she asks "Thou fairy gift from summer, Why art thou blooming now?" In the fairy-tale play The Twelve Months by Russian writer Samuil Marshak, a greedy queen decrees that a basket of gold coins shall be rewarded to anyone who can bring her galanthus flowers in the dead of winter. A young orphan girl is sent out during a snow storm by her cruel stepmother to find the spirits of the 12 months of the year, who take pity on her and not only save her from freezing to death, but also make it possible for her to gather the flowers even in winter. The Soviet traditionally animated film The Twelve Months (1956), Lenfilm film The Twelve Months (1972) and the anime film Twelve Months (1980) (Sekai meisaku dowa mori wa ikiteiru in Japan) are based on this fairy-tale play. "Snowdrops" was the nickname that the British people gave during the Second World War to the military police of the United States Army (who were stationed in the UK preparatory to the invasion of the continent) because they wore a white helmet, gloves, gaiters, and Sam Browne belt against their olive drab uniforms. In the German fairy tale, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, "Snowdrop" is used as an alternate name for the Princess Snow White. The short story The Snowdrop by Hans Christian Andersen follows the fate of a snowdrop from a bulb striving toward the light to a picked flower placed in a book of poetry. Russian composer Tchaikovsky wrote a series of 12 piano pieces, each one named after a month of the year with a second name suggesting something associated with that month. His "April" piece is subnamed "Snow Drop." The Russian climate having a later spring, and winter ending a bit later than in other places. Johann Strauss II named his very successful waltz Schneeglöckchen (Snowdrops) op. 143 after this flower. The inspiration is especially evident in the cello introduction and in the slow unfurling of the opening waltz. Strauss composed this piece for a Russian Embassy dinner given at the Sperl ballroom in Vienna on 2 December 1853, but did not perform it publicly until the year 1854. The Sperl banquet was given in honour of her Excellency Frau Maria von Kalergis, daughter of the Russian diplomat and foreign minister Count Karl Nesselrode, and Strauss also dedicated his waltz to her. Symbolism Early names