It's crunching inside me! Nice frost! - said the snowman. - The wind, the wind just bites! Just love it! Why are you staring, bug-eyed? - He was talking about the sun, which was just setting. - However, go ahead, go ahead! I won't even blink! Let's resist!
Instead of eyes, two fragments of roofing tiles stuck out; instead of a mouth, there was a piece of an old rake; that means he had teeth.
He was born to the joyful “hurray” of the boys, to the ringing of bells, the creaking of runners and the cracking of cabbies’ whips.
The sun set, and the moon emerged into the blue sky, full and clear!
- Look, it’s crawling on the other side! - said the snowman. He thought that the sun had appeared again. - I finally stopped him from staring at me! Let it hang and shine quietly so that I can see myself!.. Oh, how I wish I could somehow manage to move! So I would run there to skate on the ice, like the boys did earlier! Trouble is, I can’t move!
- Get out! Out! - barked the old chained dog; he was a little hoarse - after all, he had once been a lap dog and lay by the stove. - The sun will teach you to move! I saw what happened last year with someone like you, and the year before too! Out! Out! Everyone get out!
-What are you talking about, buddy? - said the snowman. - Will that bug-eyed one teach me how to move? - The snowman talked about the moon. “She herself ran away from me just now; I looked at her so intently! And now she’s crawled out again from the other side!
- You think a lot! - said the chain dog. - Well, yes, you’ve just been sculpted! The one that looks now is the moon, and the one that has gone is the sun; it will come back again tomorrow. It will push you right into the ditch! The weather will change! I feel - left leg whined! It will change, it will change!
- I don’t understand you! - said the snowman. - It seems like you are promising me bad things! That red-eyed thing called the sun is not my friend either, I can already smell it!
- Get out! Out! - the chained dog barked, turning around itself three times and laying down in its kennel to sleep.
The weather has indeed changed. By morning the entire neighborhood was shrouded in thick, viscous fog; then a sharp, freezing wind blew and the frost began to crackle. And what a beauty it is when the sun rose!
The trees and bushes in the garden were all covered with frost, like a forest of white corals! All the branches seemed to be dressed in shiny white flowers! The smallest branches, which in summer are not visible because of the dense foliage, were now clearly outlined in the finest lace pattern of dazzling whiteness; radiance seemed to flow from every branch! The weeping birch tree, swayed by the wind, seemed to come to life; its long branches with fluffy fringe moved quietly - just like in summer! That was great! The sun rose... Oh, how everything suddenly sparkled and lit up with tiny, dazzling white lights! Everything was as if sprinkled with diamond dust, and large diamonds shimmered in the snow!
- What a beauty! - said a young girl who went out into the garden with a young man. They stopped right next to the snowman and looked at the sparkling trees. - You won’t see such splendor in the summer! - she said, all beaming with pleasure.
- And such a fine fellow too! - said the young man, pointing to the snowman. - He is incomparable!
The young girl laughed, nodded her head to the snowman and started skipping through the snow with the young man, their feet crunching as if they were running on starch.
- Who are these two? - the snowman asked the chained dog. - You’ve lived here longer than me; do you know them?
- I know! - said the dog. - She stroked me, and he threw bones; I don't bite those.
- What are they pretending to be? - asked the snowman.
- A little bit! - said the chain dog. - So they will settle in the kennel and gnaw bones together! Out! Out!
- Well, do they mean anything, like me and you?
- But they are gentlemen! - said the dog. - How little does one understand who only yesterday came into the light of day! I can see it in you! I am so rich in both years and knowledge! I know everyone here! Yes, I’ve known better times!.. I didn’t freeze here in the cold on a chain! Out! Out!
- Nice frost! - said the snowman. - Well, well, tell me! Just don’t rattle the chain, otherwise it just irritates me!
- Get out! Out! - the chain dog barked. “I was a puppy, a tiny, pretty puppy, and I was lying on velvet chairs there in the house, lying on the laps of noble gentlemen!” They kissed me on the face and wiped my paws with embroidered scarves! They called me Milka, Baby!.. Then I grew up, became too big for them, they gave me a gift to the housekeeper, I ended up in the basement. You can look there; You can see perfectly from your place. So, in that closet I lived like a gentleman! Even though it was lower there, it was calmer than up there: I wasn’t dragged or squeezed by children. I ate just as well, if not better! I had my own pillow, and there was also a stove, the most wonderful thing in the world in such cold weather! I even crawled under it!.. Oh, I still dream about this stove! Out! Out!
- Is she really that good, the stove? - asked the snowman. - Does she look like me?
- Not at all! That's what he said too! The stove is black as coal: she has long neck and a copper belly! She just devours wood, fire comes out of her mouth! Next to her, under her - real bliss! You can see her through the window, look!
The snowman looked and, in fact, saw a black shiny thing with a copper belly; there was a fire in my belly. The snowman was suddenly seized by such a terrible desire - it was as if something was stirring in him... What came over him, he himself did not know and did not understand, although any person would understand this, unless, of course, he was not a snowman.
- Why did you leave her? - the snowman asked the dog, he felt that the stove was a female creature. - how could you leave there?
- I had to! - said the chain dog. “They threw me out and put me on a chain. I bit the younger barchuk on the leg - he wanted to take the bone from me! "Bone for bone!" - I think to myself... But they got angry, and I ended up on a chain! I lost my voice... Can you hear me wheezing? Out! Out! That's all you have to do!
The snowman was no longer listening; he did not take his eyes off the basement floor, from the housekeeper’s closet, where an iron stove the size of a snowman stood on four legs.
- Something strange is stirring in me! - he said. - Will I never get there? This is such an innocent wish, why shouldn’t it come true! This is my most cherished, my only desire! Where is justice if it does not come true? I need to go there, there to her... To snuggle up to her no matter what, even to break the window!
- You can't get there! - said the chain dog. - And even if you got to the stove, you’d be finished! Out! Out!
- I’m already nearing the end, and before I know it, I’ll fall over!
All day the snowman stood and looked out the window; at dusk the closet looked even more welcoming; the stove shone so softly, like neither the sun nor the moon shines! Where should they go? Only the stove shines like that if its belly is full. When the door was opened, a flame rushed out of the stove and sparkled with a bright reflection on the snowman’s white face. There was also a fire burning in his chest.
- I can’t stand it! - he said. - How cute she sticks out her tongue! How it suits her!
The night was long, long, but not for the snowman; he was completely immersed in wonderful dreams - they were crackling inside him from the frost.
By morning, all the basement windows were covered with a beautiful icy pattern and flowers; The snowman couldn't have asked for better things, but they hid the stove! The frost was crackling, the snow was crunching, the snowman should have been happy, but no! He yearned for the stove! He was positively ill.
- Well, this is a dangerous disease for a snowman! - said the dog. - I suffered from this too, but I recovered. Out! Out! There will be a change in the weather!
And the weather changed, a thaw began.
Drops rang, and the snowman melted before our eyes, but he didn’t say anything, didn’t complain, and this is a bad sign. One fine morning he collapsed. In its place, only something like a bent iron stick stuck out; It was on it that the boys strengthened it.
- Well, now I understand his melancholy! - said the chained dog - He had a poker inside! That's what was moving inside him! Now it's all over! Out! Out!
Winter soon passed.
- Get out! Out! - the chained dog barked, and the girls on the street sang:

Forest flower, bloom quickly!
You, little willow, dress in soft fluff!
Cuckoos, starlings, come,
Sing the red praise of spring to us!
And we’ll tell you: ah, lyuli-lyuli,
Our red days have come again!

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It's crunching inside me! Nice frost! - said the snowman. - The wind, the wind just bites! Just love it! Why are you staring, bug-eyed? - He was talking about the sun, which was just setting. - However, go ahead, go ahead! I won't even blink! Let's resist!

Instead of eyes, two fragments of roofing tiles stuck out; instead of a mouth, there was a piece of an old rake; that means he had teeth.

He was born to the joyful “hurray” of the boys, to the ringing of bells, the creaking of runners and the cracking of cabbies’ whips.

The sun set, and the moon emerged into the blue sky, full and clear!

Look, it’s crawling on the other side! - said the snowman. He thought that the sun had appeared again. - I finally stopped him from staring at me! Let it hang and shine quietly so that I can see myself!.. Oh, how I wish I could somehow manage to move! So I would run there to skate on the ice, like the boys did earlier! Trouble is, I can’t move!

Out! Out! - barked the old chained dog; he was a little hoarse - after all, he had once been a lap dog and lay by the stove. - The sun will teach you to move! I saw what happened last year with someone like you, and the year before too! Out! Out! Everyone get out!

What are you talking about, buddy? - said the snowman. - Will that bug-eyed one teach me how to move? - The snowman talked about the moon. “She herself ran away from me just now; I looked at her so intently! And now she’s crawled out again from the other side!

You think a lot! - said the chain dog. - Well, yes, you’ve just been sculpted! The one that looks now is the moon, and the one that has gone is the sun; it will come back again tomorrow. It will push you right into the ditch! The weather will change! I feel my left leg aching! It will change, it will change!

I don't understand you! - said the snowman. - It seems like you are promising me bad things! That red-eyed thing called the sun is not my friend either, I can already smell it!

Out! Out! - the chained dog barked, turning around itself three times and laying down in its kennel to sleep.

The weather has indeed changed. By morning the entire neighborhood was shrouded in thick, viscous fog; then a sharp, freezing wind blew and the frost began to crackle. And what a beauty it is when the sun rose!

The trees and bushes in the garden were all covered with frost, like a forest of white corals! All the branches seemed to be dressed in shiny white flowers! The smallest branches, which in summer are not visible because of the dense foliage, were now clearly outlined in the finest lace pattern of dazzling whiteness; radiance seemed to flow from every branch! The weeping birch tree, swayed by the wind, seemed to come to life; its long branches with fluffy fringe moved quietly - just like in summer! That was great! The sun rose... Oh, how everything suddenly sparkled and lit up with tiny, dazzling white lights! Everything was as if sprinkled with diamond dust, and large diamonds shimmered in the snow!

What a beauty! - said a young girl who went out into the garden with a young man. They stopped right next to the snowman and looked at the sparkling trees. - You won’t see such splendor in the summer! - she said, all beaming with pleasure.

And such a good guy too! - said the young man, pointing to the snowman. - He is incomparable!

The young girl laughed, nodded her head to the snowman and started skipping through the snow with the young man, their feet crunching as if they were running on starch.

Who are these two? - the snowman asked the chained dog. - You’ve lived here longer than me; do you know them?

I know! - said the dog. - She stroked me, and he threw bones; I don't bite those.

What are they pretending to be? - asked the snowman.

A couple! - said the chain dog. - So they will settle in the kennel and gnaw bones together! Out! Out!

Well, do they mean anything, like me and you?

Why, they are gentlemen! - said the dog. - How little does one understand who only yesterday came into the light of day! I can see it in you! I am so rich in both years and knowledge! I know everyone here! Yes, I have known better times!.. I didn’t freeze here in the cold on a chain! Out! Out!

Nice frost! - said the snowman. - Well, well, tell me! Just don’t rattle the chain, otherwise it just irritates me!

Out! Out! - the chain dog barked. “I was a puppy, a tiny, pretty puppy, and I was lying on velvet chairs there in the house, lying on the laps of noble gentlemen!” They kissed me on the face and wiped my paws with embroidered scarves! They called me Milka, Baby!.. Then I grew up, became too big for them, and they gave me to the housekeeper, I ended up in the basement. You can look there; You can see perfectly from your place. So, in that closet I lived like a gentleman! Even though it was lower there, it was calmer than up there: I wasn’t dragged or squeezed by children. I ate just as well, if not better! I had my own pillow, and there was also a stove, the most wonderful thing in the world in such cold weather! I even crawled under it!.. Oh, I still dream about this stove! Out! Out!

Is she really that good, the stove? - asked the snowman. - Does she look like me?

Not at all! That's what he said too! The stove is black as coal: it has a long neck and a copper belly! She just devours wood, fire comes out of her mouth! Next to her, under her - real bliss! You can see her through the window, look!

The snowman looked and, in fact, saw a black shiny thing with a copper belly; there was a fire in my belly. The snowman was suddenly seized by such a terrible desire - it was as if something was stirring in him... What came over him, he himself did not know and did not understand, although any person would understand this, unless, of course, he is not a snowman.

Why did you leave her? - the snowman asked the dog, he felt that the stove was a female creature. - How could you leave there?

I had to! - said the chain dog. “They threw me out and put me on a chain. I bit the younger barchuk on the leg - he wanted to take the bone from me! "Bone for bone!" - I think to myself... But they got angry, and I ended up on a chain! I lost my voice... Can you hear me wheezing? Out! Out! That's all you have to do!

The snowman was no longer listening; he did not take his eyes off the basement floor, from the housekeeper’s closet, where an iron stove the size of a snowman stood on four legs.

Something strange is stirring inside me! - he said. - Will I never get there? This is such an innocent wish, why shouldn’t it come true! This is my most cherished, my only desire! Where is justice if it does not come true? I need to go there, there to her... To snuggle up to her no matter what, even to break the window!

→ Snowman

Random excerpt from the text: Rainer Maria Rilke. Letters to a young poet
... I think that a man is also familiar with motherhood, spiritual and physical: his conception is also, in a certain sense, childbirth, as is creativity, to which he devotes all the strength of his spirit. Perhaps both sexes closer friend to each other than they think, and the great renewal of the world may consist in the fact that a man and a girl, free from false shame and indifference, will strive for each other not as opposites, but as brothers and sisters, as neighbors, and will be united in human love in order to simply, patiently and strictly bear together the heavy burden of sex that is placed on them. ... Full text

Select from the section on Andersen's fairy tales:
	Translations of fairy tales: in Belarusian in Ukrainian in Mongolian in English in French in spanish	Illustrations for fairy tales: V. Pedersen L, Fruhlich E. Dulac contemporary artists Notes on fairy tales: Notes
Select from the Andersen section:
Stories and novels, poems, autobiographies, travel notes, letters, portraits, photographs, clippings, drawings, literature about Andersen.

Snowman

It's crunching inside me! Nice frost! - said the snowman. - The wind, the wind just bites! Just love it! Why are you staring, bug-eyed? - He was talking about the sun, which was just setting. - However, go ahead, go ahead! I won't even blink! Let's resist!

Instead of eyes, two fragments of roofing tiles stuck out; instead of a mouth, there was a piece of an old rake; that means he had teeth.

He was born to the joyful “hurray” of the boys, to the ringing of bells, the creaking of runners and the cracking of cabbies’ whips.

The sun set, and the moon emerged into the blue sky, full and clear!

Look, it’s crawling on the other side! - said the snowman. He thought that the sun had appeared again. - I finally stopped him from staring at me! Let it hang and shine quietly so that I can see myself!.. Oh, how I wish I could somehow manage to move! So I would run there to skate on the ice, like the boys did earlier! Trouble is, I can’t move!

Out! Out! - barked the old chained dog; he was a little hoarse - after all, he had once been a lap dog and lay by the stove. - The sun will teach you to move! I saw what happened last year with someone like you, and the year before too! Out! Out! Everyone get out!

What are you talking about, buddy? - said the snowman. - Will that bug-eyed one teach me how to move? - The snowman talked about the moon. “She herself ran away from me just now; I looked at her so intently! And now she’s crawled out again from the other side!

You think a lot! - said the chain dog. - Well, yes, you’ve just been sculpted! The one that looks now is the moon, and the one that has gone is the sun; it will come back again tomorrow. It will push you right into the ditch! The weather will change! I feel my left leg aching! It will change, it will change!

I don't understand you! - said the snowman. - It seems like you are promising me bad things! That red-eyed thing called the sun is not my friend either, I can already smell it!

Out! Out! - the chained dog barked, turning around itself three times and laying down in its kennel to sleep.

The weather has indeed changed. By morning the entire neighborhood was shrouded in thick, viscous fog; then a sharp, freezing wind blew and the frost began to crackle. And what a beauty it is when the sun rose!

The trees and bushes in the garden were all covered with frost, like a forest of white corals! All the branches seemed to be dressed in shiny white flowers! The smallest branches, which in summer are not visible because of the dense foliage, were now clearly outlined in the finest lace pattern of dazzling whiteness; radiance seemed to flow from every branch! The weeping birch tree, swayed by the wind, seemed to come to life; its long branches with fluffy fringe moved quietly - just like in summer! That was great! The sun rose... Oh, how everything suddenly sparkled and lit up with tiny, dazzling white lights! Everything seemed to be sprinkled with diamond dust, and large diamonds shimmered in the snow!

What a beauty! - said a young girl who went out into the garden with a young man. They stopped right next to the snowman and looked at the sparkling trees. - You won’t see such splendor in the summer! - she said, all beaming with pleasure.

And such a good guy too! - said the young man, pointing to the snowman. - He is incomparable!

The young girl laughed, nodded her head to the snowman and started skipping through the snow with the young man, their feet crunching as if they were running on starch.

Who are these two? - the snowman asked the chained dog. - You’ve lived here longer than me; do you know them?

I know! - said the dog. - She stroked me, and he threw bones; I don't bite those.

What are they pretending to be? - asked the snowman.

A little bit! - said the chain dog. - So they will settle in the kennel and gnaw bones together! Out! Out!

Well, do they mean anything, like me and you?

Why, they are gentlemen! - said the dog. - How little does one understand who only yesterday came into the light of day! I can see it in you! I am so rich in both years and knowledge! I know everyone here! Yes, I’ve known better times!.. I didn’t freeze here in the cold on a chain! Out! Out!

Nice frost! - said the snowman. - Well, well, tell me! Just don't rattle the chain, otherwise it just irritates me!

Out! Out! - the chain dog barked. “I was a puppy, a tiny, pretty puppy, and I was lying on velvet chairs there in the house, lying on the laps of noble gentlemen!” They kissed me on the face and wiped my paws with embroidered scarves! They called me Milka, Baby!.. Then I grew up, became too big for them, and they gave me as a gift to the housekeeper, and I ended up in the basement. You can look there; You can see perfectly from your place. So, in that closet I lived like a gentleman! Even though it was lower there, it was calmer than up there: I wasn’t dragged or squeezed by children. I ate just as well, if not better! I had my own pillow, and there was also a stove, the most wonderful thing in the world in such cold weather! I even crawled under it!.. Oh, I still dream about this stove! Out! Out!

Is she really that good, the stove? - asked the snowman. - Does she look like me?

Not at all! That's what he said too! The stove is black as coal: it has a long neck and a copper belly! She just devours wood, fire comes out of her mouth! Next to her, under her - real bliss! You can see her through the window, look!

The snowman looked and, in fact, saw a black shiny thing with a copper belly; there was a fire in my belly. The snowman was suddenly seized by such a terrible desire - it was as if something was stirring in him... What came over him, he himself did not know and did not understand, although any person would understand this, unless, of course, he was not a snowman.

Why did you leave her? - the snowman asked the dog, he felt that the stove was a female creature. - how could you leave there?

I had to! - said the chain dog. “They threw me out and put me on a chain. I bit the younger barchuk on the leg - he wanted to take the bone from me! "Bone for bone!" - I think to myself... But they got angry, and I ended up on a chain! I lost my voice... Can you hear me wheezing? Out! Out! That's all you have to do!

The snowman was no longer listening; he did not take his eyes off the basement floor, from the housekeeper’s closet, where an iron stove the size of a snowman stood on four legs.

Something strange is stirring inside me! - he said. - Will I never get there? This is such an innocent wish, why shouldn’t it come true! This is my most cherished, my only desire! Where is justice if it does not come true? I need to go there, there to her... To snuggle up to her no matter what, even to break the window!

You can't get there! - said the chain dog. - And even if you got to the stove, you’d be finished! Out! Out!

I’m already nearing the end, and before I know it, I’ll fall over!

All day the snowman stood and looked out the window; at dusk the closet looked even more welcoming; the stove shone so softly, like neither the sun nor the moon shines! Where should they go? Only the stove shines like that if its belly is full. When the door was opened, a flame rushed out of the stove and sparkled with a bright reflection on the snowman’s white face. There was also a fire burning in his chest.

I can't stand it! - he said. - How cute she sticks out her tongue! How it suits her!

The night was long, long, but not for the snowman; he was completely immersed in wonderful dreams - they were crackling inside him from the frost.

By morning, all the basement windows were covered with a beautiful icy pattern and flowers; The snowman couldn't have asked for better things, but they hid the stove! The frost was crackling, the snow was crunching, the snowman should have been happy, but no! He yearned for the stove! He was positively ill.

Well, this is a dangerous disease for a snowman! - said the dog. - I suffered from this too, but I recovered. Out! Out! There will be a change in the weather!

And the weather changed, a thaw began.

Drops rang, and the snowman melted before our eyes, but he didn’t say anything, didn’t complain, and this is a bad sign. One fine morning he collapsed. In its place, only something like a bent iron stick stuck out; It was on it that the boys strengthened it.

Well, now I understand his sadness! - said the chained dog - He had a poker inside! That's what was moving inside him! Now it's all over! Out! Out!

Winter soon passed.

Out! Out! - the chained dog barked, and the girls on the street sang:

Forest flower, bloom quickly!

You, little willow, dress in soft fluff!

Cuckoos, starlings, come,

Sing the red praise of spring to us!

And we’ll tell you: ah, lyuli-lyuli,

Our red days have come again!

It's crunching inside me! Nice frost! - said the snowman. - The wind, the wind just bites! Just love it! And what is this goggle-eyed one staring at? - It's him...

It's crunching inside me! Nice frost! - said the snowman. - The wind, the wind just bites! Just love it! And what is this goggle-eyed one staring at? - He was talking about the sun, which was just setting. - Nothing, nothing! I won’t even blink! Let's resist!

Instead of eyes, two fragments of roofing tiles stuck out, and instead of a mouth, a piece of an old rake; that means he had teeth.

He was born to the joyful “hurray” of the boys, to the ringing of bells, the creaking of runners and the cracking of cabbies’ whips.

The sun set, and the moon emerged into the blue sky, full and clear!

Look, it’s crawling on the other side! - said the snowman. He thought that the sun had appeared again. - I finally stopped her from staring at me! Let it hang and shine quietly so that I can see myself!.. Oh, if only I could somehow manage to move! So I would run there to skate on the ice, like the boys did earlier! Trouble is, I can’t move!

Out! Out! - the old chain dog barked; She was a little hoarse - ever since she was a lap dog and lay by the stove. - The sun will teach you to move! I saw what happened last year with someone like you, and the year before too! Out! Out! Everyone get out!

What are you talking about, my friend? - said the snowman. - Will that bug-eyed one teach me how to move? - Snegur spoke about the moon. “She ran away from me just now: I looked at her so intently!” And now she’s crawled out again from the other side!

You know a lot! - said the chain dog. - Well, yes, after all, you were just sculpted! The one that looks now is the moon, and the one that has gone is the sun; it will come back again tomorrow. It will already push you - right into the ditch! The weather will change! I feel my left leg aching! It will change, it will change!

I don’t understand it for some reason! - said the snowman. - And it seems that she promises me bad things! That bug-eyed one called the sun is not my friend either, I can already tell!

Out! Out! - the chained dog barked, turned around itself three times and lay down to sleep in its kennel.

The weather has indeed changed. By morning the entire neighborhood was shrouded in thick, viscous fog; then a sharp, freezing wind blew, and the frost began to crackle. And what a beauty it was when the sun rose!

The trees and bushes in the garden were all covered with frost, like a forest of white corals! All the branches seemed to be covered with shiny white flowers! The smallest branches of the branches, which in summer are not visible due to the dense foliage, were now clearly outlined in the finest lace pattern of dazzling whiteness; It was as if a radiance was pouring from every branch! The weeping birch, swayed by the wind, seemed to come to life; its long branches with fluffy fringe moved quietly - just like in summer! That was great! The sun has risen... Ah! how everything suddenly sparkled and lit up with tiny, dazzling white lights! Everything seemed to be sprinkled with diamond dust, and large diamonds shimmered in the snow!

What a beauty! - said a young girl who went out into the garden arm in arm with a young man. They stopped right next to the snowman and looked at the sparkling trees.

You won't see such splendor in summer! - she said, all beaming with pleasure.

And such a good guy too! - said the young man, pointing to the snowman. - He is incomparable!

The young girl laughed, nodded her head to the snowman and started skipping through the snow with the young man; It crunched under their feet, as if they were running on starch.

Who were these two who came? - the snowman asked the chained dog. - You, after all, have been living here longer than me; do you know them?

I know! - said the dog. - She stroked me, and he threw bones - I don’t bite people like that.

What are they pretending to be? - asked the snowman.

Parrrochka! - said the chain dog. - So they will settle in the kennel and gnaw bones together! Out! Out!

Well, do they mean anything, like me and you?

Yes, after all, they are gentlemen! - said the chain dog. - How little does one understand who only yesterday came into the light of God! I can see it in you! Look, I am so rich in both years and knowledge! I know everyone here! Yes, I have known better times!.. I didn’t freeze here in the cold on a chain! Out! Out!

Nice frost! - said the snowman. - Well, well, tell me, tell me! Just don’t rattle the chain, otherwise it just irritates me!

Out! Out! - the chained dog barked. “I was a puppy, a tiny, pretty puppy, and I was lying on velvet chairs, there in the house, lying on the laps of noble gentlemen!” They kissed me on the face and wiped my paws with embroidered scarves! They called me “Milka”, “Kroshka”!.. Then I grew up, became too big for them, and they gave me to the housekeeper; I ended up in the basement. You can look there; You can see perfectly from your place. So in that little closet I began to live as a lady, yes, a lady! Even though it was lower there, it was calmer than up there: I wasn’t dragged or squeezed by children. I ate just as well, if not better! I had my own pillow and also... there was a stove, the most wonderful thing in the world in such cold weather! I completely crawled under it!.. Oh, I still dream about this stove! Out! Out!

Is she really that good, the stove? - asked the snowman. - Does she look like me?

Not at all! That's what he said too! The stove is black as coal; she has a long neck and a copper belly! She just devours wood, fire comes out of her mouth! Next to her, under her - real bliss! You can see her through the window, look!

Snegur looked and really saw a black shiny thing with a copper belly; fire glowed from it. Snegur was suddenly seized by some strange desire - it was as if something was stirring in him... What came over him, he himself did not know and did not understand, although any person would understand this, unless, of course, he was a snow gur.

Why did you leave her? - the snowman asked the dog. - How could you leave there?

I had to! - said the chain dog. “They threw me out and put me on a chain. I bit the younger barchuk on the leg - he wanted to take the bone from me! "Bone for bone!" I think to myself... But they got angry, and here I am on a chain! I lost my voice... Can you hear me wheezing? Out! Out! That's all you have to do!

Snegur was no longer listening; he did not take his eyes off the basement floor, from the housekeeper’s closet, where an iron stove the size of a snowman stood on four legs.

Something is stirring so strangely inside me! - he said. - Will I never get there? This, after all, is such an innocent desire, why shouldn’t it come true? This is my most cherished, my only desire! Where is justice if it does not come true? I need to go there, there, to her... to cling to her at all costs, even if I have to break the window!

You can't get there! - said the chain dog. - And even if you got to the stove, you’d be finished! Out! Out!

I’m already nearing the end, I’m about to fall over!

All day the snowman stood and looked out the window; at dusk the closet looked even more welcoming: the stove shone so softly that neither the sun nor the moon shines! Where should they go? Only the stove shines like that if its belly is full. When they opened it, a flame rushed out of it and sparkled with a bright reflection on the snowman’s white face and chest.

I can't stand it! - he said. - How cute she sticks out her tongue! How it suits her!

The night was long, long, but not for the snowman; He was completely immersed in wonderful dreams - they were crackling inside him from the frost.

By morning, all the basement windows were covered with a wonderful ice pattern and flowers; The best snowmen could not have asked for, but they hid the stove! The glass didn't defrost and he couldn't see the stove! The frost was crackling, the snow was crunching, the snowman should have rejoiced and rejoiced, but no! He yearned for the stove! He was positively ill.

Well, this is a dangerous disease for the snowman! - said the chain dog. - I also suffered from this, but I recovered. Out! Out! There will be a change in the weather!

And the weather changed, there was a thaw.

The thaw intensified, and the snowstorm decreased, but he did not say anything, did not complain, and this is a bad sign.

One fine morning he collapsed. In its place, only something like a bent iron stick stuck out; It was on it that the boys strengthened it.

Well, now I understand his sadness! - said the chain dog. - He had a poker inside! That's what was moving inside him! Now it's all over! Out! Out!

Winter soon passed.

Out! Out! - the chained dog barked, and the girls on the street sang:

Forest flower, bloom quickly!
You, little willow, dress in soft fluff!
Cuckoos, starlings, come,
Sing the red praise of spring to us!
And we’ll tell you: ah lyuli-lyuli,
Our red days have come again!

They forgot to even think about the snowman!

- It’s crunching inside me! Nice frost! - said the snowman. - The wind, the wind just bites! Just love it! And what is this goggle-eyed one staring at? “He was talking about the sun, which was just setting.” - Nothing, nothing! I won’t even blink! Let's resist!

Instead of eyes, two fragments of roofing tiles stuck out, and instead of a mouth, a piece of an old rake; that means he had teeth.

He was born to the joyful “hurray” of the boys, to the ringing of bells, the creaking of runners and the cracking of cabbies’ whips.

The sun set, and the moon emerged into the blue sky, full and clear!

- Look, it’s crawling on the other side! - said the snowman. He thought that the sun had appeared again. “I finally stopped her from staring at me!” Let it hang and shine quietly so that I can see myself!.. Oh, if only I could somehow manage to move! So I would run there to skate on the ice, like the boys did earlier! Trouble - I can’t move!

- Get out! Out! - barked the old chain dog; She was a little hoarse - ever since she was a lap dog and lay by the stove. - The sun will teach you to move! I saw what happened last year with someone like you, and the year before too! Out! Out! Everyone get out!

- What are you talking about, buddy? - said the snowman. — Will that bug-eyed one teach me how to move? — Snegur spoke about the moon. “She ran away from me just now: I looked at her so intently!” And now she’s crawled out again from the other side!

- You know a lot! - said the chain dog. - Well, yes, after all, you were just sculpted! The one that looks now is the moon, and the one that has gone is the sun; it will come back again tomorrow. It will already push you - right into the ditch! The weather will change! I feel my left leg aching! It will change, it will change!

- I don’t understand her for some reason! - said the snowman. - And it seems that she promises me bad things! That bug-eyed one called the sun is not my friend either, I can already tell!

- Get out! Out! - the chained dog barked, turned around itself three times and lay down to sleep in its kennel.

The weather has indeed changed. By morning the entire neighborhood was shrouded in thick, viscous fog; then a sharp, freezing wind blew, and the frost began to crackle. And what a beauty it was when the sun rose!

The trees and bushes in the garden were all covered with frost, like a forest of white corals! All the branches seemed to be covered with shiny white flowers! The smallest branches of the branches, which in summer are not visible due to the dense foliage, were now clearly outlined in the finest lace pattern of dazzling whiteness; It was as if a radiance was pouring from every branch! The weeping birch, swayed by the wind, seemed to come to life; its long branches with fluffy fringe moved quietly - just like in summer! That was great! The sun has risen... Ah! how everything suddenly sparkled and lit up with tiny, dazzling white lights! Everything seemed to be sprinkled with diamond dust, and large diamonds shimmered in the snow!

- What a beauty! - said a young girl who went out into the garden arm in arm with a young man. They stopped right next to the snowman and looked at the sparkling trees.

“You won’t see such splendor in the summer!” - she said, beaming with pleasure.

- And such a fine fellow too! - said the young man, pointing to the snowman. - He is incomparable!

The young girl laughed, nodded her head to the snowman and started skipping through the snow with the young man; It crunched under their feet, as if they were running on starch.

- Who were these two who came? - the snowman asked the chained dog. “You’ve been living here longer than me, after all; do you know them?

- I know! - said the dog. “She stroked me, and he threw bones - I don’t bite people like that.”

- What are they pretending to be? - asked the snowman.

- Parrrochka! - said the chain dog. - So they will live in a kennel and gnaw bones together! Out! Out!

- Well, do they mean anything, like me and you?

- Yes, after all, they are gentlemen! - said the chain dog. - How little does one understand who only yesterday came into the light of God! I can see it in you! Look, I am so rich in both years and knowledge! I know everyone here! Yes, I have known better times!.. I didn’t freeze here in the cold on a chain! Out! Out!

- Nice frost! - said the snowman. - Well, well, tell me, tell me! Just don’t rattle the chain, otherwise it just irritates me!

- Get out! Out! - the chained dog barked. “I was a puppy, a tiny, pretty puppy, and I was lying on velvet chairs, there in the house, lying on the laps of noble gentlemen!” They kissed me on the face and wiped my paws with embroidered scarves! They called me “Milka”, “Kroshka”!.. Then I grew up, became too big for them, and they gave me to the housekeeper; I ended up in the basement. You can look there; You can see perfectly from your place. So in that little closet I began to live as a lady, yes, a lady! Even though it was lower there, it was calmer than up there: I wasn’t dragged or squeezed by children. I ate just as well, if not better! I had my own pillow and also... there was a stove, the most wonderful thing in the world in such cold weather! I completely crawled under it!.. Oh, I still dream about this stove! Out! Out!

- Is she really that good, little stove? - asked the snowman. - Does she look like me?

- Not at all! That's what he said too! The stove is black as coal; she has a long neck and a copper belly! She just devours wood, fire comes out of her mouth! Next to her, under her - real bliss! You can see her through the window, look!

Snegur looked and really saw a black shiny thing with a copper belly; fire glowed from it. Snegur was suddenly seized by some strange desire - it was as if something was stirring in him... What came over him, he himself did not know and did not understand, although any person would understand this, unless, of course, he was a snow gur.

- Why did you leave her? - the snowman asked the dog. - How could you leave there?

- I had to! - said the chain dog. “They threw me out and put me on a chain. I bit the younger barchuk on the leg - he wanted to take the bone from me! "Bone for bone!" I think to myself... But they got angry, and here I am on a chain! I lost my voice... Can you hear me wheezing? Out! Out! That's all you have to do!

Snegur was no longer listening; he did not take his eyes off the basement floor, from the housekeeper’s closet, where an iron stove the size of a snowman stood on four legs.

“Something is stirring so strangely inside me!” - he said. - Will I never get there? This, after all, is such an innocent desire, why shouldn’t it come true? This is my most cherished, my only desire! Where is justice if it does not come true? I need to go there, there, to her... to cling to her at all costs, even if I have to break the window!

- You can't get there! - said the chain dog. “And even if you got to the stove, you’d be finished!” Out! Out!

“I’m already nearing the end, I’m about to fall!”

All day the snowman stood and looked out the window; at dusk the closet looked even more welcoming: the stove shone so softly that neither the sun nor the moon shines! Where should they go? Only the stove shines like that if its belly is full. When they opened it, a flame rushed out of it and sparkled with a bright reflection on the snowman’s white face and chest.

- I can’t stand it! - he said. - How cute she sticks out her tongue! How it suits her!

The night was long, long, but not for the snowman; He was completely immersed in wonderful dreams - they were crackling inside him from the frost.

By morning, all the basement windows were covered with a wonderful ice pattern and flowers; The best snowmen could not have asked for, but they hid the stove! The glass didn't defrost and he couldn't see the stove! The frost was crackling, the snow was crunching, the snowman should have rejoiced and rejoiced, but no! He yearned for the stove! He was positively ill.

- Well, this is a dangerous disease for the snowman! - said the chain dog. “I suffered from this too, but I got better.” Out! Out! There will be a change in the weather!

And the weather changed, there was a thaw.

The thaw intensified, and the snowstorm decreased, but he did not say anything, did not complain, and this is a bad sign.

One fine morning he collapsed. In its place, only something like a bent iron stick stuck out; It was on it that the boys strengthened it.

- Well, now I understand his melancholy! - said the chain dog. - He had a poker inside! That's what was moving inside him! Now it's all over! Out! Out!

Winter soon passed.

- Get out! Out! - the chained dog barked, and the girls on the street sang:

Forest flower, bloom quickly!
You, little willow, dress in soft fluff!
Cuckoos, starlings, come,
Sing the red praise of spring to us!
And we’ll tell you: ah lyuli-lyuli,
Our red days have come again!

They forgot to even think about the snowman!