Once upon a time there was a kingdom in which there lived a king and a queen. To them a girl was born. At night, as is the way of things, two good fairies appeared at her cradle.
“Where is Nadia? She should have been here by now,” sighed the first fairy.
“What do I know?” growled the second. “She’s doing good deeds somewhere. Yuck.”
“Let’s start without her,” the first fairy decided, and began: “You’ll be beautiful, smart and kind, little princess.”
“So much so that the whole kingdom will freeze over because of you,” added the second fairy.
“There’s no way that it will happen. Where’s Nadia to save the day with her divination?” lamented the first fairy.
The fairies disappeared, but before the sun rose, Nadia flickered past the window.
“What freezes will melt again. I give you the courage so you can save the kingdom.”
And so the days, weeks, months and years passed. The baby became a little girl who every year begged her daddy king to bring her something special for her birthday. The king would go on expeditions to far away lands where it was always cold, icy and snowy. That was something the princess never experienced. In the kingdom where she lived, it was always nice and warm. That’s why one of the most beautiful gifts she ever received was icicles, snowballs or a tiny snowman. Of course, the gifts soon melted away, but she was all the happier for them. They were unique to her.
When the day of the princess’s eighteenth birthday approached, Armida, that was her name, begged her father to bring her back from his travels to far-off winter lands some truly special gift.
The King was lucky this time. As they were breaking the ice and making their way, they came across a tiger frozen in a pile of ice. He immediately ordered his people to load him up, cover him with snow to keep him from melting on the way, and set off on their journey home. What a surprise, thought the king, Armida will rejoice. And she will rejoice even more when he takes possession of this frozen land and joins it to his kingdom, that way he will be able to take her on a trip there.
And indeed. Armida was breathless at such a gift. The tiger stood inside the ice with his mouth open as if he was angry with someone.
“It is truly a unique gift. But I feel sorry for the tiger,” Armida said. “I’m going to let him melt and release him into the wild.”
The king tried to explain to her that the tiger couldn’t survive in the ice and that it would be better to keep him locked up down in the cellar where it was cold, but Armida didn’t listen. Something was telling her that the tiger was still alive.
And she was right. As soon as the ice melted, the tiger jumped up and limped away like a freshly washed dog. Then, to everyone’s surprise, it spoke in human language.
“I am the sorcerer and ruler of the icy land you sought to claim. I was trapped in the ice in tiger form, but now I am free and will be king again. As a revenge, I will send eternal snow and ice upon your kingdom!”
The tiger jumped out of the window and disappeared. But dark clouds rolled into the sky and immediately snow began to fall. An icy wind blew into the windows, and the frost began to whiten the branches of the trees that were in the midst of blooming.
“What have you done, Armida? You should have left him frozen in the ice,” the king wailed, pulling socks onto his feet and another onto his hands.
“Our country is not used to winter,” the queen lamented, wrapping a blanket around her.
“I’ll fix it,” Armida said, dressing warmly and heading out. The cook packed her a pile of cutlets which he had just prepared for lunch, and wished her good luck.
She had not yet left the gardens when she saw two storks standing in the pond. Their feet were frozen in the ice that had begun to form on the surface. Armida quickly rushed in, broke the ice and took the storks home to the warmth of the fireplace. As their feet were released from the ice, the storks spread their wings and gave thanks.
“When you need help, we’ll be glad to return the favor,” the storks called and flew away.
Armida walked on, wading through the snow and fighting the harsh wind. As she was walking through the forest, she saw a pack of wolves crouching there, shivering with cold in the snowdrift. They were whimpering with cold, poor things. So Armida gave them all the cutlets she got for the journey. The wolves ate, and that warmed them up.
“When you need us, we’ll be glad to return the favour,” the wolves said to Armida, and walked her out of the forest.
And so the frozen Armida made her way to the icy land. At the edge of town, she met a little girl shivering with cold. She didn’t even have a coat. So Armida took off her coat and wrapped the little girl in it.
“Thank you, lady. I got lost,” said the little girl. “I went to the market in town with my father to sell, but as I was catching flakes on my tongue, he suddenly disappeared from sight. And I don’t know which way to go.”
“Come on, I’m sure we’ll find him in town together.”
Armida and the little girl soon found the merchant. The girl and her father hugged each other and were very happy to have found each other.
“And you, for bringing me back my dearest, take this.”
“Those are strange shoes,” Armida looked at the shoes with the sheckles on the sole.
“Those are skates, girl. They’re for skating on ice.”
“Thank you, they might come in handy in this icy land. Do you know where the king of this country lives?”
“Yes, I do. Now he calls himself the Ice Tiger, and he lives in his castle beyond the endless plain of snow and the deep abyss stretching as far as you can see. No one can get there. He only appears when he wants to. And even if someone could survive walking through the endless snow and crossing the deep and wide chasm, they wouldn’t be able to reach his castle. It is built on an island in the middle of a huge lake.”
“That sounds scary, but thank you, merchant. I’ll go there,” Armida decided and set off fearlessly on her way out of the city towards the endless snow plains.
To be continued…
