The Snow Baby

The Long Winter

A long, long time ago, in a small village in Russia, there lived an old man and his wife. They had lived a very happy life together, but their one regret was that they had never had a son or a daughter. This often made the old man and his wife very sad, especially during the long winter nights as they sat by the fire. It was not so bad in the summer, for then they had plenty of work to do and pretended that it did not matter.

Once again, the winter drew near and soon the snow was falling. The two old people, Marusha and Yushko, heard their neighbors’ children laughing and playing in the fields and woods behind their cottage. This made them sadder still because they did not have a child who could play outside in the snow. The old man, seeing how upset his wife was, said to her, “Marusha, I have an idea. Come outside with me and help build a little snowman, just as our neighbors’ children are doing.”

The Snowman

“Don’t be silly,” replied Marusha, a little crossly. “Whatever will the neighbors say when they see two old people like us, playing in the snow?”

“But they won’t see us,” said the old man. “We will build our snowman in the woods where nobody will see us.”

At last, Marusha agreed, so they both put on their big winter coats and boots and trudged out of the cottage and into the snow. Giggling like little children, they went hand in hand into the woods, and there, where the snow lay crisp and white, they began to build their little snowman.

Before long, they had finished, for their snowman was very small, only about the size of a tiny body. To complete it, Marusha made two eyes from some berries, and Yushko fashioned a nose from a handful of snow. The two old people stood back and admired their work, looking at one another and smiling. But as they stood there, a very strange thing happened.

The Snow Baby Awakens

Slowly at first, as if waking up after a long sleep, the little snow baby began to move. Half afraid and half excited, Marusha and Yushko turned around in alarm. As they watched, the snow began to fall away from the little figure. The two berries they had used to make the eyes suddenly turned blue, as blue as the sky above. The face seemed to smooth and round out, and as the snow fell away, beautiful golden hair appeared. At last, all the snow had fallen to the ground, and instead of a snowman, there stood a beautiful little girl, the most beautiful girl the old man and his wife had ever seen. She was dressed in a white dress. As the old couple stood in the snow, open-mouthed and hardly daring to move, the little girl ran towards them.

With tears of joy in their eyes, they bent down and kissed the lovely little girl on the cheek and hugged her. The old man and his wife could still not believe what they had seen and they pinched one another to make sure they were not dreaming. At last, Marusha and Yushko had a little child of their own, and now their lives were complete. Wrapping the little girl up in a shawl, they quickly carried her back to their cottage and laid her on a chair. “At last, our wishes have been granted and we have a little child of our own,” said the joyful Marusha.

Life with the Snow Baby

That night, the old man and his wife could hardly sleep for thinking of the little girl. The next morning, when they came downstairs and found her fast asleep, they knew it had not been a dream. They decided to call her their little snow baby, and to celebrate their good luck, Marusha prepared a party for her neighbors and their children. While Yushko went around the village knocking on all the doors and inviting people to the party, Marusha worked in the kitchen, cooking and making all sorts of good things to eat.

Early that evening, the guests began to arrive, and before long, the little cottage was filled with the sound of singing and dancing. Even the little snow baby joined in, dancing faster and more nimbly than anybody else. All the neighbors agreed that the old man and his wife had the most beautiful little girl they had ever seen.

The End of Winter

By now, the snow lay thick and white on the ground. Each day, the golden-haired little girl went out to play games with the other children in the village. She showed them how to build castles and palaces from the snow, and how to make beautiful fountains and thrones. In fact, she could make almost anything from the snow and the other children loved to watch her.

Gradually, the cold winter days passed by and the snow began to melt. The first signs of spring were appearing in the village where the old man and his wife lived. The trees had started to show their leaves, and the buds on the flowers were beginning to open out. All the children in the village played games in the fields, now covered with green grass. All, that is, except one.

A Change in Seasons

Marusha noticed that their little snow baby no longer went outside to play with the children; instead, she sat indoors by the window, with a sad expression on her face. The old woman was worried and she told her husband that she thought their child was ill.

“Are you ill?” asked Yushko one day as the little girl sat staring out of the window.

“No, Father,” she replied. “I am not ill, but I do wish the snow would fall again so that I could go outside and play. The green leaves and grass are not as beautiful as the crisp, white snow.”

“Do not worry my little girl,” replied Yushko. “It will come again next winter.”

A Heartbreaking Moment

One day, Marusha and Yushko decided to take their little golden-haired girl for a walk in the woods. Perhaps the warm summer breezes would help to bring back the color in her cheeks. They took her into the woods where the soft, warm breezes carried the scent of the flowers, but the little snow baby only shivered and looked sad.

As they passed through the tall trees in the woods, a shaft of sunlight filtered through and struck the little girl like an arrow. She gave a cry of pain and put her hands up to shield her eyes, but it was too late.

Marusha and Yushko, who had walked on ahead, turned around in alarm at the sound of the cry and saw that tears were streaming down the face of their little girl. As they watched, she slowly grew smaller and smaller, until all that remained was a tiny drop of dew, shining on the petal of a flower.

A Winter Promise

With heavy hearts, Marusha and Yushko turned to one another and nodded their heads. They both understood what had happened. Their little girl had been made of snow, and as soon as the warmth of the sunlight had fallen across her, she had melted away. Perhaps, they said to one another, she would return again next winter and they could once more see their little golden-haired snow baby.