The Snow From Astra Yanko (3)

Next, the part 3 of The Snow From Astra Yanko (Teramura Teruo)

(part 3)
...
The cold-hating, softy of a king was now completely topsy-turvy.
He walked on his hands.
Though it was midwinter, he went around in his undershorts.
"Golly it's hot! I wish it would get colder!"
Twenty pillars of ice had been set up in his room, and he himself sat soaking in a bathtub filled with ice. Still feeling hot, he went outside. he went walking about the palace garden... on his hands, of course. In one corner of the garden stood those 324 snowmen.
"I say, Snowman, old boy, let's play a game. I'm quite fond of you."
But when the king's hot body touched the snowman, it started melting away: drip, drip.
"Hey, how come you don't like me? Stay the way you are and let's play."
It was useless. The snowman kept on melting. In the end all that was left was a tiny snowman doll that looked like a small wad of cotton.
"...?..."
The same thing happended to the next snowman the king touched: drip, drip.
"Gee, I need something cold. Listen, Snowman, don't disappear on me, give me a hug."
Drip, drip; drip, drip;...
One after another, 324 snowmen melted down and turned into small dolls.
Finally the king jumped into the pond, over which lay a sheet of ice.
When the king landed in the pond, there was a loud hiss, and the water started warming up. There had been a layer of ice about four inches thick, but in less than ten minutes the ice was melted. The king's body had been very hot indeed.
Even so, at first the king enjoyed a pleasant swim. When he paddled with his arms and legs, instead of going forward he went backwards. That's because everything was topsy-turvy for him.
Before long, steam started rising from the pond.
The chief minister came up and said to king: "Your Majesty, please come out of the pond at once. The fish in the pond will all be boiled."
"Stop nagging!!"
The king came out of the pond. If he stayed in it too long, he'd get terribly hot again.
Just then there was a break in the clouds and the sun came out. The palace garden blazed into sunshine. The wind stopped, and at last the air felt warm.
How did the king react, thougt?
"What a relief! At last it has cooled off a bit!" he said, and he lay down where he could catch the full rays of the sun.
"All right, everybody, good night!"
What's this? It looks like the king's making some mistake. Aha, the sun came out, so he thought it was nighttime.
But the chief minister doesn't realize this, and he says to him, "Your Majesty, if you sleep there you'll catch cold." He tries to lead the king away, but the king won't even get up.
"Ha haa, I see. The king's all topsy-turvy," the chief minister realized. What strange things were going on!
In the warm rays of the sun - or should we say, the cool rays of the sun? - the king fell sound asleep.

(to be continued...)