Kitabı oku: «Снежная королева. Адаптированный текст + задания. Уровень A1», sayfa 10

Story The Third
The Flower Garden of the Old Woman who knew Magic

But how was little Gerda when Kay didn’t came back? Nobody knew where he was, nobody could tell. The boys could only say they had seen him tie his little sledge to another large one which had driven down the street and out at the town gate. Many tears were cried. Then they said he was dead, drowned in the river. Dark indeed and long were those winter days.

Then came spring with warmer sunshine. “Kay is dead and gone,” said little Gerda. “I don’t believe it,” said the Sunshine. “He’s dead and gone,” said she to the swallows.

“We don’t believe it,” they answered, and at last little Gerda didn’t believe it either.

“I’ll put on my new red shoes,” she said one morning early, “the ones Kay has never seen, and I’ll go down to the river and ask about him.”

It was quite early. She kissed her old grandmother as she slept, put on the red shoes, and went out of the gate to the river, all alone.

“Is it true that you have taken Kay? I’ll give you my red shoes if you’ll give him back to me.”

The waves, she thought, nodded to her; so she took her red shoes, the best thing she had, and threw them into the river, but they fell close to the bank, and the waves carried them back to her. It seemed that the river would not take them because it didn’t have little Kay. But Gerda thought she hadn’t thrown the shoes far enough, so she climbed into a boat that lay near the water, and went out to the further end of it and threw out the shoes. But the boat wasn’t tied down, and with the movement she made it floated away from the shore. She noticed this and tried to get out, but before she could get back the boat was too far away, and began to drift quickly. Little Gerda was very much frightened and began to cry; but nobody heard her except the sparrows, and they couldn’t carry her ashore; but they few along the bank and sang, as if to comfort her: “Here we are, here we are!” The boat was carried downstream; little Gerda sat still; her little red shoes floated behind, but couldn’t reach the boat, which was now travelling faster.