The Russian fairy tale says that long time ago a man and a woman lived in a distant small village situated in vast northern forests. They were married for long time but never had a child. One winter day they were sitting by the window and enjoyed seeing children playing outside. The desire to have a child was so desperate that they went outside, and soon a little girl was made out of snow. The girl was so beautiful! The old couple wanted her to be their daughter… And a miracle happened! The girl opened her blue eyes and greeted her new parents with her lovely voice.

How happy the family was to have the girl they named Snow Maiden. They wanted everyone to share their joy! And everybody in the village liked Snow Maiden. Her tender beauty attracted everybody who looked at her. No wonder! Her body made of snow was created by mighty Father Frost who has the power to send the icy winds to freeze rivers and the snow to cover the ground during winter months. Her soul, to the contrary, was inspired by her Mother Spring bringing warmth to the Earth and hope to our hearts.

Just like her Father, Snow Maiden enjoyed winter. So she was comfortable when temperature outside was low, and the Sun was unable to melt the ice on the rivers. She liked seeing the snow falling from heavy clouds, covering everything as a white, thick blanket made of sparkling snowflakes. Her warm heart, however, was filled with love and devotion to bring happiness to the people around her. The old couple also loved her tenderly. Even though her new parents lived in an old shuck, Snow Maiden tried to make the house look pretty. She liked to play with other children, too.

They lived happily together until warmer days started to come. Days became bright and sunny, but Snow Maiden’s eyes darkened with sadness because she could not go outside to play with other children. Her parents could not understand what happened to her. They tried everything to make her happy again. They cooked her favorite food and made a very pretty dress for her.

One warm, sunny day, when trees were covered with fresh green leaves, and flowers were in full bloom, a group of girls came to the house to invite Snow Maiden for a walk in the neighboring forest. Snow Maiden wanted to go with them, but something was telling her to stay inside of her house where she was safe. However, the wish to share joy was stronger. She agreed to go, but decided to stay away from the blazing rays of the sun which would burn her beautiful fair skin.

The day was filled with a lot of pleasure! Girls walked through the forest, sat under the trees making wreaths out of fresh flowers, singing songs and telling stories. Snow Maiden was laughing and enjoying the day just as everybody else until dusk. When girls kindled a fire and started to jump over the fire in reckless desire to show their strength and young bravery, Snow Maiden did not want to join them even once, but girls urged her to jump over the fire. So she came close to the fireplace… Although terrified by the red hot, scorching flame, she wanted to prove herself that she was just like everybody else and she could do whatever other girls did. She jumped… When she was high in hot air above the flames, her body melted, and she turned into a white cloud, taking her beautiful, brave soul far away into the sky, sparkling with icy cold, bright stars.

…People say, that sometimes they see Snow Maiden walking in cold, snowy forests of her Father Frost, admiring the beauty of his kingdom, but with all her heart loving her Mother Spring because, as believed, our bodies may be different, but the essence of all living things is to love and to be loved.