"Well! How much time has I been delayed!" said the little Gerda. "It's autumn! I can't rest anymore!" So she stood up and continued to walk forward. Oh! How sore and tired her little feet are! Around her, there is a cold and gloomy scenery. The leaves of the willow trees are yellow, and the fog turns into water on them. The leaves are falling down. Only hawthorns bear fruit, so sour that their teeth are about to fall off. Ah! How gray and desolate is this vast world!

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1 Denmark's length name is equal to 0627 meters.

The fourth story: Prince and Princess

Gerda had to rest again. Opposite the place where she was sitting, a big crow jumped over the snow. The crow had been sitting for a long time, staring at her and turning her head. Now it said, "Qua! Qua! Ri'an! Ri'an!" This is the only sound it can make, and it has a good impression of this little girl. It asked her where she wanted to go alone in this vast world. Gerda deeply understood the meaning of the word "single". She told the crow all her life and experience, and asked if it had seen Gayi.

The crow nodded thoughtfully and said, "Maybe seen!Maybe seen!"

"Why, have you really seen it?" the little girl cried, almost suffocating the crow - she kissed it so passionately.

"Gentle! Gentle!" said the crow. "I believe that might be the little Gai! But he forgot you because of that princess!"

"Did he live with a princess?" Gerda asked.

"Yes, please listen!" said the Crow, "But it is too difficult for me to speak your language. If you can understand the Crow's language, then I can speak it more clearly!"

"No, I haven't learned it!" said Gerda, "but my grandmother understands that she can speak this language. I just hope I have learned it too."

"It doesn't matter!" said the crow, "I try to make it clear, but the more I say it, the more confused I will become."

So the crow told everything it knew.

"In this kingdom where we are now, there is a very smart princess. She has read all the newspapers in the world and then forgotten them all because she is so smart. Recently she has sat on the throne - it is said that it is not very interesting - and she hums a song, and the song only has one sentence: 'Why am I not getting married now?' She said: 'Yes, this sentence makes sense.' So she really wants to get married. But her husband is: When people talk to him

He had to be able to answer, not only standing there, but just looking good-for this was very annoying. So she summoned all the maids in: when they knew what she intended, they were very happy. 'Great!' They said, 'We had this opinion not long ago.' Please believe that every word I said to you is true!" said the crow. "I have a very tame lover who can freely communicate in the palace, so she told me everything."

Of course, the so-called "lover" is nothing more than a crow, because a crow can only find similar things - it will always be a crow.

"All newspapers were published immediately, and the first letter of the name of the princess was printed on the edge of the newspaper, as decoration. People can read: Every beautiful young man can freely come to the palace to talk to the princess, and if the person who talked could make people feel that he was unrestrained and answered in a slight manner, the princess would choose him as her husband! Yes, yes!" said the crow, "Please believe me. My words are real, without a false sentence. The young man came in groups. When they came to the streets, they would say anything; but they entered the palace door together, saw the door police in silver uniforms, and saw the servants in golden uniforms standing on the steps and the dazzling halls, they could not say anything.

When she came out, she could only repeat the last word of the princess's words - and she didn't listen to her own words anymore. It seemed that the belly of these people was filled with snuff and had fallen asleep. Only when they came back to the street could they speak. These people stood from the city gate to the palace gate, and lined up in a long line. I went to see it myself once!" said the crow. "They became hungry and thirsty, but when they arrived in the palace, they couldn't even get a cup of warm water. The smartest people carried a little buttered bread with them, but they didn't give it to the people next to them, because they felt, 'Let this guy look like a hungry ghost, the princess wouldn't want him!"

"But what about Gayi, the little Gayi?" Gelda asked, "When will he come? Will he be among them?"

"Wait! Wait! We're about to talk about him soon! On the third day, a small figure arrived. He didn't ride a horse or a car. He strode into the palace happily. His eyes were like yours, shining brightly. His hair was long and thin, but his clothes were very cold!"

"That's exactly Gayi!" Gerda said happily, "Oh, I finally found him!" So she clapped her hands.

"He has a small bag on his back!" said the crow.

"No, it must be his sled!" said Gerda, "because he took the sled."

"It may be!" said the crow, "for I did not look at it carefully! But I heard from my tame lover that he was not panicking at all when he walked into the palace door and saw the guards in silver uniforms and servants in golden uniforms on the steps. He nodded and said to them: 'It must be a very annoying job to stand on these steps-I would rather walk in!' The candlelight in the hall shone like day. The Privy Councillor and the ministers walked around barefoot with gold plates. This made a solemn feeling! His boots squeaked, but he was not afraid at all!"

"It must be Gay!" said Gerda. "I know he was wearing a pair of new boots; I heard them squeaking in my grandmother's room with my own ears."

"Yes, they did make noise!" said the crow, "He walked bravely to the princess, who was sitting on a pearl as big as a spinning wheel. All the maids and their maids and their maids, all the servants and their servants and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, and their servants, were almost afraid to look at him, because they were very proud of their presence at the door!"

"This must be very terrible!" said the little Gerda, "but did Gayi get the princess?"

"If I were not a crow, I could get her, even though I had been engaged. He could speak as much as I did when I spoke crows—this was what I heard from my tamed lover. He was brave and pleasing. He did not come to propose to the princess, but to listen to the princess' wisdom. He had liked her; she also liked him."

"Yes, that must be Gayi!" said Gerda. "He is so smart. He can calculate mentally and keep counting until the score. Oh! Can you take me to the palace?"

"This is easy!" said the crow. "But how can we do it? Let me discuss it with my tame lover first. She may give us some advice. I want to tell you a little - girls as young as you usually don't get permission to walk inside."

"Yes, I'll get permission!" said Gerda. "When Gayi knew I was coming, he would come out immediately and invite me in."

"Please wait for me in the doorway," said the crow, so it turned its head and flew away.

When the crow came back, it had been dark for a long time.

"Qua! Qua!" it said, "I greet you on behalf of my lover. This is a small piece of bread I brought to you. This is what she brought from the kitchen. There is a lot of bread there. You must be very hungry now! ... It is impossible for you to think of the palace because you are barefoot. The guards in silver uniforms and servants in golden uniforms will not let you in. But please don't cry; you can still go in. My lover knows a small back staircase leading to the bedroom, and she also knows where to get the key!"

So they walked into the garden and walked on a wide tree-shaded road. Here the leaves were falling down. When the lights in the palace went out one after another, the crow took the little Gerda to the back door. This door was half-closed.

Cough! How hard was Gerda's heartbeat, fearful and anxious! She seemed to think she was doing something bad; but all she wanted to know was the little Gai. Yes, it must be him. She was vividly recalling his smart eyes and long hair. She could imagine how he smiled—the smile he was sitting under the rose tree at home. He must be happy to see her; he heard that she had walked so many times to find him; how sad it was to hear the people in the family for his departure. Ah, it was both scary and happy.

They now went up the stairs. A small lamp was lit on the cupboard; in the middle of the house stood the tame crow. It dropped its head around and looked at Gerda. She curtsy as her grandmother taught her.

"My little girl, my fiancé tells you very well," said the tame crow, "Your life experience—we can say that—is very touching! Can you pick up the light? I can lead the way in front of you. We can keep moving forward because we won't meet anyone."

"I felt as if someone was following me," said Gerda, for something had slipped over her; it seemed like a shadow on the wall, a thin leg, a leaping red-maned horse, a young hunter and a gentleman and a wife riding on the horse.

"These things are just a dream!" said the crow. "They came to take the thoughts of these noble people out for hunting. This is a good thing, because you can look at them for a while while they sleep. But I hope that when you gain wealth in the future, please don't forget me!"

"Of course this is not a problem!" said the crow in the woods.

They now walked into the first hall. There were many pink satin embroidered flowers hanging on the wall. Here, Dream ran past them, but they ran so fast that Gerda had no time to observe these people. The second hall was better than the first hall. Yes, one person would be dazed! Finally they came to the bedroom. Here, the ceiling was like a palm tree canopy with glass—very expensive—leaf. In the middle of the room, there were two beds hanging thickly.

On the big golden poles, and each bed looked like a lily. One was white in color, and the princess was asleep here; the other was red, and Gerda hoped to find a small Gai here. She separated a red petal, so she saw a brown neck. Oh, this is Gai! She shouted his name loudly and brought the lamp to him. Meng rode on the horse and rushed into the room. He woke up and turned his head, but - he was not a small Gai!

The prince had a similar neck to his. But he was young and beautiful. The princess peered out of the lily's bed and asked who was here. The little Gerda cried and told her all the story and the help the crow gave her.

"Poor child!" said the prince and the princess.

They praised the crows and said that they were not angry with them, but they could not do such things often. Even so, they should still receive a reward.

"You are willing to fly out freely," asked the princess, "or are you willing to get a fixed position as a crow in the palace and enjoy the right to eat leftovers in the kitchen?"

The two crows bowed and demanded a fixed position because they thought of their old age. They said: "It is always a good thing to be able to get some supply when you are old, as the saying goes."

The prince climbed out of bed and let Gerda sleep on his bed - he could only do this. Her little hands crossed her fingers and thought, "What kind of kind things are humans and animals!" So she closed her eyes and fell asleep happily. All the dreams flew in again; this time they were like Angel. They dragged a small sled, and Jiayi sat on it and nodded. All this was just a dream. As soon as she woke up, the dreams disappeared.

The next day she was dressed in silk and velvet clothes. Someone suggested to her that she would stay in the palace and enjoy a happy time. But she only asked for a small horse-drawn cart and a pair of small boots. So that she could drive outside again to find Gayi.

Not only did she get a pair of boots, she also got a hand warmer, and was wearing clean and neat clothes. When she was about to leave, a car made of pure gold was parked outside the door waiting for her. The prince and princess's emblem lit up like a star on it. The coachman, waiter and rider - because of the rider - were all wearing clothes embroidered with a gold crown. The prince and princess personally helped her into the car, and wished her peace all the way. The crow in the woods -

— It is now married — accompanied her on the journey of the first three Denmark 2. It sat beside Gerda, because he asked him to sit with his back to the horse, and he couldn't stand it. The other crow stood at the door, flapping his wings. She couldn't walk with them because she had a headache, and the headache was because she had eaten too much after she got the fixed position. The walls of the car were filled with sweet biscuits, and the seats were filled with ginger biscuits and fruit.

"Goodbye! Gotbye!" the prince and the princess shouted, and the little Gerda started to cry, and the crow started to cry. They walked together like this, so the crow also said goodbye - this was the saddest parting. The crow flew to a tree, flapping its black wings until it could not see the carriage - the car shining like the bright sun.

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1 This is a kind of etiquette in Nordic. When performing this etiquette, bend the knee of your left leg and nod. Now, elementary school students in Nordic (especially Sweden) still perform this etiquette when they meet teachers on the street.
Chapter completed!