Winter. Royal Palace. The young queen is taking classes. The professor talks about the seasons, and when she mentions spring snowdrops, the queen declares that she wants to have them in her palace immediately. The professor tries to convince her that it is impossible in January, but the queen issues a decree where she promises the same basket of gold for a basket of flowers. The greedy Stepmother and her lazy Daughter, upon learning of the royal reward, immediately send the Stepdaughter into the forest for snowdrops.