Frost and Candlelight

Six Russian pieces for the cold months, from 1848 to 1887. Dostoevsky gives a freezing boy who sees a Christmas tree through other people's windows, and a party at which a girl of eleven is priced. Chekhov gives Vanka, a nine-year-old apprentice who writes to his grandfather on Christmas Eve, and Boys, in which two schoolboys plan to run away to America. Two folk tales collected by Afanasyev, one about rival saints and a peasant's field and one about a priest who envies, complete the volume. Includes brief notes on unfamiliar words. A gift edition, illustrated throughout with original paintings made for this edition and set with ornamental chapter openings.