“Looking-glass, Looking-glass, on the wall,
Who in this land is the fairest of all?”
then it answered as before—
“Oh, Queen, thou art fairest of all I see,
But over the hills, where the seven dwarfs dwell,
Snow-white is still alive and well,
And none is so fair as she.”
When she heard the glass speak thus she trembled and shook with rage.
“Snow-white shall die,” she cried, “even if it costs me my life!”
Thereupon she went into a quite secret, lonely room, where no one ever
came, and there she made a very poisonous apple. Outside it looked
pretty, white with a red cheek, so that everyone who saw it longed for
it; but whoever ate a piece of it must surely die.
When the apple was ready she painted her face, and dressed herself up
as a country-woman, and so she went over the seven mountains to the
seven dwarfs. She knocked at the door. Snow-white put her head out of
the window and said, “I cannot let any one in; the seven dwarfs have
forbidden me.” “It is all the same to me,” answered the woman, “I shall
soon get rid of my apples. There, I will 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 pieces;
you eat the red cheek, and I will eat the white.” The apple was so
cunningly made that only the red cheek was poisoned. Snow-white longed
for the fine apple, and when she saw that the woman ate part of it she
could resist no longer, and stretched out her hand and took the
poisonous half. But hardly had she a bit of it in her mouth than she
fell down dead. Then the Queen looked at her with a dreadful look, and
laughed aloud and said, “White as snow, red as blood, black as
ebony-wood! this time the dwarfs cannot wake you up again.”