MARFA AND FROST.
The old stepmother called her to a breakfast of cold cabbage soup, and then said to her, "Now, Marfa, get out of my sight for ever. I have seen enough of you. The sledge is at the door. Husband, take Marfa to her bridegroom. Go straight down the road, turn to the right, go up the hill till you come to an old pine-tree, and there leave the girl for Frost. He will soon come to get her."
The poor old father looked sad enough when he heard these words, but he did not dare to disobey his wife. He and Marfa got into the sledge and rode away slowly. His daughter was weeping bitterly. In a little while they came to the place where they were ordered to stop. Marfa got out and sat down under the pine-tree. The old man rode away. He thought he should never see his darling child again. He wept at the thought Soon he was out of sight.
There was nothing but snow for Marfa to look upon now. The ground was covered with great drifts. The bushes were buried under it. The branches of the trees were bending under its weight. Not a sound could be heard save the falling of icicles and the creaking steps of Frost as he leaped from tree to tree.
Marfa was chilled through. Her teeth chattered. Her lips were blue and stiff. She was too cold to sob or cry out. Frost was coming nearer and nearer. Pretty soon he was in the tree above Marfa's head. He cried out, "Maiden, are you warm?" "Oh, yes, quite warm enough, dear Father Frost," she answered. Then he came down from the tree. Now she was almost frozen.
He called again, "Are you warm, my sweet girl? Are you sure you are warm enough?" By this time Marfa was so numb she could hardly move her lips. But she tried to answer, "Oh, yes, dearest sir, I am warm enough." Frost took pity on the poor patient maiden. He brought furs and warm blankets and wrapped her up in them. Then he left her.
She slept unharmed all night, and, when she woke in the morning, she found gifts of rich clothing which Frost had brought her in the night. Her father soon appeared with the sledge. He had expected to find her dead body, but she was well and healthy. Not even a finger was frozen. How the old man rejoiced. He took Marfa and her fine presents into the sledge, and they rode home together.
You can imagine how angry the stepmother was when she saw the girl again. But when she heard how kind Frost had been, and saw the beautiful clothing he had given Marfa, she said, "Husband, you must take my girls to their bridegroom. He will be far kinder to them than he has been to Marfa, I am sure of that." Then she said to her daughters, "I have found a bridegroom for you. You must go to meet him."