The Frost, the Sun and the Wind is a Russian Fairy Tale published by Alexander Afanasyev in his Traditional Russian Legends (Narodnye russkie skazki) collection, and Albert Henry Wratislaw's "Sixty Folk-Tales from exclusively Slavonic Sources".
A traveler is walking down a road when he happens upon the Frost, the Sun and the Wind. The traveler gives polite greeting and proceeds on his way.
The three entities start bickering over which of them the traveler bowed to. Eventually they decide to go and ask him, and the traveler reveals he greeted the wind.
The Sun gets angry and swears to burn the traveler red, but the Wind reassures him he will blow to keep him cooled. The Frost then threatens to freeze the traveler solid, but the Wind dismisses its threats, since the Frost cannot freeze anybody if no wind is blowing.
Some translations can be read here
and here. An audiobook can be heard here.
Tropes:
- Anthropomorphic Personification: A traveler bumps into the embodiments of the Sun, the Wind and the Frost.
- Disproportionate Retribution: The Sun and the Frost want to burn and freeze the traveler because he did not greet them on the road.
- Hard Truth Aesop: If you are forced to pick sides, always choose the one who will be more advantageous for you.
- "Just So" Story: Why does the wind prevent walkers and trekkers from getting overheat or frostbite? Because a traveler was polite to it.
- Kill It with Fire: The Sun declares he will scorch the traveler in retaliation for his slight, but the Wind retorts he will keep the man cooled.
- Kill It with Ice: The Frost threatens to turn the traveler into an ice block, but the Wind points out it cannot freeze anybody without its cooperation.
- Minimalist Cast: There are only four characters in the tale.
- No Name Given: The traveler is not identified by name.
- Rule of Three: A traveler runs into three elemental entities, the Sun, the Frost and the Wind.
- Secondary Character Title: The protagonist is the unnamed traveler.
