|
Once upon
a time...
There was once upon a time a peasant-woman who had a daughter
and a step-daughter. The daughter had her own way in everything, and
whatever she did was right in her mother's eyes; but the poor
step-daughter had a hard time. Let her do what she would, she was
always blamed, and got small thanks for all the trouble she took;
nothing was right, everything wrong; and yet, if the truth were
known, the girl was worth her weight in gold--she was so unselfish
and good-hearted. But her step-mother did not like her, and the poor
girl's days were spent in weeping; for it was impossible to live
peacefully with the woman. The wicked shrew was determined to get
rid of the girl by fair means or foul, and kept saying to her
father: 'Send her away, old man; send her away--anywhere so that my
eyes sha'n't be plagued any longer by the sight of her, or my ears
tormented by the sound of her voice. Send her out into the fields,
and let the cutting frost do for her.'
In vain did the poor old father weep and implore her pity; she was
firm, and he dared not gainsay her. So he placed his daughter in a
sledge, not even daring to give her a horse-cloth to keep herself
warm with, and drove her out on to the bare, open fields, where he
kissed her and left her, driving home as fast as he could, that he
might not witness her miserable death.
Deserted by her father, the poor girl sat down under a fir-tree at
the edge of the forest and began to weep silently. Suddenly she
heard a faint sound: it was King Frost springing from tree to tree,
and cracking his fingers as he went. At length he reached the
fir-tree beneath which she was sitting, and with a crisp crackling
sound he alighted beside her, and looked at her lovely face.
'Well, maiden,' he snapped out, 'do you know who I am? I am King
Frost, king of the red-noses.'
'All hail to you, great King!' answered the girl, in a gentle,
trembling voice. 'Have you come to take me?'
'Are you warm, maiden?' he replied.
'Quite warm, King Frost,' she answered, though she shivered as she
spoke.
Then King Frost stooped down, and bent over the girl, and the
crackling sound grew louder, and the air seemed to be full of knives
and darts; and again he asked:
'Maiden, are you warm? Are you warm, you beautiful girl?'
And though her breath was almost frozen on her lips, she whispered
gently, 'Quite warm, King Frost.'
Then King Frost gnashed his teeth, and cracked his fingers, and his
eyes sparkled, and the crackling, crisp sound was louder than ever,
and for the last time he asked her:
'Maiden, are you still warm? Are you still warm, little love?'
And the poor girl was so stiff and numb that she could just gasp,
'Still warm, O King!'
Now her gentle, courteous words and her uncomplaining ways touched
King Frost, and he had pity on her, and he wrapped her up in furs,
and covered her with blankets, and he fetched a great box, in which
were beautiful jewels and a rich robe embroidered in gold and
silver. And she put it on, and looked more lovely than ever, and
King Frost stepped with her into his sledge, with six white horses.
In the meantime the wicked step-mother was waiting at home for news
of the girl's death, and preparing pancakes for the funeral feast.
And she said to her husband: 'Old man, you had better go out into
the fields and find your daughter's body and bury her.' Just as the
old man was leaving the house the little dog under the table began
to bark, saying:
'YOUR daughter shall live to be your delight; HER daughter shall die
this very night.'
'Hold your tongue, you foolish beast!' scolded the woman. 'There's a
pancake for you, but you must say:
"HER daughter shall have much silver and gold; HIS daughter is
frozen quite stiff and cold." '
But the doggie ate up the pancake and barked, saying:
'His daughter shall wear a crown on her head; Her daughter shall die
unwooed, unwed.'
Then the old woman tried to coax the doggie with more pancakes and
to terrify it with blows, but he barked on, always repeating the
same words. And suddenly the door creaked and flew open, and a great
heavy chest was pushed in, and behind it came the step-daughter,
radiant and beautiful, in a dress all glittering with silver and
gold. For a moment the step-mother's eyes were dazzled. Then she
called to her husband: 'Old man, yoke the horses at once into the
sledge, and take my daughter to the same field and leave her on the
same spot exactly; 'and so the old man took the girl and left her
beneath the same tree where he had parted from his daughter. In a
few minutes King Frost came past, and, looking at the girl, he said:
'Are you warm, maiden?'
'What a blind old fool you must be to ask such a question!' she
answered angrily. 'Can't you see that my hands and feet are nearly
frozen?'
Then King Frost sprang to and fro in front of her, questioning her,
and getting only rude, rough words in reply, till at last he got
very angry, and cracked his fingers, and gnashed his teeth, and
froze her to death.
But in the hut her mother was waiting for her return, and as she
grew impatient she said to her husband: 'Get out the horses, old
man, to go and fetch her home; but see that you are careful not to
upset the sledge and lose the chest.'
But the doggie beneath the table began to bark, saying:
'Your daughter is frozen quite stiff and cold, And shall never have
a chest full of gold.'
'Don't tell such wicked lies!' scolded the woman. 'There's a cake
for you; now say:
"HER daughter shall marry a mighty King."
At that moment the door flew open, and she rushed out to meet her
daughter, and as she took her frozen body in her arms she too was
chilled to death.
The Story of King Frost
from the Yellow Fairy Book
Story Edited
by Andrew Lang |
