“Wake up, waaaake up!” her hands dug into the chestnut brown
coat of the bear. His snore ruptured and ended up becoming a staccato. She bent
over, moving closer to his folded ears as though she could speak him into
wakefulness. Her auburn hair falling all over her face, it was difficult to say
where her face met his. She spoke softly into his ears, almost in a song; she
wanted him just awake, not awake and terrified.
“Waaaaake up!”
Problem was she didn’t know how sweet her voice was. She
only pushed him deeper into his slumber. It was tiring. She had walked all the
way to his cave to wake him up. It was time, wasn’t it? The trees had been
barren too long now; the forest had gone silent without the tickling partridges
and the laughing flowers.
She didn’t like any of it. She was Spring. She wanted to run
around, her long frock combing the lush grass, and the bright colors of the
land wanting to adorn her hair. The evening sky would blush at her curious
glances and the streams spoke rumors of their secret love. In the shallow
bottoms of the grassland, rabbits gathered to gossip about their romance.
But, that was all in the past. Winter had played spoilsport.
Why, even now, she was sitting there on the fallen branch of a once majestic
tree, smugly watching Spring try to wake up the bear. She knew. Her time was
not up yet. There were several days left. The bear will not wake up.
“Waaake up” Spring said again. His pudgy forehand stretched
to take hers into his. With her warmth comforting him, he snuggled in some
more. Her honeyed pleas were not enough to wake him up. She did not know what
to do. Spurned and sad, she lay on his furry back and closed her teary eyes.
Winter sat on the fallen branch, the hem of her bluish white
dress draping its rotting bark. Her smile was smug. Spring had gone back to
sleep. “Maybe this time”, she told herself, “I’ll stay back longer”. She
snapped her fingers in glee. Snow powdered from the sky. She briefly suspended
a snow flake and smirked at the sight of Spring’s teary face resting on the
back of the sleeping bear.
It was a minute. It was a day. It was a week. We may never
know. The suspended snowflake was liberated by gravity and fell to the ground.
Winter looked anxious. Her ears had picked up something. She turned her head
around in the direction of the sound.
It was faint, but was growing louder fast.
The lack of rhythm in the drums made it obvious that they
were being beaten by untrained hands. As they got closer, Winter realized that
they weren’t drums, but the footsteps of the people. There was a tall figure,
clothed in bluish white. Winter strained her eyes to look at the figure. She
couldn’t believe her eyes. It was a figure of herself. “But, why? It’s not time
yet. Why are they coming so soon?”
By now, they were close enough for her to make out the
words. Уходи, зима, ко дну, присылай весну!*
They were chasing her away. But, she wasn’t perturbed. It
was still snowing. She was still in control. She stretched her long arms and
relaxed. People can shout all they want. She wasn’t going anywhere.
As her eyelids came close to each other, the sudden movement
pierced them apart. She watched in horror, as the bear moved his arm around his
body to scratch his back. It fell on Spring. She woke up, and wiped the dried
tears from her cheeks. That wasn’t necessary. The happiness bubbling from her
would have washed them away anyway.
“You’re up! You’re up!” She went up and down jumping in joy.
And as she jumped, Winter noticed horrorstruck, that a tuft of grass reared its
head from under Spring’s feet.
“No! It can’t be!” Winter snapped her fingers. This time,
the sound walked alone, without the accompaniment of snow.
The shouts were really close now. The piled up snow sweated
as it ran away from their path. It looked longingly at Winter let out a last
cry of help. One of the shouters slipped, but was quickly back on his feet.
Winter felt helpless.
“How could this be? How could I be chased away before my
time? It’s all because of her. She brought them here. She woke the bear up. Let
me…”
Winter did not complete saying what she wanted to be allowed
to do. As she moved towards Spring, she buried herself headfirst into the soft
fur of the bear. He stood on his hindlegs, seven foot tall. Winter looked up at
his eyes. He didn’t look angry that she wanted to attack Spring. He just
pointed behind her. She turned around. The crowd had arrived. A man and a
woman, dressed in the brightest colors, their dresses complementing each other,
were going in opposite directions drawing a big circle with the sticks they
held.
Two more had lifted the branch Winter had been sitting on
and stood it upright. They had also tied the effigy of Winter to it. One of
them, a lady, slender as a fruit-laden twig, stately as an oak, walked in with
a large jar in her hands.
“Honey!” Spring ran out from behind the bar and took the jar
from her. She ran back to the bear who picked her in his left hand and brought
her to his chest. She dipped her soft hands into the jar, coated them with
honey and took it to the bear for him to lick it clean. This was his breakfast,
as he broke his long period of fasting and sleep.
It was over. Even Winter knew it. She looked at the bear to
confirm. He was unperturbed; his eyes closed as he relished the honey that
Spring fed him. She looked back at the crowd. They continued to chant, “Уходи,
зима, ко дну, присылай весну!” *
Winter moved away from the bear, from the crowd, from Spring
and walked forlorn into the forest. It was time. She was powerless now. The sun
would be out soon, scorching her out. She would have to wait till he was done,
for her to get back. He was already peeking from between the clouds. The heat
from the fire the crowd had lit was also reaching her. Winter took refuge under
the shade of the leafless trees until she walked so deep into the forest,
nobody could see her.
The crowd set the effigy on fire. They sang and danced and
lit their stoves to bake blinny**. It was the time of celebration. Winter was
gone. Spring was here. What was there to worry about? As they shaped the snow
into balls and castles, Spring went amongst them, laughing as they laughed,
dancing with those who stood without a partner, playing with the kids in their
sweaters and caps and bringing warmth into the lives of all who stood there.
She later took the bear’s hand and walked with him across
the forest, stirring the trees and waking up the grass. They will bloom now.
Winter was gone. Spring was here. It was time for Maslenitsa.
*- Уходи, зима, ко дну, присылай весну –
Leave, Winter and send Spring
** - Blinny – Pancake
