THE ICE MAIDEN -- I. LITTLE RUDY

fei1xing · 发表于 2010-10-27 10:29:58

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FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN
THE ICE MAIDEN
by Hans Christian Andersen
I. LITTLE RUDY
WE will pay a visit to Switzerland, and wander through thatcountry of mountains, whose steep and
rocky sides are overgrown withforest trees. Let us climb to the dazzling snow-fields at
theirsummits, and descend again to the green meadows beneath, through whichrivers and brooks rush
along as if they could not quickly enough reachthe sea and vanish. Fiercely shines the sun over
those deep valleys,as well as upon the heavy masses of snow which lie on the mountains.
During the year these accumulations thaw or fall in the rollingavalance, or are piled up in shining
glaciers. Two of these glacierslie in the broad, rocky cliffs, between the Schreckhorn and
theWetterhorn, near the little town of Grindelwald. They are wonderful tobehold, and therefore in
the summer time strangers come here fromall parts of the world to see them. They cross snow-covered
mountains,cheap jordan shoes,and travel through the deep valleys, or ascend for hours, higher andstill higher, the
valleys appearing to sink lower and lower as theyproceed, and become as small as if seen from an air
balloon. Overthe lofty summits of these mountains the clouds often hang like a darkveil; while
beneath in the valley, where many brown, wooden houses arescattered about, the bright rays of the
sun may be shining upon alittle brilliant patch of green, making it appear almosttransparent. The
waters foam and dash along in the valleys beneath;the streams from above trickle and murmur as they
fall down therocky mountain's side, looking like glittering silver bands.
On both sides of the mountain-path stand these little woodenhouses; and, as within, there are many
children and many mouths tofeed, each house has its own little potato garden. These children rushout
in swarms, and surround travellers, whether on foot or incarriages. They are all clever at making a
bargain. They offer forsale the sweetest little toy-houses, models of the mountain cottagesin
Switzerland. Whether it be rain or sunshine,ghd hair straightener, these crowds ofchildren are always to be seen with
their wares.
About twenty years ago, there might be seen occasionally, standingat a short distance from the other
children, a little boy, who wasalso anxious to sell his curious wares. He had an earnest,expressive
countenance, and held the box containing his carved toystightly with both hands, as if unwilling to
part with it. Hisearnest look, and being also a very little boy, made him noticed bythe strangers;
so that he often sold the most, without knowing why. Anhour's walk farther up the ascent lived his
grandfather, who cut andcarved the pretty little toy-houses; and in the old man's room stood alarge
press, full of all sorts of carved things- nut-crackers,knives and forks, boxes with beautifully
carved foliage, leapingchamois. It contained everything that could delight the eyes of achild. But
the boy, who was named Rudy, looked with still greaterpleasure and longing at some old fire-arms
which hung upon therafters, under the ceiling of the room. His grandfather promised himthat he
should have them some day, but that he must first grow big andstrong, and learn how to use them.
Small as he was, the goats wereplaced in his care, and a good goat-keeper should also be a
goodclimber, and such Rudy was; he sometimes, indeed, climbed higherthan the goats, for he was fond
of seeking for birds'-nests at the topof high trees; he was bold and daring, but was seldom seen to
smile,excepting when he stood by the roaring cataract, or heard thedescending roll of the avalanche.
He never played with the otherchildren, and was not seen with them, unless his grandfather senthim
down to sell his curious workmanship. Rudy did not much liketrade; he loved to climb the mountains,
or to sit by his grandfatherand listen to his tales of olden times, or of the people in
Meyringen,the place of his birth.
"In the early ages of the world," said the old man, "thesepeople could not be found in Switzerland.
They are a colony from thenorth, where their ancestors still dwell, and are called Swedes."
This was something for Rudy to know, but he learnt more from othersources, particularly from the
domestic animals who belonged to thehouse. One was a large dog, called Ajola,cheap nike shoes, which had belonged to
hisfather; and the other was a tom-cat. This cat stood very high inRudy's favor, for he had taught
him to climb.
"Come out on the roof with me," said the cat; and Rudy quiteunderstood him, for the language of
fowls, ducks, cats, and dogs, isas easily understood by a young child as his own native tongue. But
itmust be at the age when grandfather's stick becomes a neighinghorse, with head, legs, and tail.
Some children retain these ideaslater than others, and they are considered backwards and childishfor
their age. People say so; but is it so?
"Come out on the roof with me, little Rudy," was the first thinghe heard the cat say, and Rudy
understood him. "What people sayabout falling down is all nonsense," continued the cat; "you willnot
fall, unless you are afraid. Come, now, set one foot here andanother there, and feel your way with
your fore-feet. Keep your eyeswide open, and move softly, and if you come to a hole jump over it,and
cling fast as I do." And this was just what Rudy did. He was oftenon the sloping roof with the cat,
or on the tops of high trees. But,more frequently, higher still on the ridges of the rocks where
pussnever came.
"Higher, higher!" cried the trees and the bushes, "see to whatheight we have grown, and how fast we
hold, even to the narrow edgesof the rocks."
Rudy often reached the top of the mountain before the sunrise, andthere inhaled his morning draught
of the fresh, invigoratingmountain air,- God's own gift, which men call the sweet fragrance ofplant
and herb on the mountain-side, and the mint and wild thyme inthe valleys. The overhanging clouds
absorb all heaviness from the air,and the winds convey them away over the pine-tree summits.
Thespirit of fragrance, light and fresh, remained behind, and this wasRudy's morning draught. The
sunbeams- those blessing-bringingdaughters of the sun- kissed his cheeks. Vertigo might be lurking
onthe watch, but he dared not approach him. The swallows, who had notless than seven nests in his
grandfather's house, flew up to him andhis goats, singing, "We and you, you and we." They brought
himgreetings from his grandfather's house, even from two hens, the onlybirds of the household; but
Rudy was not intimate with them.
Although so young and such a little fellow, Rudy had travelled agreat deal. He was born in the
canton of Valais, and brought to hisgrandfather over the mountains. He had walked to Staubbach- a
littletown that seems to flutter in the air like a silver veil- theglittering, snow-clad mountain
Jungfrau. He had also been to the greatglaciers; but this is connected with a sad story, for here
hismother met her death, and his grandfather used to say that allRudy's childish merriment was lost
from that time. His mother hadwritten in a letter, that before he was a year old he had laughed
morethan he cried; but after his fall into the snow-covered crevasse,his disposition had completely
changed. The grandfather seldom spokeof this, but the fact was generally known. Rudy's father had
been apostilion, and the large dog which now lived in his grandfather'scottage had always followed
him on his journeys over the Simplon tothe lake of Geneva. Rudy's relations, on his father's side,
lived inthe canton of Valais, in the valley of the Rhone. His uncle was achamois hunter, and a well
-known guide. Rudy was only a year oldwhen his father died, and his mother was anxious to return
with herchild to her own relations, who lived in the Bernese Oberland. Herfather dwelt at a few
hours' distance from Grindelwald; he was acarver in wood, and gained so much by it that he had
plenty to liveupon. She set out homewards in the month of June, carrying herinfant in her arms, and,
accompanied by two chamois hunters, crossedthe Gemmi on her way to Grindelwald. They had already
left more thanhalf the journey behind them. They had crossed high ridges, andtraversed snow-fields;
they could even see her native valley, with itsfamiliar wooden cottages. They had only one more
glacier to climb.Some newly fallen snow concealed a cleft which, though it did notextend to the
foaming waters in the depths beneath, was still muchdeeper than the height of a man. The young
woman, with the child inher arms, slipped upon it, sank in, and disappeared. Not a shriek, nota
groan was heard; nothing but the whining of a little child. Morethan an hour elapsed before her two
companions could obtain from thenearest house ropes and poles to assist in raising them; and it
waswith much exertion that they at last succeeded in raising from thecrevasse what appeared to be
two dead bodies. Every means was usedto restore them to life. With the child they were successful,
butnot with the mother; so the old grandfather received his daughter'slittle son into his house an
orphan,- a little boy who laughed morethan he cried; but it seemed as if laughter had left him in
the coldice-world into which he had fallen, where, as the Swiss peasantssay, the souls of the lost
are confined till the judgment-day.
The glaciers appear as if a rushing stream had been frozen inits course, and pressed into blocks of
green crystal, which,balanced one upon another, form a wondrous palace of crystal for theIce Maiden-
the queen of the glaciers. It is she whose mighty powercan crush the traveller to death, and arrest
the flowing river inits course. She is also a child of the air, and with the swiftnessof the chamois
she can reach the snow-covered mountain tops, where theboldest mountaineer has to cut footsteps in
the ice to ascend. Shewill sail on a frail pine-twig over the raging torrents beneath, andspring
lightly from one iceberg to another, with her long,snow-white hair flowing around her, and her dark
-green robe glitteringlike the waters of the deep Swiss lakes. "Mine is the power to seizeand
crush," she cried. "Once a beautiful boy was stolen from me byman,- a boy whom I had kissed, but had
not kissed to death. He isagain among mankind, and tends the goats on the mountains. He isalways
climbing higher and higher, far away from all others, but notfrom me. He is mine; I will send for
him." And she gave Vertigo thecommission.
It was summer, and the Ice Maiden was melting amidst the greenverdure, when Vertigo swung himself up
and down. Vertigo has manybrothers, quite a troop of them, and the Ice Maiden chose thestrongest
among them. They exercise their power in different ways, andeverywhere. Some sit on the banisters of
steep stairs, others on theouter rails of lofty towers, or spring like squirrels along the ridgesof
the mountains. Others tread the air as a swimmer treads thewater, and lure their victims here and
there till they fall into thedeep abyss. Vertigo and the Ice Maiden clutch at human beings, asthe
polypus seizes upon all that comes within its reach. And nowVertigo was to seize Rudy.
"Seize him, indeed," cried Vertigo; "I cannot do it. Thatmonster of a cat has taught him her tricks.
That child of the humanrace has a power within him which keeps me at a distance; I cannotpossibly
reach the boy when he hangs from the branches of trees,over the precipice; or I would gladly tickle
his feet, and send himheels over head through the air; but I cannot accomplish it."
"We must accomplish it," said the Ice Maiden; "either you or Imust; and I will- I will!"
"No, no!" sounded through the air, like an echo on the mountainchurch bells chime. It was an answer
in song, in the melting tonesof a chorus from others of nature's spirits- good and lovingspirits,
the daughters of the sunbeam. They who place themselves ina circle every evening on the mountain
peaks; there they spread outtheir rose-colored wings, which, as the sun sinks, become more
flamingred, until the lofty Alps seem to burn with fire. Men call this theAlpine glow. After the sun
has set,ghd straighteners sale, they disappear within the whitesnow on the mountain-tops, and slumber there till sunrise,
when theyagain come forth. They have great love for flowers, for butterflies,and for mankind; and
from among the latter they had chosen littleRudy. "You shall not catch him; you shall not seize
him!" they sang.
"Greater and stronger than he have I seized!" said the Ice Maiden.
Then the daughters of the sun sang a song of the traveller,whose cloak had been carried away by the
wind. "The wind took thecovering, but not the man; it could even seize upon him, but nothold him
fast. The children of strength are more powerful, moreethereal, even than we are. They can rise
higher than our parent,the sun. They have the magic words that rule the wind and the waves,and
compel them to serve and obey; and they can, at last, cast off theheavy, oppressive weight of
mortality, and soar upwards." Thus sweetlysounded the bell-like tones of the chorus.
And each morning the sun's rays shone through the one littlewindow of the grandfather's house upon
the quiet child. Thedaughters of the sunbeam kissed him; they wished to thaw, and melt,and
obliterate the ice kiss which the queenly maiden of the glaciershad given him as he lay in the lap
of his dead mother, in the deepcrevasse of ice from which he had been so wonderfully rescued.

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