The Little Girl and Her Step Mother

Once upon a time, somewhere in Russia, there lived a stepmother with her two daughters. Among the two one was her stepdaughter and the other her own daughter. Her own daughter was very dear to her, and always praised her daughter and pet her; but there was no praise for the stepdaughter; who was beautiful girl with all good qualities, she had no other reward than reproach. The wicked woman never missed any chance to trouble her stepdaughter.

One bright cold day the stepmother told her husband: "Listen, old man, I want you to take your daughter away from my eyes. Take her into the wide, wide fields to the crackling frost and leave her there to die."

The old father grew very sad, after hearing his wife's and began to weep bitterly, but being helpless he had no other option left then to obey his wife's command. The Old man called his daughter and said " Come my dear let's go out for a ride". It was very cold outside and he wished to cover his daughter with a sheepskin in order to protect her from the cold; however, he did not do it. He was afraid; his wife was watching them out of the window. And so he went with his lovely daughter into the wide, wide fields; drove her nearly to the woods, left her there alone, and speedily drove away—he was a good man and did not care to see his daughter's death.

The sweet girl remained all alone in the fields. Broken-hearted and terror-stricken she repeated chanted all the prayers she knew. Father Frost, the almighty sovereign at that place, clad in furs, with a long, long, white beard and a shining crown on his white head, approached nearer and nearer, looked at this beautiful guest of his and asked: "Don't you know me?—me, the red-nosed Frost?"

The girl replied "Welcome, Father Frost,". "I hope our heavenly Lord has sent you to help me." "Are you comfortable, sweet child?" again asked the Frost. He was deeply pleased with the girls looks and good manners. "Yes I am," answered the girl, almost out of breath from cold. And the Frost, cheerful and bright, kept crackling in the branches until the air became icy, but the good-natured girl kept repeating: "I am very comfortable, dear Father Frost."

But Father Frost, knew the nature of human beings very well; he knew very well that few of them are really good and kind; but he knew no one of them even could struggle too long against the power of Frost, the king of winter. The kindness of the gentle girl charmed old Frost so much that he made the decision to treat her differently from others, and gave her a large heavy trunk filled with many beautiful, beautiful things. He gave her a rich "Winter coat" lined with precious furs; he gave her silk quilts—light like feathers and warm as a mother's lap. What a rich girl she became and how many magnificent garments she received! And besides all, old Frost gave her a blue "sarafan" (Russian Dress) ornamented with silver and pearls. Father Frost told the young girl to wear the dress and when the young girl put it on she became such a beautiful maiden that even the sun smiled at her. 

The stepmother presuming that her stepdaughter was dead was in the kitchen busy baking pancakes for the meal which it is the custom to give to the priests and friends after the usual service for the dead. "Now, old man," said the wife to the husband, "go down to the wide fields and bring the body of your daughter; we will bury her." The old man went to the fields in search of his daughters body. 

The old man's little dog sat in the corner of the kitchen wagged his tail and said: "Bow-wow! bow-wow! the master's daughter is on her way home, beautiful and happy as never before, and the old woman's daughter is wicked as ever before."

"Shut up! stupid beast!" shouted the stepmother, and struck the little dog. "Here, take this pancake, eat it and say, 'The old woman's daughter will be married soon and the old man's daughter shall be buried soon.'" 

The dog ate the pancake wagged his tail and started saying: "Bow-wow! bow-wow! the master's daughter is coming home wealthy and happy as never before, and the old woman's daughter is somewhere around as homely and wicked as ever before." The old woman became very angry at the dog, but in spite of pancakes and whipping, the dog repeated the same words over and over again.

Suddenly the old woman heard somebody opened the gate, voices were heard laughing and talking outside. She went to her window and looked out and sat down for a while in amazement. The stepdaughter was there like a princess, bright and happy in the most beautiful garments, and behind her the old father had hardly strength enough to carry the heavy, heavy trunk with the rich outfit.

The step daughter came in and told the whole story to the old woman. "Old man!" called the stepmother, impatiently; "Bring our best horses to our best sleigh, and drive my daughter to the very same place in the wide, wide fields." The old man obeyed as usual and took his stepdaughter to the same place and left her alone.

Father Frost was there; he looked at his new guest. "Art you comfortable, fair maiden?" asked the red-nosed sovereign. "Let me alone," harshly answered the girl; "can't you see that my feet and my hands are about stiff from the cold?". The Frost kept crackling and asking questions for quite a while, but obtaining no polite answer became angry and froze the girl to death.

The next day the old woman called her husband and said "Old man, go for my daughter; take the best horses; be careful; do not upset the sleigh; do not lose the trunk." The old man left for the fields to fetch her daughter.

At home the little once again wagged his tail and said: "Bow-wow! bow-wow! the old man's daughter will marry soon; the old woman's daughter shall be buried soon." "Do not lie. Here is a cake; eat it and say, 'The old woman's daughter is clad in silver and gold.'"

The gates opened, and the old woman went running to receive her daughter. She was shocked to see her daughter dead. she cried bitterly and kissed the stiff frozen lips of her daughter. She wept and wept, but there was no help, and she understood at last that through her own wickedness and envy her child had perished.