LITTLE SISTER AND BROTHER
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lived, and lived happily and lived well, and they ate and drank together just as they used to do before.
Translator's Note.—This story is plainly a nature myth. The wicked witch is Winter, who temporarily drives away the Summer or Spring, but when she returns the Tsar's garden blooms again and the little Kid gambols around the bountiful table. That explains why the Kid is not restored to his pristine form. He stands for the young life of the world in the early Spring.
