"The Snow Maiden"
"Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there was a beautiful garden which became more beautiful that day, after a heavy fall of snow covered the ground, the trees and bushes in a soft white mantle. Two little children were happily playing in that garden, chasing each other, throwing snowballs and playing hide and seek under the fir trees.
Then, the little girl said: "Let´s make a snow doll, so there will be three of us and we´ll have more fun! " And so they carefully build a doll made of snow, with a pretty oval face, large eyes and a delicate little mouth. It looked just like a real little girl.
"Let´s give her a kiss, and maybe her lips will turn red like ours", said the little boy. So he kissed the doll… and its lips turned red! Another kiss he gave her, and the snow doll´s cheek turned pink! When a sudden gust of wind blew from the north, the doll came to life. She moved, smiled at the two children and began to play with them… They felt happy, they had at last a friend to play with, to share experiences… a girl to love…
But then, as the day went on, the children´s father returned to town. When he saw the girl in white playing with his children, he thought she had to be one of his neighbour´s daugthers. "Come into our house and get warm". But the snow maiden made a frightened sign as though to say "No!" The man insisted, "Oh, you´re so cold! The fire will soon warm you up!", and lead the snow girl into the house. Silently, in she went and stood by the window, looking out at the white garden. Then, she began to weep… as slowly and gently, she began to melt… until nothing was left of her except a trace of white snow on the floor…"