A woodsman had a kind wife and a pretty little daughter, but his wife died. He married a widow with two daughters of her own. She was neither good nor kind and her daughters were nasty little girls. They grew up into very plain-looking, lazy girls while the eldest daughter grew up to be very pretty and gentle. Her step-mother made her do all the work in the house: cooking, cleaning, washing and serving her stepmother and step-sisters. Her father was unable to do anything, for the woman scolded and beat the girl very often, and more so when he tried to protect her. She became even more cruel when she realised that her step-daughter was so pretty that her own girls looked ugly and no one would marry them if they saw the prettier girl! So, she made a very cruel plan to get rid of her step-daughter.
The Bridegroom
One cold winter morning, she told her husband to harness the horse to his sled and take his daughter to her bridegroom. She told her step-daughter to pack her a few belongings and go with her father, for she had found a good husband for her and she was to meet him. Glad to escape from her step-mother finally, the girl got into the sled with her father. “Take her deep into the forest where the pines and firs are covered with snow,” said the woman, “Leave her there, for she is to marry Frost!” Her husband protested, but she yelled at him to go. The poor girl wept all the way. They reached a forest clearing where the Frost lay heavily around them. It crackled and froze the limbs. The girl had put on her best dress and a threadbare sheepskin coat. Her father put her down under a fir tree and drove away.
Frost’s Gifts
The girl sat under the tree, shivering and with her teeth chattering in the cold. Frost was leaping from tree to tree, crackling as he went. He came to the fir tree under which the girl sat. Seeing her shivering, he asked, “Are you cold, my dear?” “No, sir,” replied the frightened and miserable girl, “I am warm enough.” Each time he came closer and asked her the same thing and each time she replied she was warm enough. Frost felt great pity for the brave little girl and, leaping down, he covered her with heavy fur coats, and made a nest of warm blankets for her to curl into. The next morning, the woman sent her husband to see the girl, sure that she had frozen in the night. But he was amazed to hear the sound of her voice, singing happily! She was warmly and richly dressed and had costly presents all around her!
The Punishment of Frost
When the woodsman reached home with his daughter richly dressed and carrying all her gifts, her step-mother and step-sisters were shocked! She wanted to know what had happened and the girl told her all about the generosity and kindness of her bridegroom. They were very jealous of her good fortune. So, the next morning, she made her husband take both her daughters to meet possible bridegrooms in the forest. She gave them food and warm clothes and said they must come back next morning with rich gifts. Grumbling at the cold, the two girls went to the forest. The woodsman left them there and returned. The cold was bitter. Frost came to the fir tree and saw the girls quarrelling. They pulled each other’s hair and tore their clothes. Frost crackled around them, and in the miserable cold, the two girls froze to death! The step-mother never scolded anyone again!
