They mounted and rode swiftly away to the kingdom of King Kojata,
where the King and Queen received them with tears of joy, and they all
lived in happiness to the end of their days.
* * * * *
THE STORY OF KING FROST
A shrewish peasant woman had a daughter on whom she lavished
everything she could get, and a stepdaughter whom she neglected and
ill treated. In the mother's eyes the daughter had no faults, while
the stepdaughter was always blamed, and, try as she might, the poor
girl never could please. So unhappy was she made that her eyes were
often red from weeping. The sight of her tear-stained face only
angered the stepmother the more, and caused her to say to the girl's
father:
"Send her away, old man. My eyes are tired of the sight of her, and my
ears of the sound of her voice. Send her out of the house."
The father begged to have his daughter remain, but the shrew was
determined to be rid of her, and gave him no peace. At last, when he
could gainsay her no longer, he placed his daughter in a sledge and
drove her to the open fields. Here he left her, with nothing to shield
her from the bitter cold. Kissing her good-by, he drove away, not
daring to look back at Her.
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