32 lines
1.8 KiB
Plaintext
32 lines
1.8 KiB
Plaintext
THE SNOW MAIDEN
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Once upon a time there was a beautiful garden which became even more
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beautiful that day, after a heavy fall of snow covered the ground, the trees
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and bushes in a soft white mantle. A little boy and girl were playing happily
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in the garden, they were brother and sister.
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They chased each other, threw snowballs and played hide and seek under the
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fir trees. Then the little girl said,
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"Let's make a snow doll."
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They began to make a snow doll and decided it would be a girl.
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"So there will be three of us and we'll have more fun!" said the little
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girl. So they carefully built a doll made of snow, with a pretty oval face,
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long hair, large eyes and a delicate little mouth. It looked just like a real
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little girl.
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"Let's give her a kiss and maybe her lips will turn red like ours," said the
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sister. So they kissed the doll... and lo and behold, its lips turned red!
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And the snow doll's cheeks turned pink. When a sudden gust of wind blew from
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the north, the doll came to life. It moved, smiled at the two children and
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started to play with them.
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Some time later, the children's father returned from town. When he saw the
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girl in white playing with his own children, he said to himself,
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"It must be one of the neighbour's daughters." Then he said to the little
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snow doll, "Come into the house and get warm." But the snow maiden made a
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frightened sign as though to say "No!" The man, however led her into the house,
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saying,
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"Oh, you're so cold! The fire will soon warm you up!" But the snow maiden
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sighed sadly, though she didn't have the courage to speak. In she went and
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stood by the window, looking out at the white garden. Then she began to wep -
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as slowly and gently, she began to melt... until nothing was left of her except
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a trace of white snow on the floor...
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