Who Is The Coachman (The Postilion)?
The man whose horn notes freeze solid
The Coachman drives the Baron's carriage and blows its horn. He has no name in the original story, but he plays a key role alongside the Baron in the tale of the frozen horn.
Before entering a narrow road, he tries to warn oncoming carriages with his horn, but in the bitter cold, no sound comes out. They soon run head-on into another carriage, and the Baron has to carry his carriage over a hedge on his shoulders, then leap back over with the two horses in his arms.
The story ends at an inn. When the Coachman hangs his horn on a nail by the fire, the notes frozen inside thaw out, and one tune after another pours from it with no one playing. This reveals what a fine musician he is. The Baron then closes the story by asking anyone who doubts it to leave the room.
