1 The white bear

该页暂无翻译

Chapter 1 The white bear Far away to the north, where the land is covered in thick, dark forests and the wind blows bitterly cold, there lived a poor family.

Late one afternoon, they sat huddled around the hearth. The firelight flickered over the children's faces. The boys were handsome, the girls pretty- but the youngest, Asta, was the most beautiful of all.

As dusk began to close in around the cottage, there came a knock at the door. "Who's there?" called the father. But there was no answer.

So the father rose and opened the door, letting in a rush of icy air. Before him stood a towering white bear. "I have watched your family all summer," said the bear, in a rumbling voice. "And I am ready to make you an offer."

"If you give me your youngest daughter," he went on, "I can make you as rich as you are now poor." "I'll not give you my daughter," said the father, blocking the way, "however poor we may be."