fairy tales childen: The Music That Couldn’t Be Frozen
Once upon a time, a long-nosed witch lived in a dark underground hole. She hated music the most; whenever she heard it, she couldn’t eat or sleep.
Spring arrived, and the villagers were so happy. They sang and danced, playing melodious tunes on their dombra. The long-nosed witch was furious and quickly chanted a spell. In an instant, foul-smelling black rain started to fall from the sky, and people ran to their homes in a frenzy. The singing stopped, the dancing ceased, and the dombra fell silent. The long-nosed witch laughed heartily.
One day, a wandering musician came to the village.
At that time, people were harvesting wheat in the golden fields. The musician played his violin, and the music flowed slowly like syrup into everyone’s hearts. The people sighed in relief. The violin’s sound seemed to carry the flight of larks, the songs of dandelions, and the dance of blue butterflies.
While the people were enchanted by the music, the long-nosed witch felt like needles were piercing her ears. The notes struck her like bolts of lightning. She rummaged through her belongings, finding biting grass, centipede blood, poisonous mushrooms, and dried gecko tails, and ground them into powder with a crunch. Then she took the powder, donned her invisibility cloak, and rode her magical broom into the air. She sprinkled the powder all over the musician’s violin and chanted a spell. The violin’s sound was instantly frozen; no matter how the musician played, no sound came out.
“Heh heh, let’s see you play now.”
The long-nosed witch laughed so hard her mouth twisted and, reassured, flew back to sleep.
“Snore—” The long-nosed witch was just about to snore when a strange sound woke her. The sound made her uneasy. She pricked up her ears and listened closely.
“1—2—3—3—2—1—”
Damn, it was that musician again! Although his violin couldn’t make a sound, he was now leading the villagers in a circle, singing. The long-nosed witch was infuriated. She decided to see who would have the last laugh.
The long-nosed witch returned to her lair and retrieved the remaining powder. This time, she didn’t sprinkle it on the violin but on each person. Though the villagers and the musician moved their mouths, the music was frozen, and not a sound was heard.
“Ha ha, try singing now!”
The long-nosed witch laughed and went back to sleep. After a while, in her dreams, she heard an even stranger sound. It reverberated like it came from underground and then into her heart. The long-nosed witch was jolted awake by the sound.
Unable to stand it any longer, she crawled out of her hole.
The musician and the villagers were still standing there, singing silently. They couldn’t make any sound, but they sang loudly in their hearts. Golden notes jumped from their mouths, landed on the ground, and sprouted green shoots. The green shoots bloomed into purple flowers. As each flower “popped” open, a sound emerged from its center:
1! 2!! 3!!! 3!!! 2!! 1!
Hearing the beautiful music, the villagers couldn’t help but dance joyfully. The music made them feel like larks were flying, dandelions were singing, and blue butterflies were dancing.
Perhaps the music was too enchanting, as the long-nosed witch’s magical broom began to dance mid-air. The broom flipped over and threw the witch down from the sky. The music wove a net that trapped the witch.
“Ah, my magic is broken!” the long-nosed witch screamed.
She grew smaller and smaller in the music net until she disappeared entirely.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
