d to her husband:

"Old man, go and get the sledge harnessed; put an armful
of hay in it, and take some sheep-skin wraps. I daresay the
girls are half-dead with cold. There's a terrible frost outside!
And, mind you, old greybeard, do it quickly!"

Before the old man could manage to get a bite he was out of
doors and on his way. When he came to where his daughters
were, he found them dead. So he lifted the girls on to the
sledge, wrapped a blanket round them, and covered them up
with a bark mat. The old woman saw him from afar, ran out
to meet him, and called out ever so loud:

"Where are the girls?"

"In the sledge."

The old woman lifted the mat, undid the blanket, and found
the girls both dead.

Then, like a thunderstorm, she broke out against her husband,
abusing him saying:

"What have you done, you old wretch? You have destroyed
my daughters, the children of my own flesh and blood, my
never-enough-to-be-gazed-on seedlings, my beautiful berries! I
will thrash you with the tongs; I will give it you with the stove-rake."

"That's enough, you old goose! You flattered yourself
you were going to get riches, but your daughters were too stiff-necked.
How was I to blame? it was you yourself would
have it."

The old woman was in a rage at first, and used bad language;
but afterwards she made it up with her stepdaughter,
and they all lived together peaceably, and thrived, and bore no
malice. A neighbor made an offer of marriage, the wedding
was celebrated, and Marfa is now living happily. The old man
frightens his grandchildren with (stories about) Frost, and
doesn't let them have their own way.

In a variant from the Kursk Government (Afanasief IV. No. 42. _b_),
the stepdaughter is left by her father "in the open plain." There she
sits, "trembling and silently offering up a prayer." Frost draws near,
intending "to smite her and to freeze her to death." But when he says
to her, "Maiden, maiden, I am Frost the Red-Nosed," she replies
"Welcome, Frost; doubtless God has sent you for my sinful soul."
Pleased by her "wise words," Frost throws a warm cloak over her, and
afterwards presents her with "robes embroidered with silver and gold,
and a chest containing rich dowry." The girl puts on the robes, and
appears "such a beauty!" Then she sits on the chest and sings songs.
Meantime her stepmother is baking cakes and preparing for her funeral.
After a time