Morozko
Once upon a time, there was an old woman who had both a
stepdaughter and a daughter of her own. Her own daughter
could do no wrong in her mother’s eyes. She would always praise
her, and give her a pat on the head and say, “such a clever girl!”
But the old woman found only fault with her stepdaughter, and
the poor girl cried herself to sleep every night. Yet, if the truth be
told, the girl was really as good as gold.
A storm may rage, but sooner or later it will blow itself out.
But once the old woman was roused, there was nothing that
would calm her. She raged away at her husband, and shouted,
“Take that girl out of my sight, old man, so that my eyes won’t
be plagued by the sight of her, nor my ears tormented by the
sound of her voice! Take her away from here, far, far away to the
depths of the forest and let the cutting-frost do for her!”
And although the old man grieved and wept, he lifted his
daughter up onto the sledge. He wanted to cover her with a
horse-blanket, but was too frightened of his wife to do even that.
He drove her out into the bitter cold of the forest, and set her
down under a large pine tree.
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