snowwhite2.txt

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, “Lookingglass 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?"
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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 did not 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 drinkingcups. 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.
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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
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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 peddler
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
colors”; 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 quickly and tightly that it took Snowwhite’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
peddler 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, “Lookingglass against the wall, Who is fairest of us all?"
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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
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dwarfs lived. And when she knocked at the door Snowwhite put
her head out of the window and said, “I dare not let anybody in;
the seven dwarfs told me not to.” “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 Snowwhite 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 Snowwhite, 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.
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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 Snowwhite; if you consent I will bring you to great honor, 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 splendor.
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.