THE SNOW-QUEEN
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her, and cried out, 'Gerda! dear little Gerda! Where have you been so long? and where have I been?'
And he looked round him.
'How cold it is here! How wide and empty!' and he threw himself on Gerda, and she laughed and wept
![black and white illustration of a boy and a girl embracing on their knees. The big is wearing a dark hooded jacket, plain trousers, and boots. The girl has long light hair and is wearing a light dress and is barefoot. Behind them is a large frozen lake covered in cracked ice and there are ice shards forming the frame of the image below them.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a3/The_Pink_Fairy_Book_-_p99.png/360px-The_Pink_Fairy_Book_-_p99.png)
for joy. It was such a happy time that the pieces of ice even danced round them for joy, and when they were tired and lay down again they formed themselves into the letters that the Snow-queen had said he must spell in order to become his own master and have the whole world and a new pair of skates.