The Snow-daughter And The Fire-son

: The Yellow Fairy Book

From the Bukowinaer Tales and Legends. Von Wliolocki.



There was once upon a time a man and his wife, and they had no

children, which was a great grief to them. One winter's day,

when the sun was shining brightly, the couple were standing

outside their cottage, and the woman was looking at all the

little icicles which hung from the roof. She sighed, and turning

to her husband said, 'I wish I had as many children as there are

icicles hanging there.' 'Nothing would please me more either,'

replied her husband. Then a tiny icicle detached itself from the

roof, and dropped into the woman's mouth, who swallowed it with a

smile, and said, 'Perhaps I shall give birth to a snow child

now!' Her husband laughed at his wife's strange idea, and they

went back into the house.



But after a short time the woman gave birth to a little girl, who

was as white as snow and as cold as ice. If they brought the

child anywhere near the fire, it screamed loudly till they put it

back into some cool place. The little maid throve wonderfully,

and in a few months she could run about and speak. But she was

not altogether easy to bring up, and gave her parents much

trouble and anxiety, for all summer she insisted on spending in

the cellar, and in the winter she would sleep outside in the

snow, and the colder it was the happier she seemed to be. Her

father and mother called her simply 'Our Snow-daughter,' and this

name stuck to her all her life.



One day her parents sat by the fire, talking over the

extraordinary behaviour of their daughter, who was disporting

herself in the snowstorm that raged outside. The woman sighed

deeply and said, 'I wish I had given birth to a Fire-son!' As she

said these words, a spark from the big wood fire flew into the

woman's lap, and she said with a laugh, 'Now perhaps I shall give

birth to a Fire-son!' The man laughed at his wife's words, and

thought it was a good joke. But he ceased to think it a joke

when his wife shortly afterwards gave birth to a boy, who

screamed lustily till he was put quite close to the fire, and who

nearly yelled himself into a fit if the Snow-daughter came

anywhere near him. The Snow-daughter herself avoided him as much

as she could, and always crept into a corner as far away from him

as possible. The parents called the boy simply 'Our Fire-son,' a

name which stuck to him all his life. They had a great deal of

trouble and worry with him too; but he throve and grew very

quickly, and before he was a year old he could run about and

talk. He was as red as fire, and as hot to touch, and he always

sat on the hearth quite close to the fire, and complained of the

cold; if his sister were in the room he almost crept into the

flames, while the girl on her part always complained of the great

heat if her brother were anywhere near. In summer the boy always

lay out in the sun, while the girl hid herself in the cellar: so

it happened that the brother and sister came very little into

contact with each other--in fact, they carefully avoided it.



Just as the girl grew up into a beautiful woman, her father and

mother both died one after the other. Then the Fire-son, who had

grown up in the meantime into a fine, strong young man, said to

his sister, 'I am going out into the world, for what is the use

of remaining on here?'



'I shall go with you,' she answered, 'for, except you, I have no

one in the world, and I have a feeling that if we set out

together we shall be lucky.'



The Fire-son said, 'I love you with all my heart, but at the same

time I always freeze if you are near me, and you nearly die of

heat if I approach you! How shall we travel about together

without being odious the one to the other?'



'Don't worry about that,' replied the girl, 'for I've thought it

all over, and have settled on a plan which will make us each able

to bear with the other! See, I have had a fur cloak made for

each of us, and if we put them on I shall not feel the heat so

much nor you the cold.' So they put on the fur cloaks, and set

out cheerfully on their way, and for the first time in their

lives quite happy in each other's company.



For a long time the Fire-son and the Snow-daughter wandered

through the world, and when at the beginning of winter they came

to a big wood they determined to stay there till spring. The

Fire-son built himself a hut where he always kept up a huge

fire, while his sister with very few clothes on stayed outside

night and day. Now it happened one day that the King of the land

held a hunt in this wood, and saw the Snow-daughter wandering

about in the open air. He wondered very much who the beautiful

girl clad in such garments could be, and he stopped and spoke to

her. He soon learnt that she could not stand heat, and that her

brother could not endure cold. The King was so charmed by the

Snow-daughter, that he asked her to be his wife. The girl

consented, and the wedding was held with much state. The King

had a huge house of ice made for his wife underground, so that

even in summer it did not melt. But for his brother-in-law he

had a house built with huge ovens all round it, that were kept

heated all day and night. The Fire-son was delighted, but the

perpetual heat in which he lived made his body so hot, that it

was dangerous to go too close to him.



One day the King gave a great feast, and asked his brother-in-

law among the other guests. The Fire-son did not appear till

everyone had assembled, and when he did, everyone fled outside to

the open air, so intense was the heat he gave forth. Then the

King was very angry and said, 'If I had known what a lot of

trouble you would have been, I would never have taken you into my

house.' Then the Fire-son replied with a laugh, 'Don't be angry,

dear brother! I love heat and my sister loves cold--come here

and let me embrace you, and then I'll go home at once.' And

before the King had time to reply, the Fire-son seized him in a

tight embrace. The King screamed aloud in agony, and when his

wife, the Snow-daughter, who had taken refuge from her brother

in the next room, hurried to him, the King lay dead on the ground

burnt to a cinder. When the Snow-daughter saw this she turned on

her brother and flew at him. Then a fight began, the like of

which had never been seen on earth. When the people, attracted

by the noise, hurried to the spot, they saw the Snow-daughter

melting into water and the Fire-son burn to a cinder. And so

ended the unhappy brother and sister.