Page 27 - СКАЗКИ СНЕЖНОГО ЭЛЬФА

had a row with Mum. We seem to pass from childhood
to adolescence, like you do. I left my palace for the
mountains where I made friends with snow guys, the
other ones, I’d say. To meet them is going to get hurt
even worse. I began copying them, gradually changing
my appearance. And that ‘s what I was like for six
hundred years; frightened passersby, played with ava-
lanches. In a nutshell, I played a hooligan.’
I nearly yelled in terror, watching a splendid pale
youth with lifelong sorrow flaming in eyes turn into
SOMETHING ELSE. His huge head was decorated with
big, inside out ears; an enormous mouth, grinning
wide, showed a great number of needle sharp teeth;
his claws were scratching the pane. He gave me such a
terror! But for Snezhik’s steady blue eyes, I would’ve
immediately hidden under the bed.
‘ At those times I thought of people as of harmful
obstacles, harmful creatures, spoiling my snowflakes
with their emotions, for my snowflakes were just snow,
senseless and common-like, born by the earth waters.
Emotions turned out to be infectious. Had an infected
snowflake joined a cloud, the whole snow community
got soaked through with emotions. I couldn’t do any-
thing about that, so I hated people and tried hard to do
them harm.
Once on my fly above houses I saw a girl inside.
‘What about a fun?’ I thought in a playful mood. ‘
Would you like a fright?’ I flew down on the cornice,
took my monstrous shape and showed my teeth. No an-

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