the little girl and boy

the little girl

But how fared little Gerda during Kay's absence? What had become of him no one knew, no one could give information. The boys only told that they had seen him bind his sledge to another large and splendid one, which drove down the street and out at the town gate. Nobody knew what had become of him; many tears were shed, and little Gerda especially wept long and bitterly. Then the spring came, with its warm sunshine."Kay is dead and gone," said little Gerda."That I don't believe," said the Sunshine."Kay is dead and gone," said she to the Swallows."That I don't believe," they replied; and at last little Gerda did not think so any longer either."I'll put on my new red shoes," said she, one morning; "those Kay has never seen; and then I'll go down to the river and ask for him."It was still very early; she kissed the old grandmother, who was still asleep, put on her red shoes, and went quite alone out of the town gate towards the river."Is it true that you have taken my little playmate? I will give you my red shoes if you will give him back to me."And it seemed to her as if the waves nodded quite strangely; and then she took her red shoes, which she liked best of anything she possessed, and threw them both into the river; but they fell close to the shore, and the little waves bore them immediately back to her, as if the river would not take from her what she held dearest, because it could not give her back little Kay. But she thought she had not thrown the shoes far enough out, so she crept into a boat that lay among the reeds, went to the other end of the boat, and threw the shoes into the water again; but the boat was not bound fast, and at the movement she made it glided away from the shore. She observed this, and hastened to get out, but before she could do so, the boat was a yard from the land, and it drifted away faster than before. Then little Gerda was very much frightened, and began to cry, but no one heard her except the Sparrows, and they could not carry her to land; but they flew along the shore, and sang as if to comfort her, "Here we are! Here we are!" The boat drove on with the stream, and little Gerda sat quite still with only her stockings on her feet; the red shoes floated behind, but they could not come up to the boat, for it went too fast.The banks on both sides were beautiful; lovely flowers, old trees, and slopes with sheep and cows, but not a single person. "Perhaps the river will carry me to little Kay," thought Gerda. And then she became more cheerful, and rose up, and for many hours she watched the charming green banks; then she came to a great cherry orchard, in which stood a little house with remarkable blue and red windows; it was thatched, and before it two wooden soldiers stood sentry, and presented arms when anyone went past. Gerda called to them, for she thought they were alive, but of course they did not answer. She came quite near to them; the river carried the boat towards the shore.Gerda called still louder, and then there came out of the house an old woman leaning on a crutch; she wore a great hat with the most beautiful flowers painted on it."You poor little child!" said the old woman. "How did you manage to come on the great rolling river, to float so far out into the wide world?"And then the old woman went quite into the water, seized the boat with her crutch-stick, drew it to land, and lifted little Gerda out. And Gerda was glad to be on dry land again, but she felt a little afraid of the strange old woman."Come and tell me who you are, and how you came here," said she. And Gerda told her everything; and the old woman shook her head, and said, "Hem! hem!" And when Gerda had told her everything, and asked if she had not seen little Kay, the woman answered that he had not come by there, but he would certainly come, and she told her not to be sorrowful, but to taste the cherries and look at the flowers, for they were prettier than any picture book, and each one of them could tell a story. Then she took Gerda by the hand and led her into the little house, and the old woman shut the door.The windows were very high, and the panes were red, blue, and yellow; the daylight shone in a strange way, with different colors. On the table stood the most beautiful cherries, and Gerda ate as many as she liked, for she had leave to do so. While she was eating and enjoying them, the old woman combed her hair with a golden comb, and the hair hung in ringlets of pretty yellow around the friendly little face, which looked fresh and like a rose."

I have long wished for such a dear little girl as you