weapons glitter. And
the proud monarch said to himself, 'I am powerless in comparison with
this man.' So he sent him royal robes and costly jewels, and commanded
him to come to the palace to be married to the Princess. And his
son-in-law put on the royal robes, and he looked so grand and stately
that it was impossible to recognise the poor Simpleton, so changed was
he; and the Princess fell in love with him as soon as ever she saw
him.

Never before had so grand a wedding been seen, and there was so much
food and wine that even the glutton and the thirsty comrade had enough
to eat and drink.

_THE SNOW-DAUGHTER AND THE FIRE-SON_[25]

There was once upon a time a man and his wife, and they had no
children, which was a great grief to them. One winter's day, when the
sun was shining brightly, the couple were standing outside their
cottage, and the woman was looking at all the little icicles which
hung from the roof. She sighed, and turning to her husband said, 'I
wish I had as many children as there are icicles hanging there.'
'Nothing would please me more either,' replied her husband. Then a
tiny icicle detached itself from the roof, and dropped into the
woman's mouth, who swallowed it with a smile, and said, 'Perhaps I
shall give birth to a snow child now!' Her husband laughed at his
wife's strange idea, and they went back into the house.

But after a short time the woman gave birth to a little girl, who was
as white as snow and as cold as ice. If they brought the child
anywhere near the fire, it screamed loudly till they put it back into
some cool place. The little maid throve wonderfully, and in a few
months she could run about and speak. But she was not altogether easy
to bring up, and gave her parents much trouble and anxiety, for all
summer she insisted on spending in the cellar, and in the winter she
would sleep outside in the snow, and the colder it was the happier she
seemed to be. Her father and mother called her simply 'Our
Snow-daughter,' and this name stuck to her all her life.

[Footnote 25: From the _Bukowinaer Tales and Legends_. Von Wliolocki.]

One day her parents sat by the fire, talking over the extraordinary
behaviour of their daughter, who was disporting herself in the
snowstorm that raged outside. The woman sighed deeply and said, 'I
wish I had given birth to a Fire-son!' As she said these words, a
spark from the big wood fire flew into the woman's lap, and she said
with a laugh, 'N