第59章

“Whatisstrange，dearmother？”askedViolet。“Dearfather，do

notyouseehowitis？Thisisoursnow-image，whichPeonyandI

havemade，becausewewantedanotherplaymate。Didnotwe，Peony？”

“Yes，papa。”saidcrimsonPeony。“Thisbeour’ittlesnow-sister。

Isshenotbeau-ti-ful？Butshegavemesuchacoldkiss！”

“Poh，nonsense，children！”criedtheirgood，honestfather，who，as

wehavealreadyintimated，hadanexceedinglycommon-sensiblewayof

lookingatmatters。“Donottellmeofmakinglivefiguresoutof

snow。Come，wife；thislittlestrangermustnotstayoutinthe

bleakairamomentlonger。Wewillbringherintotheparlor；and

youshallgiveherasupperofwarmbreadandmilk，andmakeheras

comfortableasyoucan。Meanwhile，Iwillinquireamongtheneighbors；

or，ifnecessary，sendthecity-crieraboutthestreets，togive

noticeofalostchild。”

Sosaying，thishonestandverykind-heartedmanwasgoing

towardthelittlewhitedamsel，withthebestintentionsintheworld。

ButVioletandPeony，eachseizingtheirfatherbythehand，earnestly

besoughthimnottomakehercomein。

“Dearfather。”criedViolet，puttingherselfbeforehim，“itis

truewhatIhavebeentellingyou！Thisisourlittlesnow-girl，and

shecannotliveanylongerthanwhileshebreathesthecoldwestwind。

Donotmakehercomeintothehotroom！”

“Yes，father，shoutedPeony，stampinghislittlefoot，so

mightilywasheinearnest，“thisbenothingbutour’ittle

snow-child！Shewillnotlovethehotfire！”

“Nonsense，children，nonsense，nonsense！”criedthefather，half

vexed，halflaughingatwhatheconsideredtheirfoolishobstinacy。

“Runintothehouse，thismoment！Itistoolatetoplayanylonger，

now。Imusttakecareofthislittlegirlimmediately，orshewill

catchherdeath-a-cold！”

“Husband！dearhusband！”saidhiswife，inalowvoice-forshehad

beenlookingnarrowlyatthesnow-child，andwasmoreperplexedthan

ever-“thereissomethingverysingularinallthis。Youwillthinkme

foolish-but-but-mayitnotbethatsomeinvisibleangelhasbeen

attractedbythesimplicityandgoodfaithwithwhichourchildrenset

abouttheirundertaking？Mayhenothavespentanhourofhis

immortalityinplayingwiththosedearlittlesouls？andsotheresult

iswhatwecallamiracle。No，no！Donotlaughatme；Iseewhata

foolishthoughtitis！”

“Mydearwife。”repliedthehusband，laughingheartily，“youareas

muchachildasVioletandPeony。”

Andinonesensesoshewas，forallthroughlifeshehadkept

herheartfullofchildlikesimplicityandfaith，whichwasaspure

andclearascrystal；and，lookingatallmattersthroughthis

transparentmedium，shesometimessawtruthssoprofound，thatother

peoplelaughedatthemasnonsenseandabsurdity。

ButnowkindMr。Lindseyhadenteredthegarden，breakingawayfrom

histwochildren，whostillsenttheirshrillvoicesafterhim，

beseechinghimtoletthesnow-childstayandenjoyherselfinthe

coldwestwind。Asheapproached，thesnow-birdstooktoflight。The

littlewhitedamsel，also，fledbackward，shakingherhead，asifto

say，“Pray，donottouchme！”androguishly，asitappeared，leading

himthroughthedeepestofthesnow。Once，thegoodmanstumbled，

andfloundereddownuponhisface，sothat，gatheringhimselfup

again，withthesnowstickingtohisroughpilot-clothsack，helooked

aswhiteandwintryasasnow-imageofthelargestsize。Someofthe

neighbors，meanwhile，seeinghimfromtheirwindows，wonderedwhat

couldpossesspoorMr。Lindseytoberunningabouthisgardenin

pursuitofasnow-drift，whichthewestwindwasdrivinghitherand

thither！Atlength，afteravastdealoftrouble，hechasedthelittle

strangerintoacorner，whereshecouldnotpossiblyescapehim。His

wifehadbeenlookingon，and，itbeingnearlytwilight，was

wonder-strucktoobservehowthesnow-childgleamedandsparkled，

andhowsheseemedtoshedaglowallroundabouther；andwhendriven

intothecorner，shepositivelyglistenedlikeastar！Itwasafrosty

kindofbrightne