Back at the castle, the king and queen immediately ordered that the castle gates be locked. All the doors were closed and the windows shuttered. They kept the girls secluded and no longer opened the castle to visitors. The family stayed hidden, tucked away inside their walled kingdom.
The king and queen acted just as cautiously inside the castle. As the princesses grew, their parents did everything they could to ensure that Elsa learned to control herself. That meant the girls were hardly ever together. Nor did Elsa seek Anna out, since she was afraid she might accidentally hurt her. Day after day, Elsa spent most of her time training to be the next ruler — and learning to keep her powers in check.
The training was difficult, and Elsa often felt unable to contain her magic. Ice seemed to form on her fingertips whenever she laughed or cried or became upset.
Worried, the king gave Elsa a pair of leather gloves. He advised her to keep them on at all times, and reminded her that she had to hide her icy magic in order to stay safe. “Conceal it,” he told her.
“Don’t feel it,” she answered. “Don’t let it show,” he agreed.
The years slipped by. Anna spent most of her time alone. Sometimes she played with her dolls; sometimes she pretended to have conversations with painted portraits in the gallery. But she was lonely.
Time after time, she knocked on Elsa’s door, pleading with her sister to come out and play. But Elsa never did. The memory of their friendship was slowly fading.
One day, Anna peered out her window and saw snow falling in the royal gardens. She raced down the hallway to her sister’s room. “Do you want to build a snowman?” she called through the closed door.
There was no reply from inside. The door did not open. Eventually, Anna went out into the courtyard and tried to build a snowman by herself. After rolling out a lopsided ball, she glanced up at Elsa’s window and thought she saw someone smiling down at her. But when she looked again, the face was gone.
Without any memory of Elsa’s magic, Anna had no idea why she was always alone. Over time, she simply came to accept that her sister’s coldness was part of who she was. She didn’t know that Elsa was lonely too, and that she missed Anna as much as Anna missed her. Elsa longed to play with Anna but was fearful of the harm her magic might cause by mistake.
“I’m scared,” Elsa told her father one day. “It’s getting stronger.”
“Getting upset only makes it worse,” cautioned the king. “Calm down.” He reached out to give Elsa a hug.
“No,” she said sharply. “Don’t touch me.”
One day years later, when the girls were teenagers, the king and queen boarded a ship, intending to visit another kingdom. They hugged their daughters goodbye and left them at home, as they had many times before. But this time, the king and queen never returned. A storm engulfedthe ship, and they were lost at sea. The kingdom mourned their rulers.
Inside the castle, Anna felt overcome with grief. Not knowing where else to turn, she knocked again on Elsa’s door.
“Elsa? Are you okay? I’m right out here,” Anna said. But as always, there was no reply. She slid down and sadly rested her head against the door. “It’s just you and me now. What are we going to do?”
Inside her room, Elsa felt awful, too. But she could not open the door. Instead, she sat with her back against the closed door, crying silently. All around her, ice and snow filled the room.
In time, the girls became young ladies. But they had grown apart, and Anna felt she barely knew Elsa anymore.
When Elsa turned twenty-one, it was time for her to be crowned the new Queen of Arendelle. The whole kingdom was bustling with excitement. For the first time in ages, and for one day only, the castle gates would be opened to the village and to all the surrounding kingdoms.
It would be a celebration that Arendelle would never forget.
第3章
回到城堡后,國王和王后立即下令關(guān)閉城堡的大門。所有的門都被關(guān)上,窗戶也都緊閉,他們讓女兒們與外界隔絕,拒絕一切訪客。一家人都隱居起來,深居在高墻包圍的王國里。
國王和王后在城堡里行事小心謹(jǐn)慎。隨著公主們漸漸長大,她們的父母盡一切所能確保艾莎能夠自我克制。這就意味著姐妹倆基本不待在一起。艾莎也不會(huì)找安娜出去,因?yàn)樗ε聲?huì)不小心傷害到妹妹。日子一天天過去了,艾莎大部分時(shí)間都在接受訓(xùn)練,學(xué)習(xí)如何治理國家——并學(xué)習(xí)控制魔力。
訓(xùn)練的過程很困難,艾莎經(jīng)常覺得無法控制自己的魔力。只要在她笑或哭或沮喪的時(shí)候,她的指尖似乎就會(huì)結(jié)冰。
因?yàn)閾?dān)心女兒的魔力,國王給了艾莎一副皮手套。他建議女兒一直戴著手套,并提醒她出于安全考慮,必須隱藏冰雪魔力。“一定要藏好。”他告訴女兒。
“不要想它。”她回答說。“不要施展它。”他贊同地說道。
時(shí)間過得很快,安娜大部分時(shí)間都是一個(gè)人度過的。有時(shí)她會(huì)和洋娃娃玩,有時(shí)她試圖和畫室里的肖像畫聊天,但她很孤獨(dú)。
她一次次地敲艾莎的房門,求姐姐出來跟她一起玩耍,但艾莎從未答應(yīng)過。關(guān)于和姐姐一起親密玩耍的記憶逐漸模糊了。
一天,安娜從窗口向外望去,看見皇家花園里下起了雪。她沿著走廊跑向姐姐的房間。“你想堆雪人嗎?”她隔著緊閉的大門對姐姐喊道。
里面沒有回應(yīng),房門也沒有打開。最后,安娜獨(dú)自走到院里,試著自己堆雪人。在滾了一個(gè)不對稱的雪球之后,她抬眼瞥見了艾莎房間的窗戶,好像看到有人在對她微笑。但是當(dāng)她再看一眼的時(shí)候,卻沒了人影。
因?yàn)橥耆挥浀冒哪Х?,安娜絲毫不知道為什么她總是一個(gè)人。慢慢地,她開始認(rèn)為姐姐就是這樣一個(gè)冰冷的人。她不知道艾莎也很孤獨(dú),而且艾莎也非常想念她,就像她想念姐姐艾莎一樣。艾莎多么渴望和安娜一起玩耍,卻害怕她的魔法會(huì)誤傷到妹妹。
“我很害怕,”一天艾莎告訴父親,“魔力越來越強(qiáng)了。”
“焦慮只會(huì)讓情況變得更糟,”國王提醒道,“冷靜點(diǎn)。”國王伸出雙臂想要擁抱她。
“不,”她斷然說道,“別碰我。”
多年以后的一天,姐妹倆長成了亭亭玉立的少女,國王和王后計(jì)劃乘船出訪另一個(gè)國家。像以往那樣,他們和女兒們擁抱告別,把女兒們留在了家里。但是這一次,國王和王后再也沒有回來。暴風(fēng)雨吞沒了他們的船,他們遭遇了海難。整個(gè)王國為其君主的離去而陷入了哀傷。
城堡里,安娜悲傷欲絕,感覺自己被痛苦徹底擊垮了。無處可去的她只能再次敲響艾莎的房門。
“艾莎?你沒事吧?我就在外面。”安娜說道。但和往常一樣,依舊沒人回應(yīng)。安娜滑坐到地上,傷心地倚靠在房門上,說道:“現(xiàn)在就剩我和你了,我們該怎么辦呢?”
房間里的艾莎也非常傷心,但她不能開門。她只能背靠著緊閉的房門,默默地哭泣。在她周圍,冰雪填滿了整個(gè)房間。
如今,女孩們出落成了年輕的姑娘。但她們倆的成長完全沒有交集,安娜覺得艾莎很陌生。
在艾莎二十一歲的時(shí)候,她將成為艾倫戴爾的新任女王。整個(gè)王國都沸騰了。因?yàn)檫@么多年來第一次,也僅僅在這一天,城堡的大門會(huì)向全國人民和鄰國開放。
這將是艾倫戴爾史上令人難忘的慶典。
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