fragments The splinters of glass scattered themselves all over the world and continued their evil work Some pieces were large enough to be made into windowpanes making the view from those houses a sorry sight indeed Smaller fragments were used to make spectacles causing their owners endless trouble as they tried to see clearly through them Little bits of the mirror were set into rings Tiny pieces slipped into some people’s eyes making everything they looked upon seem ugly and hopeless Worst by far was the fate of those who received a splinter of glass in their hearts people who had once been warm and loving became cold and hard Fragments of that mirror exist to this very day Others play a part in my story as will soon be revealed 7
Chapter Two A Little Boy and a Little Girl In the poorest part of a large town a boy and girl called Kay and Gerda lived opposite each other with their families Outside each house was a wooden trough in which herbs flowers and a rose tree grew The two trees grew up and intertwined forming an arch between the houses In the summer Kay and Gerda would sit under its blooms and play or read for hours at a time A cold snowy winter came and one of the children’s favorite games was to heat a penny on their stoves and press it to the frozen windowpane A little circle of ice would melt and each child would look out with a bright gentle eye at the other across the street On very cold days they would sit by the stove in Gerda’s house and her grandmother 8
