How did narrator describe the treasures of snow
Answers
Lucien's increasing loneliness and festering hurt is directed at Annette and looks for opportunities for revenge. When he sees Dani in a meadow picking flowers for Annette's birthday one day, he grabs the flowers and tramples on them. Then afraid Dani would get him into trouble, he picks up Klaus and holds her out over a deep ravine, threatening (but not intending) to drop the kitten unless Dani promises not to tell. Klaus, however, scratches Lucien, and he lets go by accident. Dani rushes across and falls over the cliff into the ravine while trying to save his kitten. Lucien is terrified and griefstricken, convinced that Dani is dead, and flees home to hide in the barn, unable to face his family. When the worried families find Lucien, he confesses what had happened. Dani's father uses a rope to climb down the ravine and finds Dani still alive at the bottom, but with a broken leg. Dani's leg heals badly, shorter than the other leg, leaving him permanently unable to walk without crutches.
The whole village hears about Lucien's involvement with Dani's accident, and he becomes an outcast. Working hard around the home and farm helps him stop brooding for a while, and his mother praises him for this while his sister becomes kinder to him. But his real solace is to climb to the woods and spend time alone, carving little figures out of wood, which he finds he has a real talent for. Here he meets and makes friends with an old man who lives alone in a tiny chalet high above the village, whose only income comes from selling his own woodcarvings. He mentors Lucien and let him use his woodcarving tools, helping him improve his skills. He also confides in Lucien his life story. As a young man he had been happily married with two young sons and a good job in a bank, but then got into bad company and became addicted to alcohol and gambling. To pay the family's debts he stole from the bank and ended up in prison. His wife died, but his sons were adopted by their grandparents and became very successful. When he got out of prison, he did not want his sons' futures jeopardised by being associated with a criminal, so let them assume he was dead. He had lived alone on the mountain for many years and saved a lot of money from the beautiful woodcarvings he sold, similar to the amount he had stolen. He could not repay the people he had stolen from, since he did not know who they were, but his hope was that instead he might be able to use the money to help someone in need.
The enmity is over, but Lucien still feels troubled with guilt about Dani's disability. One evening Lucien's sister, who commutes by train to work in a hotel in the nearest town, comes home with a generous tip from a famous orthopaedic surgeon, Monsieur Givet, who is staying at the hotel. Intrigued, Lucien asks whether he can make Dani better, but is told the doctor is leaving the hotel for home early the next morning, and that his fees are far too expensive. Undeterred, Lucien creeps out of the house that night in a blizzard and goes to talk with his friend the old man, telling him about Monsieur Givet and that he might be able to cure Dani. The old man gives Lucien a sock full of banknotes to pay for the treatment, but makes him promise to not tell the doctor where the money was obtained, telling Lucien "Just tell him that it is the payment of a debt." Lucien attempts to climb and ski to the town, which involves crossing a high mountain pass. Despite the atrocious weather he reaches the hotel about 5 am. Monsieur Givet goes with Lucien to visit Dani, and offers to treat him in his hospital. But before he leaves the village, he asks Lucien's sister where the old man lives that Lucien knew, and goes to visit him. He recognises the old man as his father and invites him to come home after telling him how much he had missed him.
Annette goes with Dani to stay in the hospital. His fractured leg is operated upon and set properly, and Dani returns home able to walk and run like any little boy. Everybody is reunited with each other as spring arrives.