“Well, that’s nothing to talk about!” said the crow from the woods.
Then they entered the first room. There were pink satin walls with artificial flowers. Here the dreams were flying past them, but they went so fast that Gerda didn’t see their Highnesses. One room was more magnificent than the next. You really could be stupefied! And then they were in the bedroom. The ceiling in there looked like a big palm with fronds of glass, expensive glass, and in the middle of the floor hung two beds on a thick stalk, and they looked like lilies. One was white, and in it lay the princess. The second was red, and that’s where Gerda looked for little Kai. She bent one of the red leaves to the side and saw a brown neck.—Oh, it was Kai!—She called his name quite loudly, and held the lamp up to him—the dreams roared by on horses back to the hall again—he awoke, turned his head and—it was not little Kai.
The prince only resembled him in the neck, but he was young and handsome. And the princess peered out from the white lily bed and asked what was happening. Then little Gerda started crying and told her whole story, and everything that the crows had done for her.
“You poor little thing,” said the prince and princess, and they praised the crows and said they weren’t angry with them at all, but they shouldn’t do it again. However, they would get a reward.
“Do you want to fly free?” asked the princess, “or do you want permanent positions as Court Crows with all the scraps in the kitchen?”
And both crows bowed and asked to have permanent positions because they were thinking of their old age and said, “It’s better to have a bird in the hand than two in the bush,” as they put it.
The prince got up from his bed and let Gerda sleep there, and he couldn’t do more than that. She folded her small hands and thought, “How good people and animals are,” and then she closed her eyes and slept so peacefully. All the dreams came flying in again, and they looked like God’s angels, and they pulled a little sled, and Kai was sitting on it nodding; but it was all only dreams, and so it was all gone as soon as she awoke.
The next day she was dressed from top to toe in silk and velvet. She was invited to stay at the castle and have a good future, but she only asked for a little carriage with a horse and a pair of little boots. Then she would drive out in the wide world again to find Kai.
And she was given both boots and a muff. She was dressed beautifully, and when she was ready to leave, there was a new coach of pure gold waiting by the door. The prince and princess’ coat of arms shone from it like a star. The coachman, servants, and outriders—for there were outriders too—were wearing gold crowns. The prince and princess helped her into the coach and wished her luck. The forest crow, who had gotten married, followed along the first three miles. He sat beside her because he couldn’t stand driving backwards. The other crow stood at the gate and flapped her wings. She didn’t come along because she suffered from a headache ever since she had gained a permanent position and too much to eat. Inside, the coach was lined with sugar pastries, and under the seats were fruits and peppernut cookies.
“Farewell, farewell,” shouted the prince and princess, and little Gerda cried, and the crow cried—that’s how the first miles went. Then the crow said good bye too, and that was the hardest parting. He flew up in a tree and flapped his black wings as long as he could see the coach, which shone like clear sunshine.
FIFTH STORY
THE LITTLE ROBBER GIRL
They drove through the dark forest, but the coach shone like a flame, and it blinded the robbers so they couldn’t stand it.
“It’s gold! It’s gold!” they yelled, rushed forward, seized the horses, killed the little outriders, the driver, and servants, and pulled little Gerda from the coach.
“She is plump. She is sweet. She’s been fed on nut meats,” said the old robber crone. She had a long, bristly beard and eyebrows that hung down over her eyes. “She’s as good as a fat little lamb! Oh, she’ll be tasty!” And then she pulled out her shiny knife that glittered so it was frightful.
“Ouch!” cried the crone just then. She had been bitten in the ear by her little daughter, who hung on her back, and who was so wild and naughty that it was a delight to watch her. “You loathsome brat!” said her mother, who didn’t have time to butcher Gerda.
“She’s going to play with me!” said the little robber girl. “She’ll give me her muff and her lovely dress, and she’ll sleep with me in my bed.” And then she bit again so the robber woman jumped in the air and spun around, and all the robbers laughed and said, “See how she dances with her kid!”
“I want to get into the coach,” said the little robber girl, and she must and would have her own way because she was so spoiled and stubborn. She and Gerda sat inside, and then they drove over stubble and thorns deeper into the forest. The little robber girl was as big as Gerda, but she was stronger, more broad-shouldered, and dark- skinned. Her eyes were quite black and looked almost sad. She put her arm around Gerda’s waist and said, “They won’t slaughter you as long as I don’t get angry with you! I guess you’re a princess?”
“No,” said little Gerda, and told her everything she had experienced, and how much she cared about little Kai.
The robber girl looked quite seriously at her, nodded her head a little, and said, “They won’t kill you, even if I get angry with you. I’ll do it myself.” Then she dried Gerda’s eyes and put both her hands into the beautiful muff that was so soft and warm.
The coach stopped. They were in the middle of the courtyard of a robber castle. It was cracked from top to bottom, and ravens and crows flew out of the open holes. Big vicious dogs that looked like they could each swallow a person leaped high in the air, but they didn’t bark because that was forbidden.
In the big, old, sooty main room there was a great fire burning in the middle of the stone floor. The smoke drifted up under the ceiling and had to find its own way out. Soup was boiling in a big kettle, and both hares and rabbits were on the spit.
“You’ll sleep here with me tonight with all my little pets,” said the robber girl. They had something to eat and drink and then went into a corner where straw and blankets were lying. Above them were almost a hundred pigeons, sitting on sticks and perches. They all seemed to be asleep, but they turned a bit when the little girls came.
“They’re all mine!” said the little robber girl and quickly grabbed one of the closest birds. She held it by the legs and shook it so that it flapped its wings. “Kiss it!” she commanded and flapped it in Gerda’s face. “These are the
