OFFERED FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION:
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| She was beautiful, but she was made entirely of ice–glittering dazzlng ice |
The Opening Paragraphs of
The Snow Queen
by
Hans Christian Andersen
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They even wanted to fly up to heaven with it to mock the angels
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Now we are about to begin, and you must attend; and when we get to the end of the story, you will know more than you do now about a very wicked hobgoblin. He was one of the worst kind; in fact he was a real demon.
One day he was in a high state of delight because he had invented a mirror with this peculiarity, that every good and pretty thing reflected in it shrank away to almost nothing. On the other hand, every bad and good-for-nothing thing stood out and looked its worst.
The most beautiful landscapes reflected in it looked like boiled spinach, and the best people became hideous, or else they were upside down and had no bodies. Their faces were distorted beyond recognition, and if they had even one freckle it appeared to spread all over the nose and mouth.
The demon thought this immensely amusing. If a good thought passed through any one's mind, it turned to a grin in the mirror, and this caused real delight to the demon.
All the scholars in the demon's school, for he kept a school, reported that a miracle had taken place: now for the first time it had become possible to see what the world and mankind were really like. ...
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| Hans Christian Andersen 1805-1875) |
IF YOU THNK THOSE WORDS DON'T APPLY TO WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE and ALL OVER THE WORLD TODAY–– PLEASE THINK AGAIN, BECAUSE YOU COULDN'T BE MORE WRONG. THE LANGUAGE OF SYMBOLISM IS VERY POWERFUL ONCE YOU LEARN HOW TO READ IT.
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The ugly spectre of racism has reared its horned head!
ReplyDeleteTHAT is the false, hdeously distorted image the Demon's Mirror would have you believe.
DeleteWho or What is The Demon's Mirror in today's world? What does the metaphor suggest?
...against hobgoblins.
ReplyDeleteIn reality "hobgoblins" are little more than the foolishness displayed by hardened cynics and determined malefactors who take a dim vew of everything hopeful, helpful, wholesome, encouraging, charming, cheering, mirthful, right, good, and productive in favor of incessant FAULT FINDING, COMPLAINT, CONDEMNATION and DESTRUCTION.
Delete...for the hobgoblin views every human interaction through the mirror/prism of "racism".
ReplyDeleteThat among every OTHER ugly, harmful, insidiously evil, negative thing imaginable.
DeleteMy fourth grade student was assigned to read "The Snow Queen" this week. On Saturday, I will learn if she had time to complete the assignment.
ReplyDeleteI would be most interested to learn whether he understood the story's implicit meaning or not?
DeleteWhat IS The Snow Queen REALLY all about?
ALSO: I think a comparison between The Snow Queen and the Wizard of Oz could be profitable in any earnest effort to efforts to shape young minds and direct them on the UPWARD PATH through life.
The Pied Piper of Hamelin examines eseentially the same point, I believe, but from an opposite direction.
We adults stil have much to learn from mythology, legends and classic Fairy Tales.
It has been this way through the ages. Has it not?
ReplyDeleteYes, but Hans Christian Andersen's enchanting STORY clearly indicates what the ANTIDOTE to such misery COULD be.
DeleteLittle Gerda of the Snow Queen, and Dorothy of Wizard of Oz fame have a great deal in common.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, but comments MUST at least attempt to relate to the topic of the post.
DeleteWe don't function as a Community Bulletin Board for Generalized Complaints.about the cindition of the world.
I hope you have a Good Christmas.