The Dead Princess and the Seven Dreams. Immortals
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Everyone got up in the light, washed their face, but the girl noticed how Snega looked at Tara, with pity and anxiety, then approached her, she only began to deny and shake her head, disagreeing with something, and Zima and Alena heard Snega’s words, already said loudly:
— You will die soon, you likhomanka.
— What? — Winter jumped to Tara, — Snow will cure, Tara, do not refuse or deny her, although she is young, but she knows a lot about witchcraft. Since she said, then everything is so.
— I agree, — said the novice, — if you say where I learned about my illness.
Snow looked at her for a long time, then looked around everyone in the upper room, got up, went to the hearth, and holding her hands over the fire, as if frozen, turned her head and answered.
«I saw it in my sleep. I see those who are close, sometimes in a dream, only my face. And if there is some kind of disease, then the place of the disease seems to be covered with a black stripe. So you have it, Tara. Black stripe on the chest, and remember — I’m not wrong.
«I didn’t know… ’she began uncertainly, ’if so, heal. But not a word to others, «she said, looking around everyone in the upper room, and they nodded their heads in agreement.
— Winter, — said Snow, — make an infusion of linden, and I need honey. And you Tara, sit next to me, don’t be afraid of anything.
The novice sat down nearby, Snoya put pressure on a couple of points on the girl’s body, plunging her into sleep, and she herself put her hands on the guest’s chest and covered her eyes. Everyone sitting in the upper room could not look away from this — the adopted granddaughter turned white in front of her eyes, became like an ice block, her eyes turned black, and her lips turned blue, and the nails on her fingers squeezing the novice’s shoulders became blue. Snow in exhaustion sat on the bench, with his back to the wall of the house. She breathed, as if she had run all the way to Yamal, and caught the air with her mouth open. When she opened her now invisible eyes, and tried to stand up, she almost fell to the floor, and Wang caught her by the shoulders, and in response she only smiled powerfully, and looked sideways, past him, with her blind black eyes. Tara just opened her eyes, touched her sides and chest in disbelief, sighed convulsively and looked at Snow with fright.
— What’s wrong with you?
— It will pass, the witch answered confidently, — tomorrow everything will be fine with me, — added Snow, — always so, Tara. Every time.
All the household looked with hope and pain at the unfortunate witch, who clung to the wall with her fingers, reached her bed, sat on it, and sighed in exhaustion. Again Van ran up to her with a ladle of honey.
— Drink, at least you will gain strength, — and put a drink in her hands. I drank snow to the bottom, smiled weakly, looking sideways from the young man.
«Thank you,» she said.
— Nobody about it a word, — said Zima, strictly looking around all the family, and she herself remembered, and did not forget, how this girl cured her.
— Of course,» Wang muttered, looking around the others.
— We won’t tell anyone, — Tara and Alena answered in one voice.
— Lie down, rest, — and Zima laid the witch, covering her with a fur cover.
Both the guest and the home winters went out to walk through the village, where the mummers began to walk. Someone attached horns, and hair from urine, men dressed as women, and women put on men’s clothes, hiding their faces under birch bark and wooden masks. They sang scabby ritual songs, glorifying spring and a new fire in the hearth. Tara liked the village, but in the morning she had to return to Alatyr, go by boat on the Ob back, and where to go on a sleigh. Winter opened the gate, then the doors of the house, everyone climbed the stairs to the upper room, and there the already cheerful smiling Snow was making dough, preparing to bake pies. She looked cheerful, her freckled nose was stained with flour, ashy hair, pulled into a braid, covered the kerchief, and shirt sleeves were rolled up to
elbow. And everyone noticed her Vedic tattoos of snakes tangled in tangles on her forearms. It was so… unusual. A girl at fourteen, and the strongest sorceress, and as if nothing had happened, creates pies, although an hour ago she was blind and exhausted on the bench.
— Come on, granddaughter, I’ll help, — Zima spoke hastily removing the sheepskin coat, — And you, Alenka, take care of boiled eggs, cut sauerkraut. Smaller! And put it in a large bowl. Van, go to the basement for soaked cranberries.
— Here, with pies, Snegurka, strength is not needed, and your witchcraft will not help, — she looked anxiously at the tattoos on the arms of the young witch, — here love is needed, but patience. Here, now roll out the dough with a rolling pin, sprinkle with flour. Great, clever. Granddaughters, where is the filling?
«Now, granny,» Wang and Alena shouted, and carried bowls of cranberries, chopped eggs and finely chopped sauerkraut and smoked fish. Tara also undertook to help, sporingly cutting fish for pies and removing bones from meat.
Soon everything was ready, and the pies went to a hot, already heated oven. After an hour, the treat was ready, and at least there was little flour left, but the holiday is a holiday, and the table must break from food on such days, otherwise luck will leave home. So in the evening on the bowls lay pies with fish, and with cabbage and eggs, and with cranberries. Zima put the put honey on the table, pouring a little to the children, and Tara and herself a ladle.
— To you Snow, you will not say that you are small yet, — and grandmother laughed, and poured her into a larger bucket.
The girl only looked up in response, opened her mouth, about to answer, but blushed and did not say anything, and Alyona, seeing this, pushed her brother in the side, but he could not tear himself away from the treat.
The meal was cheerful and satisfying, the pies were a success, and the honey was excellent, fragrant and persistent.
«I’ll tell you about Alatyr Island,» Tara began, «they live there in the mountain caves of Pryakha, number three, witches, whose names are a secret, no one knows what their name was. If the hour comes, and one of them dies, they bury her in caves, deep in the mountain, where the ice does not melt, and there they lie, in ice coffins. Novices help them, and Mara lives there, she keeps order on the island, and she has seven novices waiting for initiation in a secret cave, and they don’t talk about it, and she quickly looked at Snow, and then Mara lets them go and takes new students. Men have no move there, they stay in a guest hut on the shore, and no longer than three days. These are those who accompany the novices, and bring supplies to the island, and take the Holy Fire, as I have now arrived at you. There are no forests there, there are only stones around, rare shrubs grow only. But still, witches live, fish are caught, nets are put. There are a lot of fish, it happens in winter, and polar bears wander in, they hunt seals. Winter is there nine months a year, and in summer the sun does not set, and in winter it does not rise. In the sky in winter, such flashes are multi-colored — horror, and cracks, and thunders like a thunderstorm.
Van and Alena heard the story of what places there are! I listened to the snow, sighed, and covered the sadness with a fish pie, and washed down with honey.
— It’s cold, there are no flowers, ice and stones, — Snow inserted into the story, — and the birds do not sing.
«A holy place,» Tara added, looking reproachfully at the witch, «the best mentors live there.
— If only this, — sighed Snow, — and there are no mosquitoes. Almost.
And in the morning everyone went to see Tara off. In parting for curing Snow, she presented a twisted bronze bracelet. They stood staring at each other, never knowing if they would meet again if fate and chance helped. At the pier, the leader Zigi had already brought the rowing warriors who were visiting him, and the youths brought gifts for the guests — a barrel of honey, fur, a large ace with wooden utensils. The merrymakers put the belongings in a boat, skillfully distributing the cargo, so as not to interfere with turning oars.
— Thank you, girl, — she said, and whispered in her ear, — on Alatyr I will not reveal your secrets, where you are buried, I will not tell anyone.
Snow brightened her face, kissed Tara back, helped her into the boat, and waved her handkerchief goodbye for a long time, watched the boat move away with each wave of oars, and the blue waters of the river carry her to the mouth.
Apple tree bloomed
Day after day, Snow went to Ore, comprehend wisdom, got acquainted with her children, two daughters, Malina and Uta, and son Uar. The novices of Ora, Dubrava da Podaga, did not cherish souls in the student, who herself showed them a lot of new things. Alena diligently remembered what her named sister was teaching. So imperceptibly and warmth approached these edges, finally snow came down, they met geese who arrived from the South. Winter and her grandchildren worked in the home garden, digging up the ground with wooden shovels, and her grandmother planted beets, cabbage, and carrots. So spring came, and beautiful apple trees bloomed in the garden, planted by Winter’s husband. But one of them did not bloom in any way, despite all the care. Ash was poured to its roots, and eggshells, and horse manure went into business, but nothing helped. Winter and Snow walked past the trees, the girl was all outlandish — she was careful approached trees, stroked leaves, tried to catch the aroma of blooming inflorescences. At one branch, she frightened off the bumblebee, from an alarming buzzing, and then, suddenly, she began to curl around the girl, and two more flew in with a dozen, the same fat and beautiful, with a bright orange-black color, circling around her in dance. The young witch did not pay attention to the buzzing insects, and did not drive them away, and they did not leave her, and went from tree to tree with a buzzing retinue.
— And on this why there are no leaves or flowers? — asked a misunderstood girl, — what happened?
— It’s frozen, probably. We’ll have to cut it down, — Zima said reluctantly, — for many everything froze out the winter before last, we, you see, only one tree died. Ora also got sick.
— Now, — said the witch and went to the tree, began to stroke her bark, touched with sensitive fingers, as if listening to the apple tree breathing. So she stood, hugging the tree, touched the large branches that looked like the hands of a man. — Everything is fine, she slept, — and the glory laughed, — froze and fell asleep. Will wake up tomorrow. And then I will look at the apple tree at Ora’s, wake up if necessary.
— All that you are joking, granddaughter, — taking it for a joke, said Zima. — Let’s go, it’s necessary to prepare for dinner, and Van will come running, and Alena will come from Ora.
— Let’s go, — Snegurochka (Snow maiden) agreed.
They returned home, lit embers in the hearth, warmed up the pot with the remains of dinner, and Alena soon came. Alena came cheerful from Ora, hung her sum of wiped skin, sat down on the bench next to her grandmother, and kissed her.
«Let’s eat,» she suggested, «it’s time already,» and she made a serious face, pushing the bowl towards her while empty.
— Wang didn’t come after all, — grandmother noticed, — let’s wait.
— He injured his leg, — she said lingeringly and in a very quiet voice, it seemed, thinking and listening to herself, Snow, — not much, — and she shook her head, — now I will lie down.
Below there was a knock on the door, and Zima and Alena rushed down to open. They met Vett, supporting Wang by the shoulder, standing on one leg, leaning on a stick.
— Hello, Vette, — said my grandmother, — thank you for helping Van. What happened?
— Yes, grandmother Zima, he flew off the wagon, broke. But we wrapped our leg up, List said he would pass soon.
— Sit down, eat with us, young man, Zima said.
— It is necessary to go home, — he crumpled, looking around at the girls, — they are waiting after all.
— Well, you go home, Vett, otherwise your mother and father are worried about you. Thanks, again.
— Okay, I’ll go, — Vett said reluctantly, — get well, — he wished goodbye to a friend.
— Happy, Wang told him, thank you.
Winter and Alena helped the young man climb the narrow stairs up, and he cried out only three times. In the middle of the room stood Snow, carefully looking at the sick.
— Put him on the bench, and lift the leg, his knee is broken.
Winter sat down her grandson, and she herself went for a bronze basin with hot water and a clean rag, Alena remained to look for treatment.
— How did you know? — Van said doubtfully, trying not to gasp when the witch touched his knee, which had already begun to swell and turn blue. Winter put a basin next to it, and Snow, sighing, concentrated and put her fingers on the joint burning with fire. The young man felt the heat inside, as if someone had lit a fire in his leg, and now, the pain let him go. Nearby sat the very pale Snow, her lips were bloodless, and her eyes darkened, but remained blue. She breathed often, often, Winter ran up to her, and Alena brought a bucket with a drink.
— Granddaughter, how are you, — said Zima, kissing the girl on the cheek, and carefully looked at her pale face.
— Everything is fine, — she said, rubbing her hands nervously, — it’s good that we almost immediately treated our brother.
— Thank you,» Van said, «tomorrow I will go back to Glom and List, I will definitely stay on the wagon now.» The chariot will be taught to ride tomorrow, and rule the horses..
«You’ll sit at home, from a week,» the strict grandmother told him firmly, leaning both hands on the table, and looked at him adamantly, «so that Liszt would have questions?» How, they say, is your grandson, and immediately cured? — she mimicked the mentor of the youth, — And who cured him, angry,? — she mimicked her neighbors, — Sit at home. Now I’ll wrap my leg with you so that it would look thicker, like swollen, and take a stick in my hand, and try to walk in my yard without a stick, I’ll lock it up alive in the upper room.
— And what, Bauska (Grandma)?
— What, what, — Alena mimicked him, — think about Snow, give her out like that. How did you run so fast, but only barely walked — and with one leg, Vett dragged him, almost on the hump, — she threw up her hands in an adult way — only the leg was all blue, and tut- once! And healthy, that’s a miracle happened! And someone helped??? And she nodded at the named sister.
— That’s right, Alenka says. A week with a rag on his knee, and silent about everything. — the grandmother sentenced, and strictly looked at the incomprehensible grandson.
— Okay,» Van said, annoying about the female dominance of the house, «for the sake of Snow, of course, sit down.» And sadly hung his head.
Soon the whole family was able to sit at the table, and the hunger was satisfied with unwise food, and went to bed. The next morning, after eating, Winter got hooked on Snow.
— Granddaughter, you are a witch doctor, without a doubt the best. But what about the apple tree? — and she smiled slyly, thinking how she would make excuses — let’s go take a look?
— Let’s go, grandma, — the granddaughter immediately agreed, — and we’ll walk Van.
— Let’s go, we’ll walk through the garden, — grandmother called everyone to the air, and went to the window. But nothing much was visible through the bull bubble of the window, only light penetrated, and the woman only sighed.
— Have you forgotten the stick? — Zima noticed and looked at Wang, he looked back from under her, and showed his crutch on his outstretched arms — okay.
We went down the stairs, the boy sighed heavily all the way and deliberately puffed.
— You puff with others, and here, with us why? his sister made fun of him.
Wang did not say a word to his malicious sister, only rolled his eyes to the ceiling, and diligently leaned on the stick. The weather was beautiful, the sun was shining, and the whole garden was in bloom, they walked along the grass, and Winter was looking forward to Snegurochkino’s disappointment, and picked up words. to mitigate the failure of the girl. Snow went forward, and her joyful laughter was heard.
«Here, come here!» she shouted, and Wang jumped on one leg and crutch, ran forward the fastest, and his cry rang out:
— Look, the old apple tree has blossomed!
Winter holidays
Summer passed without incident, only the adopted granddaughter was infinitely happy every day. This year, the Winter family remained in the South, and did not go to the North, they wanted to show the girl all the colors of summer. She looked, it seemed, at all the berries, tasted each one, learned how blueberries differ from strawberries. I tasted apples from each apple tree, remembered all the flowers in the forests where I went with Ora, accompanied by dogs. In the garden, the mentor cured her apple tree. Autumn came, fermented cabbage grown in the garden, put carrots and beets in pits with sand and air, onions hung in bundles under the ceiling of the house, something from the fruits of the earth was dried for the winter. They collected mushrooms, especially Ora gained a lot of mushrooms, dried a lot, and salted which in wooden tubs. I saw snow salted mushrooms and dried, brought to Alatyr, but growing in the forest, I saw here for the first time. Everyone remembered how she was trying to recruit the most beautiful of them — fly agaric, they were convinced by violence that they were poisonous. And then, she began to type herself, so much so that everyone was surprised, and she laughed, and said that now she finds them by smell, and she herself realized that grebes, similar to ordinary mushrooms, are terribly poisonous.
In winter, pastoralist tribes descended back to the south, where the steppes began. Soon there was already a Kolovorot holiday, people tied ribbons to fir trees, decorating them, the hostesses prepared a festive treat for their families. Winter, now recovered, after the treatment of Snow in the spring, Sporo worked at the oven, prepared pies for treats. The youth went to see the festivities, the three of us went.
— What, Snow you look around, — asked Alenka, — have you seen this on your islands?
«No..» she said, looking at the guy who was skiing behind the horse, holding on to his bridle, and only the snow creaked under the skis, and the people laughed, skipping the rider.
Zigi decided to arrange races, and in this way — on skis for a horse, and in the old fashioned way, on skis for a deer. The leader tried to hunt his fellow tribesmen for horses, although the deer were, of course, more familiar to people.
«Alenka, don’t tell your grandmother, I also participate in horse racing,» the lad whispered to his sister.
— Scolds, but how do you break?
— Good snow, you look, will cure, — Van remarked mischievously, — and she learns from Ora, she knows a lot about all the herbs.
— You are still careful, — the girl noticed, — and I can’t refuse treatment all alone.
— Okay, I went, — Wang became serious, — the horse is kind, and my skis are good.
— We will wait, — said the sister, taking out a bag of nuts, and pouring half of Snow, — everything is more fun than just watching and waiting.
Meanwhile, eight participants gathered at the initial line, their horses were held by the bridles, and the competitors themselves stood on skis, holding the reins of their horses. The signal was to be given by Glom, wrapped in a sheepskin coat, and wearing a felt hat with long ears wrapped around his throat and felt boots. Finally, he waved his hand, the assistants let the horses go, and the drivers, clicking the reins, began to chase the horses, and they immediately took them to the canter, and one of the riders, the unluckiest, lost his balance and flew into a snowdrift, and the horse ran after everyone, already without a saddle. Snow rushed to help the youth, and helped him get up. The skis were broken, and a thick sliver stuck out in the young man’s felted boot. The boy turned white in pain, but with the beauty he only clenched his teeth, and did not scream, trying to smile. Snow looked at it with concern, but here then the relatives of the competitor ran up, and they took him home. Suddenly one of the men looked at the brown-haired girl, and scratching his forehead, said:
— Yes, this is the eminent student of Ora. Girl, do mercy, look at the wound of our Orm. Our house is nearby.
— Well, — Snow just answered, — Alena, I quickly, just go look, and I’ll come back right away…
— All right, sis. I’ll wait. Alyona nodded.
It was not far from the house, Snow rose up the seedling, removed the sheepskin coat, leaving felt boots. Orm was also removed from the sheepskin coat, and he sat on the bench, and a woman sat next to him, probably his mother, and looked at his whitened face.
— Is your name Snow? — the woman asked, — Do mercy, look, Slavnitsa, that Orm has a leg, he has one son left. My name is Mila, I am his mother.
She came up with snow, felt the wound through a felt felt felt felt felt, pulled out a dagger from the scabbard on her belt, ripped open her leg, left a sliver, was afraid that a large vein had suffered. She also ripped open her leg, cut the fabric carefully, so as not to injure the already wounded one more time. Exposing a sore spot, slightly oozing with blood, and with a wooden point sticking out in the wound, the girl put her sore leg on the bench, raising it higher.
— Mila, give a leather belt, a bronze basin, hot water, dry plantain — and she carefully felt the vein. exactly, the piece of wood tore a vein, and if without a tourniquet, the guy will bleed to death.
The woman brought a belt, Snea pulled her leg in a jerk, but so as not to break even more, she quickly pulled out the tip, Orm just managed to gasp. Blood poured into the bronze pelvis, but not much, so, a thin red line on the white leg. Snow tried so that Mila would not notice anything, focus, and stop the blood at all, only felt how noisy in her head. She began to bandage, imposed a plantain, wrapped the wound with a clean rag, but the waves still thundered treacherously in her head. She saw now too badly, only distinguished the general contours, everything in front of her was like in a thick fog.
— Well, I’ll go, — and the violence did not fall, and her legs were bent, — everything will be fine with him. — and smiled, trying to show that she was doing well.
«What’s wrong with you girl,» Mila looked frightened at the black eyes of the witch, «what’s wrong with your eyes?» Are you blind?
— I don’t like blood, — the girl said firmly, with difficulty dressing a sheepskin coat from the third time, not falling into the sleeves with her hands.
— How did you stop the blood? Without you, I would have bled, thank you, — Mila quickly said, helping the girl get dressed, — and even though you are from ice people, I don’t care. Since I saved my son, then you are not evil. This is for you — and she put a silver bracelet on the girl’s hand and kissed — thanks again. You don’t take care of yourself, you help others. If you need, my husband and I will always help.
«Who is he?»
— Magi is the first, Bor, — Mila proudly said, — I will take you to your named sister.
Mila dressed, and took the glory by the arm.
«Hold on to me, and fear no one,» the woman said firmly.
When Mila and Snow arrived, the girl had already seen, and Mila said goodbye to her, kissing both cheeks. But the races were already over, and Wang, standing next to Vett and Alena, proudly showed the award-fighting bow given by the leader Zigi himself.