Snow White

Once upon a time, in the middle of winter, when the snowflakes were falling from the sky like feathers, a queen sat sewing by a window with a frame of black ebony. As she sewed and looked out at the snow, she pricked her finger with her needle, and three drops of blood fell onto the white ground. The red looked so lovely against the snow that she thought to herself, “If only I had a child as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as the wood of this frame.”

Not long after, she had a little daughter who was as white as snow, as red as blood, and had hair as black as ebony. So she was named Snow White. And the moment the child was born, the queen died.

A year later the king married again. His new wife, who thus became Snow White’s stepmother, was a beautiful woman, but proud and vain, and she could not bear the thought of anyone surpassing her in beauty. She owned a magic mirror, and whenever she stood before it and looked at her reflection, she would say,

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,who in this land is fairest of all?

And the mirror would answer,

You, my queen, are fairest of all.

Then she was content, for she knew the mirror never lied.

But Snow White kept growing, and grew more and more beautiful, and by the time she was seven years old she was as lovely as the day and lovelier than the queen herself. One day when the queen asked her mirror,

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,who in this land is fairest of all?

it answered,

You are fair, my queen, it’s true,but Snow White now is fairer than you.

The queen was horrified, and she turned yellow and green with envy. From that hour on, whenever she caught sight of Snow White, her heart twisted with hatred for the girl.

Envy and pride grew in her like weeds, taller and taller, until she had no peace by day or by night. At last she summoned a huntsman and said, “Take the child out into the forest. I never want to see her again. Kill her, and bring me back her heart as proof.”

The huntsman led Snow White away, but when he drew his knife to plunge it into her innocent heart, she began to weep and said, “Dear huntsman, spare my life. I will run off into the wild forest and never come home again.”

She was so beautiful that the huntsman took pity on her. “Run then, poor child,” he said. He thought the wild animals would soon devour her anyway, but it felt as though a stone had rolled off his heart now that he did not have to kill her himself. Just then a young boar came bounding by, so he stabbed it instead, cut out its heart, and carried it back to the queen as proof that the child was dead. The cook salted it, and the wicked queen ate it, believing she had eaten Snow White’s heart.

Now the poor child was alone in the great forest, and she was so frightened that she stared at every leaf on every tree, not knowing what to do. She began to run, over sharp stones and through thorns, and the wild animals bounded past her but did her no harm.

She ran as far as her feet would carry her, until it was nearly evening, and then she saw a little cottage and went inside to rest. Everything in it was small, but so neat and clean that words could hardly describe it. A table stood there with a white cloth and seven little plates, each with its own little spoon, and seven little knives and forks and seven little cups besides. Against the wall stood seven little beds in a row, each covered with a snow-white sheet.

Snow White was so hungry and thirsty that she ate a little bread and a few vegetables from each plate and drank a sip of wine from each cup, for she did not want to take everything from just one. Then, because she was so tired, she lay down on one of the little beds, but none of them suited her: one was too long, another too short, until at last the seventh one was just right. So she stayed in it, said a prayer, and fell asleep.

When it was fully dark, the owners of the cottage came home. They were seven dwarfs who dug for ore in the mountains. They lit their seven little candles, and as the light filled the cottage, they saw that someone had been there, for everything was not quite as they had left it.

The first said, “Who has been sitting in my chair?”

The second said, “Who has been eating off my plate?”

The third said, “Who has been eating my bread?”

The fourth said, “Who has been eating my vegetables?”

The fifth said, “Who has been using my fork?”

The sixth said, “Who has been cutting with my knife?”

The seventh said, “Who has been drinking from my cup?”

Then the first dwarf looked around and noticed a small dent in his bed. “Who has been lying in my bed?” he asked.

The others came running over and each cried out, “Someone has been lying in my bed too.”

But the seventh, when he looked at his own bed, found Snow White lying there, fast asleep. He called the others, and they came running, crying out in astonishment, holding up their seven candles to look at her. “Good heavens, good heavens,” they said, “what a lovely child!” They were so delighted that they did not wake her, but let her sleep on where she lay. The seventh dwarf slept an hour with each of his companions in turn, and so the night passed.

In the morning Snow White woke up, and when she saw the seven dwarfs she was frightened. But they were friendly, and asked her what her name was.

“My name is Snow White,” she answered.

“How did you come to our house?” the dwarfs asked.

She told them that her stepmother had wanted her killed, but that the huntsman had spared her life, and that she had run all day until at last she found their little house.

The dwarfs said, “If you will keep house for us, cook, make the beds, wash, sew, and knit, and keep everything neat and clean, you may stay with us and you will want for nothing.”

“Yes,” said Snow White, “gladly, with all my heart,” and she stayed with them.

She kept their house in order. In the mornings the dwarfs went off to the mountains to dig for copper and gold, and in the evenings, when they came home, their supper had to be ready. All day long the girl was alone, so the kind dwarfs warned her, saying, “Be on your guard against your stepmother. She will soon learn that you are here. Let no one in.”

The queen, meanwhile, believing she had eaten Snow White’s heart, was certain she was once again the first and most beautiful woman in the land. She went to her mirror and asked,

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,who in this land is fairest of all?

And the mirror answered,

You are the fairest here, it’s true,but over the hills, away from view,Snow White lives with the dwarfs, all seven,and she outshines you, under wide heaven.

The queen was stunned, for she knew the mirror never lied, and she understood at once that the huntsman had betrayed her and that Snow White was still alive.

She thought and thought again about how she might kill the girl, for as long as she was not the fairest in the whole land, envy gave her no peace. At last she thought of a plan. She painted her face and dressed herself as an old peddler woman, so that no one could have recognized her. In this disguise she crossed the seven mountains to the dwarfs’ cottage, knocked on the door, and called out, “Pretty things for sale, very cheap, very cheap!”

Snow White looked out of the window and called back, “Good day, good woman. What have you got to sell?”

“Good things, pretty things,” the old woman answered, “laces of every color,” and she pulled out one woven from bright silk.

“I can surely let this honest woman in,” Snow White thought, and she unbolted the door and bought the pretty laces.

“Child,” said the old woman, “what a fright you look. Come, let me lace you up properly for once.”

Snow White suspected nothing, and stood before her, and let herself be laced with the new laces. But the old woman laced her quickly, and pulled so tight, that Snow White lost her breath and fell down as if dead. “Now I am the fairest,” the queen said to herself, and hurried away.

Not long after, in the evening, the seven dwarfs came home, and how horrified they were to find their beloved Snow White lying on the ground, not stirring, not moving, seeming quite dead. They lifted her up, and seeing how tightly she was laced, they cut the laces at once. She began to breathe a little, and slowly came back to life. When the dwarfs heard what had happened, they said, “That old peddler woman was no one but the wicked queen. Be on your guard, and let no one in when we are not with you.”

But the wicked stepmother, once she was home again, went straight to her mirror and asked,

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,who in this land is fairest of all?

And it answered as before,

You are the fairest here, it’s true,but over the hills, away from view,Snow White lives with the dwarfs, all seven,and she outshines you, under wide heaven.

When she heard this, all the blood rushed to her heart, so great was her fright, for she knew at once that Snow White must be alive again. “Now,” she said, “I will think of something that will put an end to you.” And with witchcraft, which she understood well, she made a poisoned comb. Then she disguised herself as another old woman, and crossed the seven mountains to the dwarfs’ cottage. She knocked at the door and called, “Good things for sale, cheap, cheap!”

Snow White looked out and said, “Go away. I cannot let anyone in.”

“Surely you may at least look,” said the old woman, and held up the poisoned comb.

It pleased the girl so much that she let herself be tempted, and opened the door. Once they had agreed on a price, the old woman said, “Now let me comb your hair properly for once.” Poor Snow White suspected nothing and let the old woman do as she liked, but no sooner had the comb touched her hair than the poison in it took effect, and she fell down senseless. “There, my beauty,” said the wicked woman, “now you are finished,” and she went away.

Luckily it was almost evening, and the seven dwarfs soon came home. When they found Snow White lying on the ground as if dead, they suspected the stepmother at once, and searched until they found the poisoned comb. The moment they pulled it out, Snow White came to herself and told them what had happened. Once again they warned her to be on her guard and to open the door to no one.

Back at the palace, the queen stood before her mirror and asked,

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,who in this land is fairest of all?

And it answered as before,

You are the fairest here, it’s true,but over the hills, away from view,Snow White lives with the dwarfs, all seven,and she outshines you, under wide heaven.

When she heard the mirror speak so, she trembled and shook with rage. “Snow White shall die,” she cried, “even if it costs me my own life!”

So she went to a secret, hidden room where no one ever came, and there she made a poisoned apple. On the outside it looked lovely, white with a red cheek, so that anyone who saw it would long to taste it, but whoever ate even a bite of it was doomed to die. When the apple was ready, she painted her face and dressed herself as a farmer’s wife, and crossed the seven mountains to the dwarfs’ cottage once more. She knocked at the door.

Snow White put her head out of the window and said, “I cannot let anyone in. The seven dwarfs have forbidden it.”

“That’s fine by me,” the woman answered. “I’ll soon be rid of my apples elsewhere. Here, I’ll give you one.”

“No,” said Snow White, “I dare not take anything.”

“Are you afraid of poison?” said the old woman. “Look, I will cut the apple in two. You eat the red half, and I will eat the white.”

The apple had been made so cleverly that only the red half was poisoned. Snow White longed for the beautiful apple, and when she saw the woman eating from it, she could not resist any longer. She reached out her hand and took the poisoned half. But she had barely taken one bite when she fell down dead. The queen looked at her with a dreadful stare, laughed loudly, and said, “White as snow, red as blood, black as ebony wood! This time the dwarfs will not wake you.”

And when she asked her mirror at home,

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,who in this land is fairest of all?

it answered at last,

You, my queen, are fairest of all.

Then her envious heart found rest, as much rest as an envious heart can ever find.

That evening, when the dwarfs came home, they found Snow White lying on the ground. She was not breathing, and she was dead. They lifted her up, searched for anything poisonous, unlaced her, combed her hair, washed her with water and wine, but nothing helped. The dear child was dead, and stayed dead. They laid her on a bier, and all seven sat around it and wept for her, and wept for three days.

Then they meant to bury her, but she still looked as fresh as a living person, with her pretty red cheeks unchanged. “We cannot lower her into the dark earth,” they said, and they had a coffin made of clear glass, so that she could be seen from every side. They laid her inside it and wrote her name upon it in golden letters, and that she was a king’s daughter. Then they set the coffin out on the mountainside, and one of them always stayed beside it to keep watch. The animals came too and wept for Snow White: first an owl, then a raven, and last of all a dove.

Snow White lay in the coffin for a long, long time, and she did not decay, but looked as though she were merely asleep, for she was still as white as snow, as red as blood, and her hair was still as black as ebony.

It happened that a prince came riding through the forest and stopped at the dwarfs’ cottage to spend the night. He saw the coffin on the mountainside, and beautiful Snow White lying within it, and he read what was written on it in golden letters. Then he said to the dwarfs, “Let me have the coffin. I will give you whatever you ask for it.”

But the dwarfs answered, “We would not part with it for all the gold in the world.”

“Then give it to me as a gift,” he said, “for I cannot live without looking upon Snow White. I will honor her and treasure her as my most precious possession.”

Hearing him speak this way, the kind dwarfs took pity on him and gave him the coffin.

The prince had his servants carry it away on their shoulders. But as they walked, they stumbled over a tree root, and the jolt shook loose the piece of poisoned apple that had stuck in Snow White’s throat. A moment later she opened her eyes, lifted the lid of the coffin, sat up, and was alive once more. “Good heavens, where am I?” she cried.

The prince, overjoyed, said, “You are with me,” and told her everything that had happened. “I love you more than anything in the world,” he said. “Come with me to my father’s castle, and be my wife.”

Snow White was glad, and went with him, and their wedding was celebrated with great splendor and rejoicing. Snow White’s wicked stepmother was invited to the feast as well. When she had dressed herself in her finest clothes, she stood before her mirror and asked,

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,who in this land is fairest of all?

And the mirror answered,

You are fair, my queen, it’s true,but the young queen now is fairer than you.

The wicked woman let out a curse, and grew so wretched, so utterly wretched, that she did not know what to do with herself. At first she refused to go to the wedding at all, but she could find no peace, and in the end she had to go and see the young queen for herself. And when she walked in, she recognized Snow White at once, and stood frozen with fear and fury, unable to move. But a pair of iron shoes had already been set over the fire, and now they were carried in with tongs and placed before her. She was forced to put on the red-hot shoes and dance in them until she fell down dead.