Page:Tales and Legends from the Land of the Tzar.djvu/62

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years ago, in a distant Russian village, there lived a peasant, by name Akem, with his wife Masha; they lived in a small wooden hut, where they spent their days in love and harmony; but children had they none. This was a very sore point with both of them, they used to sit by the window or at the door of their little hut looking at their neighbours' children playing about, and wished that they had some of their own; but finding that it was no use wishing, they at last became sad in their old age.

One cold winter's day, when the snow lay thick upon the uneven country roads, and the little village boys were running about throwing snowballs to keep themselves warm, and making snow-men and women, old Akem and Masha sat by their window looking at them in silence. Suddenly Akem looked up at his wife, and said, laughing,—

"Masha, what do you say to coming out into the road and making ourselves a snow-man or woman, like those little boys yonder?"

Masha laughed, too, it seemed such a queer thing to do at their time of life!

"Yes, if you like," she replied; "let us go, it may cheer us up a bit; but I don't see why we should make a snow-man or woman, let us rather make a