Gerda soon had to stop and rest again. Suddenly a large raven hopped upon the snow in front of her, saying, "Caw! Caw! -Good day! -Good day!" He sat for some time, eyeing the little girl and wagging his head. Then he came forward to talk to her and ask her where she was going all alone. Gerda told the raven the story of her life and fortunes, and asked if he had seen Kay.
And the raven nodded his head, half doubtfully, and said, "That is possible -possible. "
"Do you think so?" exclaimed Gerda, and she hugged the raven so enthusiastically that she nearly squeezed him to death.
"Gently, gently!" said the raven. "I think I know. I think it may be Kay, but he has certainly forsaken you for the princess.
"Does he live with a princess?" asked Gerda.
"Listen to me," said the raven. "But it is so difficult to speak your language. Do you understand Ravenish? If so, I can tell you much better."
"No, I have never learned Ravenish, said Gerda. "But my grandmother knew it. Oh, how I wish I had learnt it from her!"
"Never mind," said the raven. "I will tell you as best I can.
"In the kingdom where we are now there dwells a very clever princess. Immediately after she came to the throne, she began to sing a new song, the point of which was 'Why should I not marry?' 'There is some sense in this song!' she said, and she determined she would marry but declared that the man whom she would choose must be able to answer sensibly whenever people spoke to him and must be good for something else besides merely looking grand.
"Believe me," continued the raven, "every word I say is true, for my sweetheart hops about the palace as she pleases and she has told me all this."
"Proclamations, adorned with borders of hearts, were immediately sent out, proclaiming that every well-favored youth was free to go to the palace, and that whoever should talk and show himself intelligent and at ease with the princess would be the one she would choose for her husband."
"The people all crowded to the palace, but it was no use. The young men could speak well enough while they were outside the palace gates, but when they went in and saw the royal guard in silver uniform and the servants on the staircase in gold and the spacious rooms all lighted up, they were quite speechless. They stood before the throne where the princess sat, and when she spoke to them they could only repeat the last word she had uttered. It was just as though they had been struck dumb the moment they entered the palace, for as soon as they got out they could talk fast enough. There was a regular procession."
"But Kay, when did he come?" asked Gerda. "Was he among the crowd?"
"Presently, presently; we have just come to him. On the third day a youth with neither horse nor carriage arrived. Gaily he marched up to the palace. His eyes sparkled like yours. He had long, beautiful hair but was very meanly clad."
"That was Kay!" exclaimed Gerda. "Oh, then I have found him!" And she clapped her hands with delight.
"He carried a knapsack on his back," said the raven.
"No, not a knapsack, said Gerda, "a sled, for he had a sled with him."
"It is possible," rejoined the raven. "I did not look very closely, but I heard from my beloved that when he entered the palace gates and saw the royal guard in silver and the servants in gold upon the staircase, he did not seem in the least confused. He nodded pleasantly and said to them, 'It must be very tedious standing out here. I'm glad I'm going in.' The halls glistened with light; it was just the sort of place that makes a man solemn and silent, and the youth's boots creaked horribly yet he was not at all afraid."
"That certainly was Kay!" said Gerda. "I know he had new boots: I have heard them creak in my grandmother's room."
"They really did make a noise," said the raven, "but he went merrily up to the princess, who was sitting on a pearl as large as a spinning wheel."
"The young man spoke as well as I speak when I speak in Ravenish. He did not come to woo her, he said, he had only come to hear the wisdom of the princess. And he liked her very much, and she liked him in return. "Yes, to be sure, that was Kay, said Gerda. "He was so clever, he could do arithmetic in his head, even fractions! Oh, will you take me to the palace?"
'Ah! That is easily said," replied the raven, "but how is it to be done? I will talk it over with my sweetheart. She will advise us what to do."
"Wait for me at the trellis over there," said the raven. He wagged his head and away he flew.
He did not return until late that evening. "Caw, caw," he said. "My sweetheart greets you kindly and sends you a piece of bread that she took from the kitchen. There is plenty there, and you must certainly be hungry. As you have bare feet, the royal guard would never permit you to enter the palace. But do not weep, you shall go there. My sweetheart knows a little back staircase leading to the bedrooms, and she also knows where to find the key."
So they went into the garden and down the grand avenue, and, when the lights in the palace had been put out one by one, the raven took Gerda to a back door that stood half open. Oh, how Gerda's heart beat with fear and expectation! It was just as though she were about to do something wrong, although she only wanted to know whether Kay was really there. She would see if his smile was the same. He would be so glad to see her, to hear how far she had come for his sake, and how everyone at home missed him.
They climbed the staircase. A small lamp placed on a cabinet gave a glimmer of light, and on the floor stood the tame raven, who first turned her head on all sides and then looked at Gerda, who curtsied as her grandmother had taught her.
"My betrothed has told me much about you, my good young maiden," said the tame raven. "Your adventures are extremely interesting. If you will take the lamp, I will show you the way."
They entered the first room. Its walls were covered with rose-colored satin and embroidered with gold flowers. Some dreams rustled past them, but so quickly that Gerda could not see them. Each room that they went through was more splendid than the room before, until at last they reached the sleeping hall. In the center of this room stood a pillar of gold like the stem of a large palm tree whose leaves of costly glass made up the ceiling. Hanging down from the tree on thick golden stalks were two beds in the form of lilies. One was white, and in it rested the princess. The other was red, and in it Gerda hoped to find her playfellow Kay. She bent aside one of the red leaves and saw a neck. Oh, it must be Kay! She called him by his name aloud and held the lamp close to him. The dreams rushed by. He awoke, turned his head, but behold!-it was not Kay.
The princess looked out from under the white lily petals and asked what was the matter. Then Gerda wept and told her the whole story and what the ravens had done for her.
"You poor child!" said the prince and princess, and then they praised the ravens and said they were not angry with them, but that they weren't to do it again. This once, however, they should be rewarded.
"Would you like to fly away freely to the woods?" asked the princess, addressing the ravens, "or would you rather have appointments as Court-Ravens with the benefits belonging to kitchen, such as crumbs?"
And both the ravens bowed low and chose the appointment at court, for they thought of their old age and said it would be so comfortable to be provided for. Then the prince rose and made Gerda sleep in his bed.
The next day she was dressed from head to foot in beautiful clothes. She was invited to stay at the palace, but she begged only for a carriage and a horse and a pair of boots. All she wanted was to go back into the wide world to look for Kay.
They gave her the boots and a muff as well, and as soon as she was ready, a carriage of pure gold drove up to the palace door. The coachman, footman, and outriders all wore gold crowns. The princess and prince themselves helped her into the carriage and wished her success, and the wood raven, who was now married, accompanied her the first three miles.
"Farewell, farewell!" cried the prince and princess. Gerda wept, and the raven wept out of sympathy. Then he flew up to the branch of a tree and flapped his black wings at the coach till it was out of sight.
