Once there lived an old man and an old woman.
The old man had his own daughter and the old woman- her own. The old woman
pampered her daughter, doted her and made the old man`s daughter do all the
work, scold her for everything, abused her and didn`t give her enough food.
The girl
consented to all work and did all she was ordered. She did everything awesome
possum. People look at her and cannot praise sufficiently. And about the
old woman daughter they just say:
- Here she is- she cannot weave and spin. Here she is- idle and lazy!
The old woman
became even angrier and more quarrelsome. She ate girls head off. And think of
nothing else but just to kill her.
One day the old
man went to town to the market. And an evil old woman colluded with her
daughter:
- Now we will do this hateful girl in!
The old woman
called the girl and ordered her:
- Go to the wood
and bring some brushwood!
- We have quite
enough brushwood, -the girl answered.
The old woman
started crying and stamping her feet, fell on the girl together with
her daughter and pushed her of the hut.
The girl saw that
there was nothing to be done and she went to the wood. The frost was crackling,
the wind was howling, and there was a heavy snowstorm.
The old woman
with her daughter were in the warm hut and said to each other:
- That hateful
girl will not come back. She will freeze up the wood!
And the girl went
into the forest, stayed under a thick fir tree and did not know- where to go and
what to do…
Suddenly she
heard the noise and crackles: it was Morozko riding through a fir grove, birch
forest and skipping from tree to tree, crunching and clicking. He went down from
the fir tree and said:
- How do you do, fairy maiden! Why have you come to my wood in such a severe
cold?
Morozko have
listened her and said:
- No, fairy
maiden, you were not sent here for brushwood. Well, if you come to my wood, then
show me what a mistress you are!
She was given a
tow and a distaff:
- Spin threads out of this tow.
Weave cloth and sew me а
shirt out of that cloth!
Morozko said that
and left. The girl did not think much and started to work at once.
Her fingers were
frozen she would breath to warm them and worked on again. And the whole
night like that. She did not stop working. She thought just about one thing –how
to sew the shirt.
In the morning
she heard the noise and crack near the fir tree again: that` Morozko came. He
looked at the shirt and praised :
- Well, Fairy
maiden, you worked well!
Here brought
Morozko a large forged trunk, put it in front of the girl, and said:
- Like work, like
reward!
After that he put
on a warm fur coat on the girl, tied a patterned kerchief round her head and led
her to the road:
- Good bye, Fairy
maiden! Here you will find good people to help you to get home.
He said that and
disappeared as if he were not there.
At that time the
old man came back home.
- Where is my
daughter? – he asked.
- She went to the
wood for brushwood and did not come back.
The old man was
anxious, did not start unharnessing the horse and drove to the wood. And
as he glanced – his daughter was standing near the road, well-dressed and
merry.
The old man
seated her in the sledge, put Morozko`s trunk with presents there in the sledge
and took her home.
An evil old woman
with her daughter were sitting at table, eating pies and said:
- Well, she will
not come back home alive! The old man is going to bring just her bones!
And the dog was
barking near the stove:
- Bow-wow,
bow-wow! The old man`s daughter is going to bring such expensive presents! And
no one will marry old woman`s daughter!
The old woman
gave pies to the dog and beated her with the poker.
- Shut up, nasty!
Just say: «The old woman`s will be married and old man`s daughter will be
brought dead!»
But the dog
repeated all the time:
- The old man`s
daughter will bring presents! And old woman`s daughter will not be married!
Here the gates
squeaked, the door to the hut was opened and the girl came in well-dressed and
rosy, and people brought a large trunk following her, decorated with frosty
patterns.
The old woman and
her daughter rushed to the trunk, started to take out and examine the costumes,
and put them in the benches and question:
- Who gave you
such an expensive present?
As far as the old
woman knew that Morozko gave that present to the girl, they began to bustle ,
wrap up her daughter warmly, gave her the bundle with pies and told the old man
to take her to the wood:
- She is going to
bring two such trunks!
The old man
brought the old woman`s daughter to the wood and left her under a high fir tree.
She is standing, looking around, scringing and scolding:
- Why that
Morozko do not come for such a long time? Where has he, so-and-so, disappeared?
Here she heard
noise and crackle: Morozko was riding through a fir grove, birch forest,
and skipping from tree to tree, crunching and clicking. He went down from the
fir tree and asked:
-
Why have you come to me, Fairy
maiden?
- Don`t you know
yourself? I have come for expensive presents!
Morozko smiled
and said:
-Just show me
first what a mistress you are – knit me the mittens!
He gave her
knitting needle and a ball of wool and left.
The old woman`s
daughter threw the knitting needles into the snow, pushed the ball of wool with
her leg:
- Look at what
that old one came up with? Who ever heard of such thing as to knit in such a
severe cold? So I can get my fingers frostbitten!
In the morning it
cracked and crunches, - Morozko came:
- Well, Fairy
maiden, show me how you coped my work?
The old woman`s
daughter rushed at him:
- What a work,
old noodle? Ae you blind, you can`t see: I am chilled to the bones waiting for
you here and I am more than half dead!
- Well, like
work, like award! –Morozko said.
She shook with
his beard – and snowstorm and blizzard began –all paths, all roads were covered.
And Morozko disappeared, as if he were not there.
The old woman`s
daughter dragged herself along without knowing the road and came to a deep
ravine. There she was covered with snow…
In the morning
the old woman shook the old man very early, woke him up and ordered him to go to
the wood to take his daughter. He she herself started to bake pies. The dog was
sitting under the bench and barking:
- Bow-wow,
bow-wow, bow-wow! The old woman`s daughter is not going to come back from the
wood!
The old woman
threw pies to the dog and stroke her with the poker painfully:
- Shut up, nasty!
Eat the pie and never say such things! Better say: «Old woman`s daughter is
going to bring expensive gifts. And the old man`s daughter will not find a
fiancй!».
The dog eats a
pie and repeats again:
- Bow-wow,
bow-wow, bow-wow! The old man`s daughter will marry and the old woman`s daughter
will not come back from the wood!
The old woman was
startled:
«What if
something`s bad is going to happen with my daughter! What if they lose the
expensive gifts on the road! I will run following the old man!»
She put on the
fur coat and ran to the wood. The snowstorm was howling and whirling even
stronger. The whole road was covered…
The evil woman
lost her way and she was covered with snow…
The old man was
looking for the old woman`s daughter for some time and could not find. She came
back how –there were no old woman. He gathered neighbors. They all started to
look for the old woman and her daughter. They looked for and looked for. They
dug over all snowdrifts and still did not find them.
And the old man
started to live together with his daughter. And when spring came – a fine young
man, a smith from the smithy asked her in marriage.
They celebrated a merry wedding and lived in love and harmony.
And so they
live now.
