The Snowman
by Hans Christian Andersen · from Collected Fairy Tales
Adapted Version
One cold winter day, some boys made a big, happy Snow Man. Snowy felt very cold. He liked the cold very much. It made him feel strong.
The big sun went down. Snowy watched it go. Then the round moon came up. It shone bright in the sky.
"Away, away!" barked Old Dog. "The sun will make you melt. I saw it before." Old Dog was hoarse. He once lived inside. He had a warm fire there.
Old Dog talked of a stove. It was black and warm. He lay under it. It was the best thing. He still dreamed of it.
Snowy looked through the window. He saw the black Stove. Fire glowed inside it. Snowy felt a strange wish. He wanted to be very close. He wanted to be warm.
"You must not go there!" barked Old Dog. "The Stove is hot. It will melt you. You will go away."
Snowy still wanted the Stove. He felt a warm feeling. It was inside his body. He wished to be near it. He wished to be warm.
All night, Snowy looked at the Stove. Its light was warm and soft. He felt happy just looking. He felt a quiet joy.
Next morning, ice covered the window. Snowy could not see the Stove. He felt very sad. He missed the warm light.
Old Dog saw Snowy was sad. "The weather will change," he barked. "It will be warm soon. I feel it now."
The sun got warm. The snow started to melt. Snowy got smaller and smaller. He said nothing. He just got smaller.
One morning, Snowy was gone. He melted all away. Only a metal stick stood there. It was in the ground.
Old Dog looked at the stick. "Ah," he barked. "The stick wanted the Stove. It wanted to be warm."
Winter went away. Spring came. New flowers grew. No one remembered Snowy. But the sun shone.
Original Story
The snowman
A fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen
"It is so delightfully cold," said the Snow Man, "that it makes my whole body crackle. This is just the kind of wind to blow life into one. How that great red thing up there is staring at me!" He meant the sun, who was just setting. "It shall not make me wink. I shall manage to keep the pieces."
He had two triangular pieces of tile in his head, instead of eyes; his mouth was made of an old broken rake, and was, of course, furnished with teeth.
He had been brought into existence amidst the joyous shouts of boys, the jingling of sleigh-bells, and the slashing of whips.
The sun went down, and the full moon rose, large, round, and clear, shining in the deep blue.
"There it comes again, from the other side," said the Snow Man, who supposed the sun was showing himself once more. "Ah, I have cured him of staring, though; now he may hang up there, and shine, that I may see myself. If I only knew how to manage to move away from this place,– I should so like to move. If I could, I would slide along yonder on the ice, as I have seen the boys do; but I don't understand how; I don't even know how to run."
"Away, away," barked the old yard-dog. He was quite hoarse, and could not pronounce "Bow wow" properly. He had once been an indoor dog, and lay by the fire, and he had been hoarse ever since. "The sun will make you run some day. I saw him, last winter, make your predecessor run, and his predecessor before him. Away, away, they all have to go."
"I don't understand you, comrade," said the Snow Man. "Is that thing up yonder to teach me to run? I saw it running itself a little while ago, and now it has come creeping up from the other side."
"You know nothing at all," replied the yard-dog; "but then, you've only lately been patched up. What you see yonder is the moon, and the one before it was the sun. It will come again to-morrow, and most likely teach you to run down into the ditch by the well; for I think the weather is going to change. I can feel such pricks and stabs in my left leg; I am sure there is going to be a change."
"I don't understand him," said the Snow Man to himself; "but I have a feeling that he is talking of something very disagreeable. The one who stared so just now, and whom he calls the sun, is not my friend; I can feel that too."
"Away, away," barked the yard-dog, and then he turned round three times, and crept into his kennel to sleep.
There was really a change in the weather. Towards morning, a thick fog covered the whole country round, and a keen wind arose, so that the cold seemed to freeze one's bones; but when the sun rose, the sight was splendid. Trees and bushes were covered with hoar frost, and looked like a forest of white coral; while on every twig glittered frozen dew-drops. The many delicate forms concealed in summer by luxuriant foliage, were now clearly defined, and looked like glittering lace-work. From every twig glistened a white radiance. The birch, waving in the wind, looked full of life, like trees in summer; and its appearance was wondrously beautiful. And where the sun shone, how everything glittered and sparkled, as if diamond dust had been strewn about; while the snowy carpet of the earth appeared as if covered with diamonds, from which countless lights gleamed, whiter than even the snow itself.
"This is really beautiful," said a young girl, who had come into the garden with a young man; and they both stood still near the Snow Man, and contemplated the glittering scene. "Summer cannot show a more beautiful sight," she exclaimed, while her eyes sparkled.
"And we can't have such a fellow as this in the summer time," replied the young man, pointing to the Snow Man; "he is capital."
The girl laughed, and nodded at the Snow Man, and then tripped away over the snow with her friend. The snow creaked and crackled beneath her feet, as if she had been treading on starch.
"Who are these two?" asked the Snow Man of the yard-dog. "You have been here longer than I have; do you know them?"
"Of course I know them," replied the yard-dog; "she has stroked my back many times, and he has given me a bone of meat. I never bite those two."
"But what are they?" asked the Snow Man.
"They are lovers," he replied; "they will go and live in the same kennel by-and-by, and gnaw at the same bone. Away, away!"
"Are they the same kind of beings as you and I?" asked the Snow Man.
"Well, they belong to the same master," retorted the yard-dog. "Certainly people who were only born yesterday know very little. I can see that in you. I have age and experience. I know every one here in the house, and I know there was once a time when I did not lie out here in the cold, fastened to a chain. Away, away!"
"The cold is delightful," said the Snow Man; "but do tell me tell me; only you must not clank your chain so; for it jars all through me when you do that."
"Away, away!" barked the yard-dog; "I'll tell you; they said I was a pretty little fellow once; then I used to lie in a velvet-covered chair, up at the master's house, and sit in the mistress's lap. They used to kiss my nose, and wipe my paws with an embroidered handkerchief, and I was called 'Ami, dear Ami, sweet Ami.' But after a while I grew too big for them, and they sent me away to the housekeeper's room; so I came to live on the lower story. You can look into the room from where you stand, and see where I was master once; for I was indeed master to the housekeeper. It was certainly a smaller room than those up stairs; but I was more comfortable; for I was not being continually taken hold of and pulled about by the children as I had been. I received quite as good food, or even better. I had my own cushion, and there was a stove– it is the finest thing in the world at this season of the year. I used to go under the stove, and lie down quite beneath it. Ah, I still dream of that stove. Away, away!"
"Does a stove look beautiful?" asked the Snow Man, "is it at all like me?"
"It is just the reverse of you," said the dog; "it's as black as a crow, and has a long neck and a brass knob; it eats firewood, so that fire spurts out of its mouth. We should keep on one side, or under it, to be comfortable. You can see it through the window, from where you stand."
Then the Snow Man looked, and saw a bright polished thing with a brazen knob, and fire gleaming from the lower part of it. The Snow Man felt quite a strange sensation come over him; it was very odd, he knew not what it meant, and he could not account for it. But there are people who are not men of snow, who understand what it is.
"And why did you leave her?" asked the Snow Man, for it seemed to him that the stove must be of the female sex. "How could you give up such a comfortable place?"
"I was obliged," replied the yard-dog. "They turned me out of doors, and chained me up here. I had bitten the youngest of my master's sons in the leg, because he kicked away the bone I was gnawing. 'Bone for bone,' I thought; but they were so angry, and from that time I have been fastened with a chain, and lost my bone. Don't you hear how hoarse I am. Away, away! I can't talk any more like other dogs. Away, away, that is the end of it all."
But the Snow Man was no longer listening. He was looking into the housekeeper's room on the lower storey; where the stove stood on its four iron legs, looking about the same size as the Snow Man himself.
"What a strange crackling I feel within me," he said. "Shall I ever get in there? It is an innocent wish, and innocent wishes are sure to be fulfilled. I must go in there and lean against her, even if I have to break the window."
"You must never go in there," said the yard-dog, "for if you approach the stove, you'll melt away, away."
"I might as well go," said the Snow Man, "for I think I am breaking up as it is."
During the whole day the Snow Man stood looking in through the window, and in the twilight hour the room became still more inviting, for from the stove came a gentle glow, not like the sun or the moon; no, only the bright light which gleams from a stove when it has been well fed. When the door of the stove was opened, the flames darted out of its mouth; this is customary with all stoves. The light of the flames fell directly on the face and breast of the Snow Man with a ruddy gleam.
"I can endure it no longer," said he; "how beautiful it looks when it stretches out its tongue?"
The night was long, but did not appear so to the Snow Man, who stood there enjoying his own reflections, and crackling with the cold.
In the morning, the window-panes of the housekeeper's room were covered with ice. They were the most beautiful ice-flowers any Snow Man could desire, but they concealed the stove. These window-panes would not thaw, and he could see nothing of the stove, which he pictured to himself, as if it had been a lovely human being. The snow crackled and the wind whistled around him; it was just the kind of frosty weather a Snow Man might thoroughly enjoy. But he did not enjoy it; how, indeed, could he enjoy anything when he was "stove sick?"
"That is terrible disease for a Snow Man," said the yard-dog; "I have suffered from it myself, but I got over it. Away, away," he barked and then he added, "the weather is going to change."
And the weather did change; it began to thaw.
As the warmth increased, the Snow Man decreased. He said nothing and made no complaint, which is a sure sign.
One morning he broke, and sunk down altogether; and, behold, where he had stood, something like a broomstick remained sticking up in the ground. It was the pole round which the boys had built him up.
"Ah, now I understand why he had such a great longing for the stove," said the yard-dog. "Why, there's the shovel that is used for cleaning out the stove, fastened to the pole." The Snow Man had a stove scraper in his body; that was what moved him so. "But it's all over now. Away, away."
And soon the winter passed.
"Away, away," barked the hoarse yard-dog. But the girls in the house sang,
"Come from your fragrant home, green thyme;
Stretch your soft branches, willow-tree;
The months are bringing the sweet spring-time,
When the lark in the sky sings joyfully.
Come gentle sun, while the cuckoo sings,
And I'll mock his note in my wanderings."
And nobody thought any more of the Snow Man.
- * * * *
Story DNA
Moral
Some desires, though seemingly innocent, can lead to one's undoing, and the world often moves on without acknowledging individual suffering.
Plot Summary
A newly created Snow Man delights in the cold but soon develops an inexplicable, intense longing for a warm stove he sees through a window. Despite warnings from an old yard-dog that the stove will melt him, his desire grows, consuming his thoughts. As a thaw begins, the Snow Man gradually melts away, revealing a stove-scraper that had been used in his construction, which the yard-dog realizes was the source of his fated longing. Winter passes, and the Snow Man is forgotten.
Themes
Emotional Arc
innocence to longing to dissolution
Writing Style
Narrative Elements
Cultural Context
Hans Christian Andersen's tales often reflect the social structures and domestic life of 19th-century Denmark, with a blend of whimsy and underlying melancholy or social commentary.
Plot Beats (15)
- A Snow Man is built by boys and comes to life, feeling the cold as delightful.
- The Snow Man observes the setting sun and rising moon, mistaking them for each other.
- The old yard-dog warns the Snow Man about the sun's melting power and shares his own past as an indoor dog.
- The Snow Man is introduced to the concept of 'lovers' by the dog, but remains focused on his own observations.
- The yard-dog recounts his comfortable past life by the stove, describing its warmth and comfort.
- The Snow Man sees the stove through the window and feels an inexplicable, intense longing for it, perceiving it as a female entity.
- The yard-dog explains why he was banished outdoors (biting a child) and warns the Snow Man that the stove will melt him.
- Despite the warning, the Snow Man's desire for the stove grows, feeling an internal 'crackling' and wishing to break the window to reach it.
- He spends the night gazing at the stove's glow, feeling an intense, almost romantic, connection.
- The next morning, ice covers the window, blocking his view of the stove, which makes him 'stove sick' despite the perfect snowman weather.
- The yard-dog notes the Snow Man's 'terrible disease' and predicts a change in weather.
- The thaw begins, and the Snow Man gradually melts without complaint.
- The Snow Man completely collapses, revealing a stove-scraper that had been used as his core.
- The yard-dog realizes the scraper was the source of the Snow Man's longing for the stove.
- Winter passes, spring arrives, and the Snow Man is forgotten by everyone.
Characters
The Snow Man
Made of snow, with triangular tile eyes and a rake mouth
Attire: None, but constructed with a broomstick core
Naive, curious, melancholic
The Yard-Dog
Hoarse voice from being an indoor dog
Attire: Dog collar and chain
Cynical, nostalgic, weary
The Stove
Black, with a long neck and a brass knob, emits fire
Attire: Polished brass knob
Warm, inviting, desired
The Young Girl
Sparkling eyes
Attire: Winter clothing appropriate for the time period (likely a dress with a warm shawl or coat)
Romantic, appreciative, cheerful
The Young Man
None specified
Attire: Winter clothing appropriate for the time period (likely a coat and hat)
Affectionate, observant, practical
Locations
Snowy Garden
A snow-covered garden with trees and bushes covered in hoar frost, glittering frozen dew-drops on every twig, and a snowy carpet that appears covered with diamonds.
Mood: magical, glittering, cold
The Snow Man is admired by a young couple, who comment on the beauty of the winter scene.
Yard-Dog's Kennel
A cold, snowy yard where the old yard-dog is chained up outside his kennel.
Mood: desolate, lonely, cold
The Snow Man converses with the yard-dog, learning about the sun, moon, and the stove.
Housekeeper's Room
A room on the lower story with a stove on four iron legs, visible through the window.
Mood: inviting, warm, comforting
The Snow Man becomes obsessed with the stove, longing to be near its warmth.
Melted Snow Patch
A patch of ground where the Snow Man once stood, now revealing a broomstick sticking up in the ground.
Mood: desolate, end-of-winter
The Snow Man melts away, revealing the stove scraper inside him, symbolizing his longing for the stove.