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.