K. Morris's Blog, page 756

Father Frost

In the depths of winter, I thought I would share with you one of my favourite Russian folk tales, “Father Frost”. As the story is in the public domain (I.E. there are no copyright issues) it is reproduced in full below:

 

Father Frost

 

In a far-away country, somewhere in Russia, there lived a stepmother who had a stepdaughter and also a daughter of her own. Her own daughter was dear to

her, and always whatever she did the mother was the first to praise her, to pet her; but there was but little praise for the stepdaughter; although good

and kind, she had no other reward than reproach. What on earth could have been done? The wind blows, but stops blowing at times; the wicked woman never

knows how to stop her wickedness. One bright cold day the stepmother said to her husband:

 

“Now, old man, I want thee to take thy daughter away from my eyes, away from my ears. Thou shalt not take her to thy people into a warm

izba.

Thou shalt take her into the wide, wide fields to the crackling frost.”

 

The old father grew sad, began even to weep, but nevertheless helped the young girl into the sleigh. He wished to cover her with a sheepskin in order to

protect her from the cold; however, he did not do it. He was afraid; his wife was watching them out of the window. And so he went with his lovely daughter

into the wide, wide fields; drove her nearly to the woods, left her there alone, and speedily drove away—he was a good man and did not care to see his

daughter’s death.

 

Alone, quite alone, remained the sweet girl. Broken-hearted and terror-stricken she repeated fervently all the prayers she knew.

 

Father Frost, the almighty sovereign at that place, clad in furs, with a long, long, white beard and a shining crown on his white head, approached nearer

and nearer, looked at this beautiful guest of his and asked:

 

“Dost thou know me?—me, the red-nosed Frost?”

 

“Be welcome, Father Frost,” answered gently the young girl. “I hope our heavenly Lord sent thee for my sinful soul.”

 

“Art thou comfortable, sweet child?” again asked the Frost. He was exceedingly pleased with her looks and mild manners.

 

“Indeed I am,” answered the girl, almost out of breath from cold.

 

And the Frost, cheerful and bright, kept crackling in the branches until the air became icy, but the good-natured girl kept repeating:

 

“I am very comfortable, dear Father Frost.”

 

But the Frost, however, knew all about the weakness of human beings; he knew very well that few of them are really good and kind; but he knew no one of

them even could struggle too long against the power of Frost, the king of winter. The kindness of the gentle girl charmed old Frost so much that he made

the decision to treat her differently from others, and gave her a large heavy trunk filled with many beautiful, beautiful things. He gave her a rich

“schouba”

lined with precious furs; he gave her silk quilts—light like feathers and warm as a mother’s lap. What a rich girl she became and how many magnificent

garments she received! And besides all, old Frost gave her a blue

“sarafan”

ornamented with silver and pearls.

 

“Old Frost gave the gentle girl many beautiful, beautiful things”

 

“Old Frost gave the gentle girl many beautiful, beautiful things”

 

When the young girl put it on she became such a beautiful maiden that even the sun smiled at her.

 

The stepmother was in the kitchen busy baking pancakes for the meal which it is the custom to give to the priests and friends after the usual service for

the dead.

 

“Now, old man,” said the wife to the husband, “go down to the wide fields and bring the body of thy daughter; we will bury her.”

 

The old man went off. And the little dog in the corner wagged his tail and said:

 

“Bow-wow! bow-wow! the old man’s daughter is on her way home, beautiful and happy as never before, and the old woman’s daughter is wicked as ever before.”

 

“Keep still, stupid beast!” shouted the stepmother, and struck the little dog.

 

“Here, take this pancake, eat it and say, ‘The old woman’s daughter will be married soon and the old man’s daughter shall be buried soon.'”

 

The dog ate the pancake and began anew:

 

“Bow-wow! bow-wow! the old man’s daughter is coming home wealthy and happy as never before, and the old woman’s daughter is somewhere around as homely and

wicked as ever before.”

 

The old woman was furious at the dog, but in spite of pancakes and whipping, the dog repeated the same words over and over again.

 

Somebody opened the gate, voices were heard laughing and talking outside. The old woman looked out and sat down in amazement. The stepdaughter was there

like a princess, bright and happy in the most beautiful garments, and behind her the old father had hardly strength enough to carry the heavy, heavy trunk

with the rich outfit.

 

“Old man!” called the stepmother, impatiently; “hitch our best horses to our best sleigh, and drive my daughter to the very same place in the wide, wide

fields.”

 

The old man obeyed as usual and took his stepdaughter to the same place and left her alone.

 

Old Frost was there; he looked at his new guest.

 

“Art thou comfortable, fair maiden?” asked the red-nosed sovereign.

 

“Let me alone,” harshly answered the girl; “canst thou not see that my feet and my hands are about stiff from the cold?”

 

The Frost kept crackling and asking questions for quite a while, but obtaining no polite answer became angry and froze the girl to death.

 

“Old man, go for my daughter; take the best horses; be careful; do not upset the sleigh; do not lose the trunk.”

 

And the little dog in the corner said:

 

“Bow-wow! bow-wow! the old man’s daughter will marry soon; the old woman’s daughter shall be buried soon.”

 

“Do not lie. Here is a cake; eat it and say, ‘The old woman’s daughter is clad in silver and gold.'”

 

The gate opened, the old woman ran out and kissed the stiff frozen lips of her daughter. She wept and wept, but there was no help, and she understood at

last that through her own wickedness and envy her child had perished.

 

The End

 

(For the original public domain work please visit, http://www.gutenberg.org/files/12851/12851-h/12851-h.htm#FATHER%20FROST).

 

THE END 

Happy Christmas To you, One And All

I would like to wish all of you a very happy and peaceful Christmas. The sun is shining here in Liverpool and there is a distinct nip of frost in the air. It is, in short a beautiful day. Wherever you are the compliments of the season to you and thank you for following me at newauthoronline.com

 

Kevin

Fun With Amazon’s Author Central

I have never had a problem with Amazon until today. I had experienced difficulties in adding my collection of poetry and prose, “Dalliance” (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QQVJC7E) to my Amazon author page (http://www.amazon.com/K.-Morris/e/B00CEECWHY/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0). I contacted Amazon asking that they please add Dalliance to my existing author page and, low and behold they created an entirely new page showing only “Dalliance” (all 6 of my previously published titles remaining on the correct author’s page).

I contacted Amazon this morning and they advise that “Dalliance” has now been added to my existing Author’s page. However, on last checking it does not seem to be there.

Every organisation does, of course make mistakes. Companies are, after all composed of fallible human beings. The above incident does, however underline the importance of checking that your Author page (if you have one) accurately reflects all of your works together with any other information provided by you to Amazon.

Copyright Notices – All Authors Should Have One

All authors should copyright their work. A Copyright Notice acts as a deterrent to copyright infringement or, if infringement does occur makes it easier for the author to pursue the copyright infringer.

All of my books, together with the posts on this blog (newauthoronline.com) are copyright Kevin Morris).

When I first ventured into the world of publishing I was somewhat naive regarding protecting my work. I had, of course seen the copyright notices contained within commercially published books. However for some inexplicable reason it never crossed my mind that I should protect my own creations by employing the law of copyright.

Having recently read a number of posts regarding the theft of intellectual property I have determined to correct my omission by including a Copyright Notice with my current (and future) books. Thus far I have been lucky as no one has copied my work. However I and other writers can not work on the basis that everyone will play by the rules and respect our intellectual property, hence my decision.

For a good exposition of copyright as it pertains in the United Kingdom please visit http://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/p03_copyright_notices.

The Pleasure Dome

I saw man lost in the lonely crowd. He saw not me but gazed in adoration at a shimmering screen. He prayed, fingers tapping incessantly, attempting to fill the void inside.

I saw family gathered around a flickering screen. Silence reigned for they feared to speak or, perhaps had nothing to say.

I saw Kubla’s stately pleasure dome but, instead of caves of ice, wires ran throughout that place.

I saw man lost in a virtual reality of his own device, and closed my eyes in holy dread,

For he on computer generated worlds had fed, and drunk the milk of paradise

Inner City

A cold space, vast, aisles stretching seemingly forever. Musak plays,with occasional monotone interruptions regarding offers which one simply can not afford to miss.

Outside, an icey wind blows newspapers along streets lined with discount stores. Young men unable to articulate beyond “yeah” wander down urban pavements where “the decent” fear to tread. The inner city. Cold, desolate, dead.

2015 WordPress Wishes

drewdog2060drewdog2060:

Some good suggestions. I agree with Alice about the traditional stats layout which I, also think works well. Kevin

Originally posted on Your Blog Coach:

Dear WordPress,

We just celebrated our first five years together. It all started with this crazy idea I had to blog about unsolved homicides. Thanks to your easy-to-use system, the award-winning blog Defrosting Cold Cases was born.

As in every relationship, there is room for improvement.

I have a WordPress wish-list and maybe 2015 is the year they come true. Here goes:

the ability to sort blogs in the “blogs I follow” section by blogging frequency and to have that display option in the Reader as well.
limit the updates that change the dashboard. The latest updates didn’t do anything to make the dashboard less cluttered for me. In fact, it made it more annoying. I liked the old overview with all my blogs on one page and the old stats page was doing its job. Too many changes that are not crucial software updates should be made available on…

View original 314 more words

The Short Fiction Writers Guild

I am pleased to announce that I am now a member of The Short Fiction Writers Guild (http://shortfictionwritersguild.wordpress.com/). The role of The Short Fiction Writers Guild, as set out in it’s Mission Statement is,

“The Short Fiction Writers Guild (SFWG) celebrates and promotes all genres of short fiction in an effort to share the entertainment of the form with new readers, provides a robust marketing platform to expand market viability and profit potential for the works of its members, and offers a range of services to help members improve as writers, while embracing the virtues of honesty, professionalism, and integrity. (http://shortfictionwritersguild.wordpress.com/about/). For information on how to join The Short Fiction Writers Guild please visit (http://shortfictionwritersguild.wordpress.com/about/how-to-join/). For my latest book, “Dalliance; A Collection Of Poetry And Prose” please visit (http://www.amazon.com/Dalliance-collection-poetry-prose-Morris-ebook/dp/B00QQVJC7E, for the US) or (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dalliance-collection-poetry-prose-Morris-ebook/dp/B00QQVJC7E, for the UK). For my Amazon Author Page please visit (http://www.amazon.co.uk/K.-Morris/e/B00CEECWHY/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0, for the UK) or (http://www.amazon.com/K.-Morris/e/B00CEECWHY/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0, for the US).  

Vaguely Life Leaks Away

As I battled my way through the crowds thronging London’s Victoria station, following another day working in central London, those lines of W. H. Auden came to me,

“‘In headaches and in worry

Vaguely life leaks away,

And Time will have his fancy

To-morrow or to-day. (http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/i-walked-out-one-evening).

“As I Walked Out” is, in many respects a pessimistic poem. The young lovers under the bridge will, despite the high sounding words of the man be brought low by time. Either their love will wither or, if love persists romance will end in the grave. For Auden an (albeit imperfect)salvation lies in doing the best we can in what, for him is a bleak world. As he puts it,

“‘O stand, stand at the window

As the tears scald and start;

You shall love your crooked neighbour

With your crooked heart.’

I first came across Auden’s poetry while studying for my A-levels and have returned to him from time to time ever since. “As I Walked Out” is, along with “The Shield Of Achilles” my favourite Auden poem.

 

Kevin

 

Book Review: My Wings By Patty Van Delft

My Wings by Patty Van Delft is a moving collection of poetry. In part 1,Patty leaves no holes barred in expressing raw emotions of loss, depression and hopelessness. However all is not dark. There glimmers the light of hope and optimism. Love and a zest for life is evident in the second part of Patty’s book.

Patty has accomplished the difficult task of being searingly honest about highly personal and emotional issues. This book is well worth reading.

 

For My Wings By Patty Van Delft please visit (http://www.amazon.com/My-Wings-Just-Patty-ebook/dp/B00MH7FGJE) or (http://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Wings-Just-Patty-ebook/dp/B00MH7FGJE).

 

Kevin