|


Once there lived an old widower and his
daughter. In due time, the man remarried to an older woman
who had a daughter herself from a previous marriage. The woman
doted on her own daughter, praising her at every opportunity,
but she despised her stepdaughter
She found fault with everything the girl did and made her
work long and hard all day long.
One day the old woman made up her mind to get rid of the stepdaughter
once and for all. She ordered her husband:
"Take her somewhere so that my eyes no longer have to
see her, so that my ears no longer have to hear her. And don't
take her to some relative's house. Take her into the biting
cold of the forest and leave her there."
The old man grieved and wept but he knew that he could do
nothing else; his wife always had her way. So he took the
girl into the forest and left her there. He turned back quickly
so that he wouldn't have to see his girl freeze.
Oh, the poor thing, sitting there in the snow, with her body
shivering and her teeth chattering! Then Morozko (the Father
Frost), leaping from tree to tree, came upon her. "Are
you warm, my lass?" he asked.
"Welcome, my dear Morozko. Yes, I am quite warm,"
she said, even though she was cold through and through.
At first, Morozko had wanted to freeze the life out of her
with his icy grip. But he admired the young girl's stoicism
and showed mercy. He gave her a warm fur coat and downy quilts
before he left. In a short while, Morozko returned to check
on the girl.
"Are you warm, my lass?" he asked.
"Welcome again, my dear Morozko. Yes, I am very warm,"
she said.
And indeed she was warmer. So this time Morozko brought a
large box for her to sit on. A little later, Morozko returned
once more to ask how she was doing. She was doing quite well
now, and this time Morozko gave her silver and gold jewelry
to wear, with enough extra jewels to fill the box on which
she was sitting!
Meanwhile, back at her father's hut, the old woman told her
husband to go back into the forest to bring back the body
of his daughter. He did as he was ordered. He arrived at the
spot where had left her, and was overjoyed when he saw his
daughter alive, wrapped in a sable coat and adorned with silver
and gold. When he arrived home with his daughter and the box
of jewels, his wife looked on in amazement.
"Harness the horse, you old goat, and take my own daughter
to that same spot in the forest and leave her there,"
she said.
The old man did as he was told. Like the other girl at first,
the old woman's daughter began to shake and shiver. In a short
while, Morozko came by and asked her how she was doing.
"Are you blind?" she replied. "Can't you see
that my hands and feet are quite numb? Curse you, you miserable
old man!" Dawn had hardly broken the next day when, back
at the old man's hut, the old woman woke her husband and told
him to bring back her daughter, adding:
"Be careful with the box of jewels." The old man
obeyed and went to fetch the girl. A short while later, the
gate to the yard creaked. The old woman went outside and saw
her husband standing next to the sleigh. She rushed forward
and pulled aside the sleigh's cover. To her horror, she saw
the body of her daughter, frozen by an angry Morozko. She
began to scream and berate her husband, but it was all in
vein. Later, the old man's daughter married a neighbor, had
children, and lived happily. Her father would visit his grandchildren
every now and then, and remind them always to respect Old
Man Winter.
|
"Morozko"
Stock #: 406129
Size: 2"W X 1 5/8"D
X 1"H
Artist: Ivanov
Style: Palekh
Reg. price: $69.95
Your price: $ 34
The box is signed by the artist
and comes with the Certificate of Authenticity.
An absolutely magnificent box painted
the best Palekh traditions with refined colors and exceptional
golden details.

|