It was the middle of winter, and the snow-flakes were falling
like feathers from the sky, and a queen sat at her window working, and her
embroidery-frame was of ebony. And as she worked, gazing at times out on the
snow, she pricked her finger, and there fell from it three drops of blood on
the snow. And when she saw how bright and red it looked, she said to herself,
"Oh that I had a child as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as
the wood of the embroidery frame!" Not very long after she had a daughter,
with a skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as ebony,
and she was named Snow-white. And when she was born the queen died. After a
year had gone by the king took another wife, a beautiful woman, but proud and
overbearing, and she could not bear to be surpassed in beauty by any one. She
had a magic looking-glass, and she used to stand before it, and look in it, and
say,
"Looking-glass upon the wall,
Who is fairest of us all?"
And the looking-glass would answer,
"You are fairest of them all."
And she was contented, for she knew that the
looking-glass spoke the truth. Now, Snow-white was growing prettier and
prettier, and when she was seven years old she was as beautiful as day, far
more so than the queen herself. So one day when the queen went to her mirror
and said,
"Looking-glass upon the wall,
Who is fairest of us all?"
It answered,
"Queen, you are full fair, 'tis true,
But Snow-white fairer is than you."
This gave the queen a great shock, and she became
yellow and green with envy, and from that hour her heart turned against
Snow-white, and she hated her. And envy and pride like ill weeds grew in her
heart higher every day, until she had no peace day or night. At last she sent
for a huntsman, and said, "Take the child out into the woods, so that I
may set eyes on her no more. You must put her to death, and bring me her heart
for a token." The huntsman consented, and led her away; but when he drew
his cutlass to pierce Snow-white's innocent heart, she began to weep, and to
say, "Oh, dear huntsman, do not take my life; I will go away into the wild
wood, and never come home again." And as she was so lovely the huntsman
had pity on her, and said, "Away with you then, poor child;" for he
thought the wild animals would be sure to devour her, and it was as if a stone
had been rolled away from his heart when he spared to put her to death. Just at
that moment a young wild boar came running by, so he caught and killed it, and
taking out its heart, he brought it to the queen for a token. And it was salted
and cooked, and the wicked woman ate it up, thinking that there was an end of
Snow-white.
Now, when the poor child found herself quite alone
in the wild woods, she felt full of terror, even of the very leaves on the
trees, and she did not know what to do for fright. Then she began to run over
the sharp stones and through the thorn bushes, and the wild beasts after her,
but they did her no harm. She ran as long as her feet would carry her; and when
the evening drew near she came to a little house, and she went inside to rest.
Everything there was very small, but as pretty and clean as possible. There
stood the little table ready laid, and covered with a white cloth, and seven
little plates, and seven knives and forks, and drinking-cups. By the wall stood
seven little beds, side by side, covered with clean white quilts. Snow-white,
being very hungry and thirsty, ate from each plate a little porridge and bread,
and drank out of each little cup a drop of wine, so as not to finish up one portion
alone. After that she felt so tired that she lay down on one of the beds, but
it did not seem to suit her; one was too long, another too short, but at last
the seventh was quite right; and so she lay down upon it, committed herself to
heaven, and fell asleep.
When it was quite dark, the masters of the house
came home. They were seven dwarfs, whose occupation was to dig underground
among the mountains. When they had lighted their seven candles, and it was
quite light in the little house, they saw that some one must have been in, as
everything was not in the same order in which they left it. The first said,
"Who has been sitting in my little chair?" The second said, "Who
has been eating from my little plate?" The third said, "Who has been
taking my little loaf?" The fourth said, "Who has been tasting my
porridge?" The fifth said, "Who has been using my little fork?"
The sixth said, "Who has been cutting with my little knife?" The
seventh said, "Who has been drinking from my little cup?" Then the
first one, looking round, saw a hollow in his bed, and cried, "Who has
been lying on my bed?" And the others came running, and cried, "Some
one has been on our beds too!" But when the seventh looked at his bed, he
saw little Snow-white lying there asleep. Then he told the others, who came
running up, crying out in their astonishment, and holding up their seven little
candles to throw a light upon Snow-white. "O goodness! O gracious!"
cried they, "what beautiful child is this?" and were so full of joy
to see her that they did not wake her, but let her sleep on. And the seventh
dwarf slept with his comrades, an hour at a time with each, until the night had
passed. When it was morning, and Snow-white awoke and saw the seven dwarfs, she
was very frightened; but they seemed quite friendly, and asked her what her
name was, and she told them; and then they asked how she came to be in their
house. And she related to them how her step-mother had wished her to be put to
death, and how the huntsman had spared her life, and how she had run the whole
day long, until at last she had found their little house. Then the dwarfs said,
"If you will keep our house for us, and cook, and wash, and make the beds,
and sew and knit, and keep everything tidy and clean, you may stay with us, and
you shall lack nothing." - "With all my heart," said Snow-white;
and so she stayed, and kept the house in good order. In the morning the dwarfs
went to the mountain to dig for gold; in the evening they came home, and their
supper had to be ready for them. All the day long the maiden was left alone,
and the good little dwarfs warned her, saying, "Beware of your
step-mother, she will soon know you are here. Let no one into the house."
Now the queen, having eaten Snow-white's heart, as she supposed, felt quite
sure that now she was the first and fairest, and so she came to her mirror, and
said,
"Looking-glass upon the wall,
Who is fairest of us all?"
And the glass answered,
"Queen, thou art of beauty rare,
But Snow-white living in the glen
With the seven little men
Is a thousand times more fair."
Then she was very angry, for the glass always spoke
the truth, and she knew that the huntsman must have deceived her, and that
Snow-white must still be living. And she thought and thought how she could
manage to make an end of her, for as long as she was not the fairest in the
land, envy left her no rest. At last she thought of a plan; she painted her
face and dressed herself like an old pedlar woman, so that no one would have
known her. In this disguise she went across the seven mountains, until she came
to the house of the seven little dwarfs, and she knocked at the door and cried,
"Fine wares to sell! fine wares to sell!" Snow-white peeped out of
the window and cried, "Good-day, good woman, what have you to sell?" -
"Good wares, fine wares," answered she, "laces of all
colours;"and she held up a piece that was woven of variegated silk.
"I need not be afraid of letting in this good woman," thought
Snow-white, and she unbarred the door and bought the pretty lace. "What a
figure you are, child!" said the old woman, "come and let me lace you
properly for once." Snow-white, suspecting nothing, stood up before her,
and let her lace her with the new lace; but the old woman laced so quick and
tight that it took Snow-white's breath away, and she fell down as dead.
"Now you have done with being the fairest," said the old woman as she
hastened away. Not long after that, towards evening, the seven dwarfs came
home, and were terrified to see their dear Snow-white lying on the ground,
without life or motion; they raised her up, and when they saw how tightly she
was laced they cut the lace in two; then she began to draw breath, and little
by little she returned to life. When the dwarfs heard what had happened they
said, "The old pedlar woman was no other than the wicked queen; you must
beware of letting any one in when we are not here!" And when the wicked
woman got home she went to her glass and said,
"Looking-glass against the wall,
Who is fairest of us all?"
And it answered as before,
"Queen, thou art of beauty rare,
But Snow-white living in the glen
With the seven little men
Is a thousand times more fair."
When she heard that she was so struck with surprise
that all the blood left her heart, for she knew that Snow-white must still be
living. "But now," said she, "I will think of something that
will be her ruin." And by witchcraft she made a poisoned comb. Then she
dressed herself up to look like another different sort of old woman. So she
went across the seven mountains and came to the house of the seven dwarfs, and
knocked at the door and cried, "Good wares to sell! good wares to
sell!" Snow-white looked out and said, "Go away, I must not let
anybody in." - "But you are not forbidden to look," said the old
woman, taking out the poisoned comb and holding it up. It pleased the poor
child so much that she was tempted to open the door; and when the bargain was
made the old woman said, "Now, for once your hair shall be properly
combed." Poor Snow-white, thinking no harm, let the old woman do as she
would, but no sooner was the comb put in her hair than the poison began to
work, and the poor girl fell down senseless. "Now, you paragon of
beauty," said the wicked woman, "this is the end of you," and
went off. By good luck it was now near evening, and the seven little dwarfs
came home. When they saw Snow-white lying on the ground as dead, they thought
directly that it was the step-mother's doing, and looked about, found the
poisoned comb, and no sooner had they drawn it out of her hair than Snow-white
came to herself, and related all that had passed. Then they warned her once
more to be on her guard, and never again to let any one in at the door. And the
queen went home and stood before the looking-glass and said,
"Looking-glass against the wall,
Who is fairest of us all?"
And the looking-glass answered as before,
"Queen, thou art of beauty rare,
But Snow-white living in the glen
With the seven little men
Is a thousand times more fair."
When she heard the looking-glass speak thus she trembled
and shook with anger. "Snow-white shall die," cried she, "though
it should cost me my own life!" And then she went to a secret lonely
chamber, where no one was likely to come, and there she made a poisonous apple.
It was beautiful to look upon, being white with red cheeks, so that any one who
should see it must long for it, but whoever ate even a little bit of it must
die. When the apple was ready she painted her face and clothed herself like a
peasant woman, and went across the seven mountains to where the seven dwarfs
lived. And when she knocked at the door Snow-white put her head out of the
window and said, "I dare not let anybody in; the seven dwarfs told me
not." - "All right," answered the woman; "I can easily get
rid of my apples elsewhere. There, I will give you one." - "No,"
answered Snow-white, "I dare not take anything." - "Are you
afraid of poison?" said the woman, "look here, I will cut the apple
in two pieces; you shall have the red side, I will have the white one."
For the apple was so cunningly made, that all the poison was in the rosy half
of it. Snow-white longed for the beautiful apple, and as she saw the peasant
woman eating a piece of it she could no longer refrain, but stretched out her
hand and took the poisoned half. But no sooner had she taken a morsel of it
into her mouth than she fell to the earth as dead. And the queen, casting on
her a terrible glance, laughed aloud and cried, "As white as snow, as red
as blood, as black as ebony! this time the dwarfs will not be able to bring you
to life again." And when she went home and asked the looking-glass,
"Looking-glass against the wall,
Who is fairest of us all?"
at last it answered,
"You are the fairest now of all."
Then her envious heart had peace, as much as an
envious heart can have. The dwarfs, when they came home in the evening, found
Snow-white lying on the ground, and there came no breath out of her mouth, and
she was dead. They lifted her up, sought if anything poisonous was to be found,
cut her laces, combed her hair, washed her with water and wine, but all was of
no avail, the poor child was dead, and remained dead. Then they laid her on a
bier, and sat all seven of them round it, and wept and lamented three whole
days. And then they would have buried her, but that she looked still as if she
were living, with her beautiful blooming cheeks. So they said, "We cannot
hide her away in the black ground." And they had made a coffin of clear
glass, so as to be looked into from all sides, and they laid her in it, and wrote
in golden letters upon it her name, and that she was a king's daughter. Then
they set the coffin out upon the mountain, and one of them always remained by
it to watch. And the birds came too, and mourned for Snow-white, first an owl,
then a raven, and lastly, a dove. Now, for a long while Snow-white lay in the
coffin and never changed, but looked as if she were asleep, for she was still
as' white as snow, as red as blood, and her hair was as black as ebony. It
happened, however, that one day a king's son rode through the wood and up to
the dwarfs' house, which was near it. He saw on the mountain the coffin, and
beautiful Snow-white within it, and he read what was written in golden letters
upon it. Then he said to the dwarfs, "Let me have the coffin, and I will
give you whatever you like to ask for it." But the dwarfs told him that
they could not part with it for all the gold in the world. But he said, "I
beseech you to give it me, for I cannot live without looking upon Snow-white;
if you consent I will bring you to great honour, and care for you as if you
were my brethren." When he so spoke the good little dwarfs had pity upon
him and gave him the coffin, and the king's son called his servants and bid
them carry it away on their shoulders. Now it happened that as they were going
along they stumbled over a bush, and with the shaking the bit of poisoned apple
flew out of her throat. It was not long before she opened her eyes, threw up
the cover of the coffin, and sat up, alive and well. "Oh dear! where am I?"
cried she. The king's son answered, full of joy, "You are near me,"
and, relating all that had happened, he said, "I would rather have you
than anything in the world; come with me to my father's castle and you shall be
my bride." And Snow-white was kind, and went with him, and their wedding
was held with pomp and great splendour. But Snow-white's wicked step-mother was
also bidden to the feast, and when she had dressed herself in beautiful clothes
she went to her looking-glass and said,
"Looking-glass upon the wall,
Who is fairest of us all?"
The looking-glass answered,
''O Queen, although you are of beauty rare,
The young bride is a thousand times more
fair."
Then she railed and cursed, and was beside herself
with disappointment and anger. First she thought she would not go to the
wedding; but then she felt she should have no peace until she went and saw the
bride. And when she saw her she knew her for Snow-white, and could not stir
from the place for anger and terror. For they had ready red-hot iron shoes, in
which she had to dance until she fell down dead.
