Kitabı oku: «Снежная королева. Адаптированный текст + задания. Уровень A1», sayfa 5

Next day was clear and frosty, and after that came spring-time; the swallows built their nests, the windows were open, and the children sat once more in their little garden. What lovely summer days were those, and how nice it was to be out among the fresh rose bushes!

Kay and Gerda were looking at a picture book with animals and birds in it, and then-just as the clock in the great church tower was striking five-Kay said, “Oh! Something pricked my heart, and I’ve just got something in my eye!”

The little girl put her arm round his neck, and he winked his eye, but no, there was nothing. “I think it’s gone,” he said, but it wasn’t. It was one of those tiny bits of the troll-glass. Poor Kay! He had got a piece of it right into his heart, and it started to turn into ice.

“What are you crying for?” he asked. “It makes you look ugly!” Then he looked at the roses. “That rose is worm-eaten! And look at that other, it’s all crooked. Rotten roses they are, after all, like the boxes they’re in.” With that he gave the box a hard kick and pulled off the two roses. “What are you doing, Kay?” cried the little girl; and when he saw she was frightened, he pulled off a third rose, and ran home, leaving dear little Gerda. Later, when she brought him the picture book, he said, “it was only fit for babies”, and when grandmother told them stories, he was always interrupting. The bit of glass he had got in his eye and the bit he had in his heart made him tease everyone, even little Gerda, who loved him with all her heart.

One winter day, Kay came in with his sledge hung on his back; he shouted to Gerda, “I’m going to the big square where the others are playing,” and he was off.