Page 94 - СКАЗКИ СНЕЖНОГО ЭЛЬФА

‘You are coming with me, darling, aren’t you?’ the woman
asked sternly, her narrow slanted icy eyes reflected shadows in
brief glimpses, escaping to grey cold depths.
Snowyflake stood still, unable to act, while the strange
woman got a long crochet out of her robes, then pulled a thread
right out of the frosty air and began to crochet very quickly. The
coming out lace, like a weightless foam, fell gently around the
girl’s limbs, wrapping her up. Snowyflake felt warm and calm,
and unwilling to move, only her heart was beating violently:
Not that, not that, not that…
A sudden heavy thud splitted the grey fog, and its grey edges
disappeared in the honeycomb snow with a hissing sound.
Snowyflake sat leaning against the body of a fir-tree. A squirre-
ling jumped down on her shoulder, stuck its nose in her cheek
and remained so, its tail shaking.
‘Well, Squir, who has to be saved?’ somebody rumbled, and
inside the canopy turned up a well-built white-bearded old
man. In his hand he was holding a carved walking staff.
The squirreling jumped down on the snow, ran up to the
old man and, chattering loudly, climbed in his hands. The old
man bent over the girl, his brows knitted.
‘Oh, girl, you’re in trouble!’ he cried, clasping his hands. ‘The
Snow Witch has worked you into the net.’
Saying that, the old man touched the girl with his staff and
she realized she could move again, only she was freezing over
and was not aware of her body.
‘How come you went to the forest at night? Don’t you know
that girls are not allowed to walk there alone? Are you afraid to
get lost?’ The old man frowned.
‘But, grandpa, I live not far from here, this forest is famil-
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