Atondido Stories
"Marushka!" she ordered sharply. "I want some violets. Go
out to the forest and get me some."
"Good heavens, my dear sister!" cried poor Marushka. "What
can you be thinking of? Whoever heard of violets growing under
the snow in January?"
"What, you lazy little slattern!" Holena shouted. "You dare to
argue with me! You go this minute and if you come back with-
out violets I'll kill you!"
The stepmother sided with Holena and, taking Marushka
roughly by the shoulder, she pushed her out of the house and
slammed the door.
The poor child climbed slowly up the mountain side weep-
ing bitterly. All around the snow lay deep with no track of man
or beast in any direction. Marushka wandered on and on, weak
with hunger and shaking with cold.
"Dear God in heaven," she prayed, "take me to yourself away
from all this suffering."
Suddenly ahead of her she saw a glowing light. She strug-
gled towards it and found at last that it came from a great fire
that was burning on the top of the mountain. Around the fire
there were twelve stones, one of them much bigger and higher
than the rest. Twelve men were seated on the stones. Three of
them were very old and white; three were not so old; three were
middle-aged; and three were beautiful youths. They did not talk.
They sat silent gazing at the fire. They were the Twelve Months.
For a moment Marushka was frightened and hesitated. Then she
stepped forward and said, politely:
"Kind sirs, may I warm myself at your fire? I am shaking
with cold."
Great January nodded his head and Marushka reached her
stiff fingers towards the flames.
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