Winter Tales by Dawn Casey

Author:Dawn Casey [Dawn Casey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Running Press
Published: 2023-10-10T00:00:00+00:00

The woman kept seven of the silver pine cones—one for each of her seven children. The children helped her carry the rest of the cones to the market, and they returned laden with packets and parcels. That evening, the family sat down to bowls of rich steaming stew and bread hot from the oven. They held hands around their old wooden table and they gave thanks.

“Tomorrow, you must go back to the forest and thank the king of the dwarves for his gift,” said her husband.

The next day, the woman offered her thanks to Gubich. The little man smiled, his eyes crinkling and twinkling in his brown face. “The forest is rich with gifts,” he said. “Here, pick the leaves of this plant. Brew a tea for your husband.”

The woman looked doubtfully at the gray-brown seeds and deep-toothed leaves, dusty and ragged. But the little man kept watching her and nodded his head, so she began to pick. The leaves were soft, like faded velvet.

“Perhaps he means to poison us?” said the woman later that night, eyeing the green liquid as it bubbled in the pot. It didn’t look like the tea she bought from the market. “Have faith!” said her husband. “Gubich means us well.”

Every morning and every evening, the man drank the bitter brew. Day by day, color returned to his pale face. Light returned to his dull eyes. Strength returned to his weak body. He was well again.

From that day on, the family were healthy and wealthy. They kept the seven silver pine cones on the dresser as a reminder of Gubich’s kindness. When the children grew up and found homes of their own, they each kept a silver pine cone on their dressers. And their children passed the cones on, and so the story spread, and the fir tree was always remembered with great respect. So that even today, families far and wide gather pine cones and paint them silver, and string them on the mantelpiece or hang them on the Christmas tree, where they swirl slow and shine in the firelight.

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