Weather Vane

Once upon a time there was an old little town with a pointed roof Guildhall, which was a real giant amongst the small and cozy houses. It took pride not only in being the tallest building around, but also with its young Weather Vane, recently installed at its very peak.

"Now I am not only the tallest, but the most beautiful as well, thought the Guildhall.
Even the winds have begun to flirt with me".

And the new copper Weather Vane, gleaming in the sun as it listened to the Guildhall’s boasting, thought quite differently:
"I am the tallest and most important in the whole town, for even the winds ask me which way to blow."

One day the North Wind arrived with his attendants — the snowflakes, and together they spun the Weather Vane fiercely from side to side.

"Oh, how sharp and cold you are!" the Weather Vane cried in a shrill, creaking voice.
"Never come back again! Your prickly snowflakes hurt me, and I am freezing!"

The North Wind laughed in reply and flew away.

Soon the East Wind rushed in to take his place. He tried to warm the Weather Vane with his gentle spring breath, but the vane felt nothing, for at that very moment migratory birds settled on the roof and began telling fascinating tales of distant lands. They chirped all at once, so noisily that they even woke the old Guildhall.

"Spring has come," it thought.

But the Weather Vane noticed nothing around him, proudly reflecting:
"See how famous I am: even the birds report their news to me first."

The East Wind circled the old Guildhall a little longer and then flew off to other lands, but the Weather Vane did not even notice his departure.

Then came the turn of the South Wind. He was very hot, and the Weather Vane did not like him either.
"You’ve heated me almost red-hot! I can barely breathe! Go back where you came from!"

The Weather Vane grew lonely. In such heat even the birds hid away, and there was no one left for him to chatter with.

The West Wind arrived unexpectedly and hurried the migratory birds on their way. He lifted fallen leaves high into the sky, and all this made it hard for the Weather Vane to see what was happening around him.

"How tiresome you are," said the Weather Vane. "You blow from every direction and leave me confused. I’m tired of spinning, and your rains have quite worn me out."

Then, as the West Wind departed, the cold North Wind returned. This time he was serious and very angry, for Grandfather Frost had forgotten to give him his gifts. He whirled and circled above the Guildhall until the Weather Vane turned green with anger and cold.

"You are the most dreadful of all the winds I have ever known. You drove away the birds, you froze the rivers and lakes, you force people to hide inside their homes. And I have begun to creak and cough. Leave at once!"

But the North Wind replied to the frozen Weather Vane:
"I can only leave when my brother, the East Wind, comes to replace me. Until then I shall fly over the town and sing my icy songs."

Yet the gentle East Wind now avoided the little town, remembering how unkindly the Weather Vane had treated him the year before. In other towns and villages the migratory birds returned, flowers blossomed in the gardens, and winter crops sprouted in the fields. But here, without pause, the harsh North Wind continued to blow.

That year spring never came to the old town. The Weather Vane fell ill from the unending cold and crashed down into the courtyard of the old Guildhall. What it thought this time remains unknown. But the following spring, the most beautiful roses in the world bloomed in the little town, and no one ever again remembered the foolish and self-absorbed Weather Vane.

January 17, 2014
I-F-M

Photo is taken by me.

To read in Russian:http://proza.ru/2014/01/17/1630