The Snow Queen (3)

The Snow Queen (3)

The two families each had a big wooden box outside, where they grew pot herbs as well as a little rose bush.

The two rose bushes sent out long shoots that climbed up the windows and bent towards each other.

The children were often allowed to step out and sit on their small stools under the roses, and there they enjoyed themselves thoroughly.

In the winter, though, the windows were shut and frozen over, and the children had to climb the stairs down and up again to visit one another.

When the snow fell, Kay's grandmother told him that the white bees were swarming, and in their midst the Snow Queen who never rests on ground but always flies up in a black cloud.

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