t is so deliberately produced in them as
is the case in the following remarkable version of a well-known tale.

FROST.[277]

There was once an old man who had a wife and three daughters.
The wife had no love for the eldest of the three, who
was her stepdaughter, but was always scolding her. Moreover,
she used to make her get up ever so early in the morning, and
gave her all the work of the house to do. Before daybreak the
girl would feed the cattle and give them to drink, fetch wood
and water indoors, light the fire in the stove, give the room a
wash, mend the dresses, and set everything in order. Even
then her stepmother was never satisfied, but would grumble
away at Marfa, exclaiming:--

"What a lazybones! what a slut! Why here's a brush not
in its place, and there's something put wrong, and she's left the
muck inside the house!"

The girl held her peace, and wept; she tried in every way to
accommodate herself to her stepmother, and to be of service to
her stepsisters. But they, taking pattern by their mother, were
always insulting Marfa, quarrelling with her, and making her
cry: that was even a pleasure to them! As for them, they lay
in bed late, washed themselves in water got ready for them,
dried themselves with a clean towel, and didn't sit down to
work till after dinner.

Well, our girls grew and grew, until they grew up and were
old enough to be married. The old man felt sorry for his eldest
daughter, whom he loved because she was industrious and
obedient, never was obstinate, always did as she was bid, and
never uttered a word of contradiction. But he didn't know how
he was to help her in her trouble. He was feeble, his wife was
a scold, and her daughters were as obstinate as they were
indolent.

Well, the old folks set to work to consider--the husband
how he could get his daughters settled, the wife how she could
get rid of the eldest one. One day she says to him:--

"I say, old man! let's get Marfa married."

"Gladly," says he, slinking off (to the sleeping-place) above
the stove. But his wife called after him:--

"Get up early to-morrow, old man, harness the mare to the
sledge, and drive away with Marfa. And, Marfa, get your
things together in a basket, and put on a clean shift; you're
going away to-morrow on a visit."

Poor Marfa was delighted to hear of such a piece of good
luck as being invited on a visit