First Snow by J. B. Priestley. Short summary

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The work tells of the transformation of nature after the first snowfall. In the morning, a waking person would see a new picture, and familiar things would seem very different.

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The first snow was a special event that brought a fairy tale into my life. One would fall asleep in the familiar world, but in the morning one would find that everything around him had changed beyond recognition. It was like magic.

At night, in the silence, the snow would creep down silently on the ground. It probably would have lost its charm immediately if it had fallen in one noisy avalanche, waking people up in the middle of the night. But it fell slowly and silently while all the inhabitants slept soundly.

Behind the curtains the world was being transformed. A great number of elves were at work on it, while the people yawned and stretched and tossed from side to side.

In the morning, an astonishing metamorphosis was revealed to the awakened eye. It was as if someone had transported his home to a distant continent during the night. Although things remained in their original places, they seemed completely different. Instead of yesterday’s garden, a shining white plain spread out outside the window. The roofs of the houses in the distance began to resemble a village from a German fairy tale.