Once upon a time there lived an old widower who had a daughter. He married a woman who had a daughter of her own. The woman doted on her own daughter but found fault with everything the stepdaughter did and made her work long and hard. The old man's daughter rose before daybreak to look after the cattle, fetch firewood and water for her house, light the stove and sweep and scrub the floor. Still, her stepmother scolded her all day long and finally made up her mind to get rid of the girl.
"I say, old man, let's get her married. Get up early tomorrow, harness the mare to the sleigh and drive your daughter to the forest where her bridegroom will be waiting for her. The following day the stepdaughter was told to be ready to go on a visit. So she washed, dressed herself in her best things and looked like a real bride.
Her father took his daughter to the forest, left her in a snowdrift beneath a large fit-tree and said: "Sit here and await your bridegroom. When he comes be pleasant as you can to him," and with he drove away.
It was very cold. The girl sat and shivered; her teeth chattered. Then she heard a sound. It was Morozko (Grandfather Frost) leaping from tree to tree, snapping his fingers.
"Are you warm, maiden?" she heard from above her. "Yes, I'm very warm, my dear Morozko," she answered, as she was not used to complaining. Morozko came down lower, crackling and snapping louder. "Are you warm, maiden?" he called again. "Are you warm, my pretty one?"
The girl was scarcely able to draw breath, but she replied: "Yes, I'm very warm, dear Morozko."
When she asked her the next time she was almost numb and could hardly move her tongue. Nevertheless, she answered politely. Morozko took pity on the girl and wrapped her into fluffy furs and downy quilts.
Next morning the old woman said to her husband: "Go and wake the young people!" and began baking traditional pancakes for the funeral.
The old man went to the forest and there at very spot where he had left her sat his daughter, very happy and rosy. She was clad in a sable coat and adorned with silver and gold jewellery. Besides her stood a large trunk full of precious jewels. The old man was overjoyed. He seated her in the sleigh put the trunk in and drove home.
At home a dog was barking under the table: "The old man's daughter is coming, a rich bride and fair, but the old the old woman's daughter will marry never!" The old woman threw a pancake to the dog and told it to bark: "The old woman's daughter is going to marry, and the old man' daughter bones are being carried home!"
The dog ate pancake and went on as it started. Suddenly the door swung open and the stepdaughter came in all her finery. She was followed by the large trunk full of precious things. The old woman was taken aback at the sight of her stepdaughter and her wealth. As soon as she came to her senses she said to her husband: "Harness the horse, you old goat, and take my daughter to the forest and leave her at the same place!" The old man did as he was ordered.
Though the old woman's daughter had a fur coat on she began to feel cold. By and by Morozko came leaping from tree to tree, cracking and snapping among the twinges and stopping now and then to glance at the guest.
"Are you warm, my maiden?" he called to her, "I'm terribly cold. Go away!" Morozko came down lower, cracking and snapping even louder, and his breath grew colder. "Are you warm, my maiden?" he called again. "Are you blind? Can't you see my hands and feet are quite dead? Curse you!"
Frost grew angry to hear this, seized her and held her in a tight grip until he had frozen her to death.
Dawn had hardly broken when the old woman woke her husband: "Make haste. Harness the horse and go to bring back my daughter. Don't overturn the sleigh, and do not drop the trunk."
Once the old man was away she started to bake cakes to greet her daughter. The dog under the table barked: "The stepdaughter will soon be wed, but the old woman's daughter is cold and dead!" The woman threw a cake under the table. "You must say: 'The old woman's daughter is coming a rich bride and fair, but the old man's daughter will never marry!" The dog ate the cake and went on as before. A little while later the gate creaked and the old woman rushed out to meet her daughter. She turned back the cover from the sleigh and there lay her daughter, frozen and dead. She began to scream and cry and berate her husband, but it was all too late.
(Based on Russian Folk Tale. Vadim Shchanitsyn made Retelling in English language.)