This section opens with Gerda’s coach being attacked by robbers, and all the men the princess sent with her being murdered—a somewhat jarring turn of events, since there’s no real violence in the story before or since. The leader of the robbers, a woman with a beard, wants to kill and eat Gerda. She’s stopped by her daughter, who bites the mother, twice, gets into the coach with Gerda, and drives it off. She steals Gerda’s muff and boots, listens to her story, and promises that none of the other robbers will kill her—because if she causes any trouble, the robber girl will kill her herself.
They reach the robbers’ home, a dilapidated castle full of badly treated animals, primarily birds, but also some dogs, and one reindeer. The robber girl enjoys ticking the reindeer with a knife, which, understandably, terrifies him. She falls asleep with one hand wrapped around Gerda, and one around her knife.
While she sleeps, the animals tell Gerda they’ve seen Kai, riding north toward Lapland in the Snow Queen’s sleigh. In the morning, she tells the robber girl, who sends Gerda off with the reindeer, her boots, and a pair of her mother’s mittens, as she wants to keep the muff.
This is a pretty good arrangement for the reindeer, who gets to escape the robber girl and her knife, and finally return home to Lapland.
No comments:
Post a Comment