Page 120 - СКАЗКИ СНЕЖНОГО ЭЛЬФА
P. 120

Snow Boa and  Sun Splinters




             The  day  was  bright  and  I  came  out  for  a  stroll  on
          the  river  bank.  Snow  shone  brilliantly;  hundreds  of
          sun splinters darted from snowdrift to snowdrift; bare
          tree  branches  were  wrapped  in  delicate  frosty    gui-
          pure. Spectacular scenery!  Snow creaking under feet:
          crunch-crunch – sounded so tasty. The frost felt at once:
          strong,  mischievous,  nipping  at  cheeks,  but  pleasant,
          like a stubble of beard touch in a morning kiss.
             A snow ball dashed out of the forest, icy blue eyes
          gleamed  close  to  my  face  and  Snezhik’s  cold  nose
          pressed up against my cheek.
             ‘Snezhik, how are you? Glad to see you again! I’m just
          walking. Will you join me?’
             ‘Alright. Not for long, though. I’m short of time.’ Say-
          ing this, my little snow companion made himself com-
          fortable on my shoulder.
             ‘I haven’t seen much of you lately. You’re flying some-
          where, doing something. I miss you.’
             ‘Doing something… Of course, I am. Loads of snow,
          you  know.  I’m  the  warden  here.  And  things  happen.
          Snow beasts in the forest are dangerous. I had a mes-
          sage about the Snow Boa seen on a branch of a lime-tree.
             ‘Well, what of it? Made of snow beasts, do they hurt
          people?’
             ‘People?  No way, I didn’t mean people. There’re oth-
          er valuable creatures around. Sun splinters, for exam-
          ple. Any idea of what might happen to them?’

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