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 secluded¹ and no longer opened the castle to visitors. The family stayed hidden, tucked² away inside their walled kingdom.

 

The king and queen acted just as cautiously³ 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. "Conceal⁴ 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, pleading⁵ with her sister to come out and play. But Elsa never did. The memory of their friendship was slowly fading.

 

One day, Anna peered⁶ 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," cautioned⁷ the king. "Calm down." He reached out to give Elsa a hug.

 

"No," she said sharply⁸. "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 grief⁹. 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 barely¹⁰ 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 bustling¹¹ 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.

 

回到城堡后，国王和王后立即下令关闭城堡的大门。所有的门都被关上，窗户也都紧闭，他们让女儿们与外界隔绝，拒绝一切访客。一家人都隐居起来，深居在高墙包围的王国里。

 

国王和王后在城堡里行事小心谨慎。随着公主们渐渐长大，她们的父母尽一切所能确保艾莎能够自我克制。这就意味着姐妹俩基本不待在一起。艾莎也不会找安娜出去，因为她害怕会不小心伤害到妹妹。日子一天天过去了，艾莎大部分时间都在接受训练，学习如何治理国家——并学习控制魔力。

 

训练的过程很困难，艾莎经常觉得无法控制自己的魔力。只要在她笑或哭或沮丧的时候，她的指尖似乎就会结冰。

 

因为担心女儿的魔力，国王给了艾莎一副皮手套。他建议女儿一直戴着手套，并提醒她出于安全考虑，必须隐藏冰雪魔力。“一定要藏好。”他告诉女儿。

 

“不要想它。”她回答说。“不要施展它。”他赞同地说道。

 

时间过得很快，安娜大部分时间都是一个人度过的。有时她会和洋娃娃玩，有时她试图和画室里的肖像画聊天，但她很孤独。

 

她一次次地敲艾莎的房门，求姐姐出来跟她一起玩耍，但艾莎从未答应过。关于和姐姐一起亲密玩耍的记忆逐渐模糊了。

 

一天，安娜从窗口向外望去，看见皇家花园里下起了雪。她沿着走廊跑向姐姐的房间。“你想堆雪人吗?”她隔着紧闭的大门对姐姐喊道。

 

里面没有回应，房门也没有打开。最后，安娜独自走到院里，试着自己堆雪人。在滚了一个不对称的雪球之后，她抬眼瞥见了艾莎房间的窗户，好像看到有人在对她微笑。但是当她再看一眼的时候，却没了人影。

 

因为完全不记得艾莎的魔法了，安娜丝毫不知道为什么她总是一个人。慢慢地，她开始认为姐姐就是这样一个冰冷的人。她不知道艾莎也很孤独，而且艾莎也非常想念她，就像她想念姐姐艾莎一样。艾莎多么渴望和安娜一起玩耍，却害怕她的魔法会误伤到妹妹。

 

“我很害怕，”一天艾莎告诉父亲，“魔力越来越强了。”

 

“焦虑只会让情况变得更糟，”国王提醒道，“冷静点。”国王伸出双臂想要拥抱她。

 

“不，”她断然说道，“别碰我。”

 

多年以后的一天，姐妹俩长成了亭亭玉立的少女，国王和王后计划乘船出访另一个国家。像以往那样，他们和女儿们拥抱告别，把女儿们留在了家里。但是这一次，国王和王后再也没有回来。暴风雨吞没了他们的船，他们遭遇了海难。整个王国为其君主的离去而陷入了哀伤。

 

城堡里，安娜悲伤欲绝，感觉自己被痛苦彻底击垮了。无处可去的她只能再次敲响艾莎的房门。

 

“艾莎?你没事吧?我就在外面。”安娜说道。但和往常一样，依旧没人回应。安娜滑坐到地上，伤心地倚靠在房门上，说道：“现在就剩我和你了，我们该怎么办呢?”

 

房间里的艾莎也非常伤心，但她不能开门。她只能背靠着紧闭的房门，默默地哭泣。在她周围，冰雪填满了整个房间。

 

如今，女孩们出落成了年轻的姑娘。但她们俩的成长完全没有交集，安娜觉得艾莎很陌生。

 

在艾莎二十一岁的时候，她将成为艾伦戴尔的新任女王。整个王国都沸腾了。因为这么多年来第一次，也仅仅在这一天，城堡的大门会向全国人民和邻国开放。

 

这将是艾伦戴尔史上令人难忘的庆典。

点击收听单词发音