Branches Book

BRANCHES

really found you?” she said. Alas, Kay was cold and paid no attention to Gerda. Gerda cried even harder. One of her tears landed on his chest and melted his frozen heart. The boy looked at Gerda and also began to cry. His tears took the sliver of the mirror right out of his eye. “My dear Gerda! What has happened to me? Why am I here amongst this cold ice?” asked Kay. He held on to Gerda tightly as they laughed and cried happily together. The pieces of iced moved themselves to form the word eternity . Kay happily yelled, “Now I am free! Now I am free! She promised to grant me the world if I could spell the word!” The boy and the girl were no longer afraid of the Snow Queen. She was now powerless against them. Kay and Gerda, hand in hand, left the icy palace of the Snow Queen for good. They walked on the road, remembering their old grandmother who had probably missed them and the brilliant rosebush that once bloomed on their roof. Their reunion made the sun shine a little brighter causing the snow around them to start to melt. At first, Kay and Gerda headed to the hut of the old Finnish woman. She had sewn warm clothes for Kay and fixed her old sleigh so that they could return to Laplandia. Soon, they were back in their hometown. Nothing had changed since they left. However, when Kay and Gerda looked at themselves in the mirror, they saw that they had all grown up. They went up to their roof and sat down next to each other, content in the hot summer sun. I have a passion for fairytales. They were always a big part of my upbringing, just like many other children. However, upon arriving to a fully American school from my previous Russian school, I realized that the fairytales I grew up with aren’t exactly universal. There was a bit of culture shock when I came to Wildwood. Though I was born here in the United States, I grew up in a little Russian community that tried desperately to echo the positives of soviet life. I was raised in the colorful kitschy world of soviet cartoons, Russian poems, Aesop’s fables, and fairy tales by Hans Andersen. Then, later, I discovered Cartoon Network and Disney Channel. It was my assimilation. For this project, I chose to translate a fairytale I grew up with as a homage to my childhood. The process of translating proved to be tougher than I had hoped. Great translations make you doubt the original language. It’s as much of an art form as writing itself. In order for me to provide the reader with such a translation, Author’s Statement: Katiana Duffour

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