last they came into the bedchamber. The ceiling of the room resembled a large
palm-tree with leaves of glass, of costly glass; and in the middle, from a
thick golden stem, hung two beds, each of which resembled a lily. One was
white, and in this lay the Princess; the other was red, and it was here that
Gerda was to look for little Kay. She bent back one of the red leaves, and saw
a brown neck. Oh! that was Kay! She called him quite loud by name, held the
lamp towards him--the dreams rushed back again into the chamber--he awoke,
turned his head, and--it was not little Kay!

The Prince was only like him about the neck; but he was young and handsome.
And out of the white lily leaves the Princess peeped, too, and asked what was
the matter. Then little Gerda cried, and told her her whole history, and all
that the Ravens had done for her.

"Poor little thing!" said the Prince and the Princess. They praised the Ravens
very much, and told them they were not at all angry with them, but they were
not to do so again. However, they should have a reward. "Will you fly about
here at liberty," asked the Princess; "or would you like to have a fixed
appointment as court ravens, with all the broken bits from the kitchen?"

And both the Ravens nodded, and begged for a fixed appointment; for they
thought of their old age, and said, "It is a good thing to have a provision
for our old days."

And the Prince got up and let Gerda sleep in his bed, and more than this he
could not do. She folded her little hands and thought, "How good men and
animals are!" and she then fell asleep and slept soundly. All the dreams flew
in again, and they now looked like the angels; they drew a little sledge, in
which little Kay sat and nodded his head; but the whole was only a dream, and
therefore it all vanished as soon as she awoke.

The next day she was dressed from head to foot in silk and velvet. They
offered to let her stay at the palace, and lead a happy life; but she begged
to have a little carriage with a horse in front, and for a small pair of
shoes; then, she said, she would again go forth in the wide world and look for
Kay.

Shoes and a muff were given her; she was, too, dressed very nicely; and when
she was about to set off, a new carriage stopped before the door. It was of
pure gold, and the arms of the Prince and Princess shone like a star upon it;
the coachman, the footmen, and the outriders, for outriders were there, too,
all wore golden crowns. The Prince and the Princess assisted her into the
carriage themselves, and wished her all success. The Raven of the woods, who
was now married, accompanied her for the first three miles. He sat beside
Gerda, for he could not bear riding backwards; the other Raven stood in the
doorway, and flapped her wings; she could not accompany Gerda, because she
suffered from headache since she had had a fixed appointment and ate so much.
The carriage was lined inside with sugar-plums, and in the seats were fruits
and gingerbread.

"Farewell! Farewell!" cried Prince and Princess; and Gerda wept, and the Raven
wept. Thus passed the first miles; and then the Raven bade her farewell, and
this was the most painful separation of all. He flew into a tree, and beat his
black wings as long as he could see the carriage, that shone from afar like a
sunbeam.


FIFTH STORY. The Little Robber Maiden

They drove through the dark wood; but the carriage shone like a torch, and it
dazzled the eyes of the robbers, so that they could not bear to look at it.

"'Tis gold! 'Tis gold!" they cried; and they rushed forward, seized the
horses, knocked down the little postilion, the coachman, and the servants, and
pulled little Gerda out of the carriage.

"How plump, how beautiful she is! She must have been fed on nut-kernels," said
the old female robber, who had a long, scrubby beard, and bushy eyebrows that
hung down over her eyes. "She is as good as a fatted lamb! How nice she will
be!" And then she drew out a knife, the blade of which shone so that it was
quite dreadful to behold.

"Oh!" cried the woman at the same moment. She had been bitten in the ear by
her own little daughter, who hung at her back; and who was so wild and
unmanageable, that it was quite amusing to see her. "You naughty child!" said
the mother: and now she had not time to kill Gerda.

"She shall play with me," said the little robber child. "She shall give me her
muff, and her pretty frock; she shall sleep in my bed!" And then she gave her
mother another bite, so that she jumped, and ran round with the pain; and the
Robbers laughed, and said, "Look, how she is dancing with the little one!"

"I will go into the carriage," said the little robber maiden; and she would
have her will, for she was very spoiled and very headstrong. She and Gerda got
in; and then away they drove over the stumps of felled trees, deeper and
deeper into the woods. The little robber maiden was as tall as Gerda, but
stronger, broader-shouldered, and of dark complexion; her eyes were quite
black; they looked almost melancholy. She embraced little Gerda, and said,
"They shall not kill you as long as I am not displeased with you. You are,
doubtless, a Princess?"

"No," said little Gerda; who then related all that had happened to her, and
how much she cared about little Kay.

The little robber maiden looked at her with a serious air, nodded her head
slightly, and said, "They shall not kill you, even if I am angry with you:
then I will do it myself"; and she dried Gerda's eyes, and put both her hands
in the handsome muff, which was so soft and warm.

At length the carriage stopped. They were in the midst of the court-yard of a


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