"Hail to you, great King!" smiled the maiden. "Have you come for me?"
"Are you warm, fair maiden?" he asked in answer.
"Yes, quite warm, King Frost," the maiden replied, although she was shivering.
King Frost bent over her and snapped his fingers about her, until the air seemed full of needles. Again he asked, "Are you still warm, dear maiden?"
Her lips could scarcely move to utter the words, "Quite warm, King Frost."
He snapped his teeth and cracked his fingers, till all the air was filled with stinging things. His eyes glistened and for the last time he asked, "Are you warm, now, beautiful maiden? Are you still warm, my dear?"
She was now scarcely able to speak, but managed to gasp, "Still warm, King Frost."
The gentle girl's patience and uncomplaining endurance [page 494] caused King Frost to take pity on her suffering. He arrayed her in a robe, embroidered in silver and gold, and decked her with sparkling diamonds. She glittered and shone, and was dazzling to behold. Then placing her in his sleigh, he wrapped her in furs; and six white horses bore them swiftly away.
The stepmother, at home, was baking pancakes for the girl's funeral feast. "Go in the field," she said to her husband, "and bring your daughter's body home, so we can bury her." The old man rose to obey, when the little dog barked:
"Your daughter shall not die;