The Tale of the Snow Globe

Глава 1The Tale of the Snow GlobeChapter 1In a distant northern land, where pines press their crowns against the low milky sky and rivers stay ice-bound until well into April, a tiny town lay hidden. It did not appear on any large map, but the locals called it Snezhnogorsk – for the snow there did not simply fall, but seemed to live its own life. It settled on the cobblestones in weightless lace, hung from eaves in fringed icicles, and by night, under the moon, shimmered in every shade of blue, violet and pearl.In winter, the town turned into a true fairy-tale residence: chimneys puffed out little rings of smoke that froze in the air and remained until morning like crystal spheres; the lamplighter, Uncle Yefim, lit the old oil lamps every week, and their flames glowed back from the snowdrifts, giving the illusion that warm light burned beneath the earth as well. Children built snowmen w…