"You must take my daughters, too, to that bridegroom in the forest. He
will give them better gifts than these."
Things take time to happen, but the tale is quickly told. Early next
morning the old woman woke her daughters, fed them with good food,
dressed them like brides, hustled the old man, made him put clean hay
in the sledge and warm blankets, and sent them off to the forest.
The old man did as he was bid--drove to the big fir tree, set the
boxes under the tree, lifted out the stepdaughters and set them on the
boxes side by side, and drove back home.
They were warmly dressed, these two, and well fed, and at first, as
they sat there, they did not think about the cold.
"I can't think what put it into mother's head to marry us both at
once," said the first, "and to send us here to be married. As if there
were not enough young men in the village. Who can tell what sort of
fellows we shall meet here!"
Then they began to quarrel.
"Well," says one of them, "I'm beginning to get the cold shivers. If
our fated ones do not come soon, we shall perish of cold."
"It's a flat lie to say that bridegrooms get ready early. It's already
dinner-time."
"What if only one comes?"
"You'll have to come another time."
"You think he'll look at you?"
"Well, he won't take you, anyhow."
"Of course he'll take me."
"Take you first! It's enough to make any one laugh!"
They began to fight and scratch each other, so that their cloaks fell
open and the cold entered their bosoms.
[Illustration: There she was, a good fur cloak about her shoulders and
costly blankets Round her feet.]
Frost, crackling among the trees, laughing to himself, froze the hands
of the two quarrelling girls, and they hid their hands in the sleeves
of their fur coats and shivered, and went on scolding and jeering at
each other.
"Oh, you ugly mug, dirty nose! What sort of a housekeeper will you
make?"
"And what about you, boasting one? You know nothing but how to gad
about and lick your own face. We'll soon see which of us he'll take."
And the two girls went on wrangling and wrangling till they began to
freeze in good earnest.