‘I don’t care a bit about all that,’ said Gerda; ’it’s no use telling me such stuff.’

And then she ran to the end of the garden.  The door was fastened, but she pressed the rusty latch, and it gave way.  The door sprang open, and little Gerda ran out with bare feet into the wide world.  She looked back three times, but nobody came after her.  At last she could run no further, and she sat down on a big stone.  When she looked round she saw that the summer was over; it was quite late autumn.  She would never have known it inside the beautiful garden, where the sun always shone, and the flowers of every season were always in bloom.

‘Oh, how I have wasted my time,’ said little Gerda.  ’It is autumn.  I must not rest any longer,’ and she got up to go on.

Oh, how weary and sore were her little feet, and everything round looked so cold and dreary.  The long willow leaves were quite yellow.  The damp mist fell off the trees like rain, one leaf dropped after another from the trees, and only the sloe-thorn still bore its fruit; but the sloes were sour and set one’s teeth on edge.  Oh, how grey and sad it looked, out in the wide world.

FOURTH STORY

PRINCE AND PRINCESS

[Illustration:  She has read all the newspapers in the world, and forgotten them again, so clever is she.]

Gerda was soon obliged to rest again.  A big crow hopped on to the snow, just in front of her.  It had been sitting looking at her for a long time and wagging its head.  Now it said, ‘Caw, caw; good-day, good-day,’ as well as it could; it meant to be kind to the little girl, and asked her where she was going, alone in the wide world.

Gerda understood the word ‘alone’ and knew how much there was in it, and she told the crow the whole story of her life and adventures, and asked if it had seen Kay.

The crow nodded its head gravely and said, ’May be I have, may be I have.’

‘What, do you really think you have?’ cried the little girl, nearly smothering him with her kisses.

‘Gently, gently!’ said the crow.  ’I believe it may have been Kay, but he has forgotten you by this time, I expect, for the Princess.’

‘Does he live with a Princess?’ asked Gerda.

‘Yes, listen,’ said the crow; ’but it is so difficult to speak your language.  If you understand “crow’s language,"[1] I can tell you about it much better.’

‘No, I have never learnt it,’ said Gerda; ’but grandmother knew it, and used to speak it.  If only I had learnt it!’

‘It doesn’t matter,’ said the crow.  ’I will tell you as well as I can, although I may do it rather badly.’

Then he told her what he had heard.

‘In this kingdom where we are now,’ said he, ’there lives a Princess who is very clever.  She has read all the newspapers in the world, and forgotten them again, so clever is she.  One day she was sitting on her throne, which is not such an amusing thing to do either, they say; and she began humming a tune, which happened to be