Once upon a time it was the middle of winter; the flakes of snow were
falling like feathers from the sky; a Queen sat at a window sewing,
and the frame of the window was made of black ebony. As she was sewing
and looking out of the window at the snow, she pricked her finger with
the needle, and three drops of blood fell upon the snow. And the red
looked pretty upon the white snow, and she thought to herself:
"Would that I had a child as white as snow, as red as blood, and as
black as the wood of the window-frame!" Soon after that she had a
little daughter, who was as white as snow, and as red as blood, and
her hair was as black as ebony; so she was called Little Snow-white.
And when the child was born, the Queen died.
A year after, the King took to himself another wife. She was beautiful
but proud, and she could not bear to have any one else more beautiful.
She had a wonderful Looking-glass, and when she stood in front of it,
and looked at herself in it, and said:
"Looking-glass, Looking-glass, on the wall,
Who in this land is the fairest of all?"
the Looking-glass answered:
"Thou, O Queen, art the fairest of all!"
At last she was well pleased, for she knew the Looking-glass spoke the
truth.
Now Snow-white grew up, and became more and more beautiful; and when
she was seven years old she was as beautiful as the day, and more
beautiful than the Queen herself. And once when the queen asked her
Looking-glass:
"Looking-glass, Looking-glass, on the wall,
Who in this land is the fairest of all?"
it answered:
"Thou art fairer than all who are here, Lady Queen,
But more beautiful by far is Snow-white, I ween."
Then the Queen was angry, and turned green with envy. From that hour,
whenever she looked at Snow-white, her breath came and went, she hated
the girl so much.
And envy grew higher and higher in her heart like a weed, so that she
had no peace day or night. She called a huntsman, and said:
"Take the child away into the wood; I will no longer have her in my
sight. Kill her, and bring me back her heart as a token." The huntsman
did as he was told, and took her away; but when he had drawn his knife,
and was about to pierce Snow-white's little heart, she began to weep,
and said:
"Ah, dear huntsman, leave me my life! I will run away into the wild
wood, and never come home again."
And as she was so beautiful the huntsman had pity on her and said:
"Run away, then, you poor child." The wild beasts will soon kill her,
thought he; and yet it seemed as if a stone had been rolled from his
heart, since it was no longer needful for him to kill her. As a young
boar just then came running by he stabbed it, and cut out its heart
and took it to the Queen as a proof that the child was dead. The cook
had to salt this, and the wicked Queen ate it, and thought she had
eaten the heart of Snow-white.
But now the poor child was all alone in the great wood, and so afraid
that she started at every bush, and did not know what to do. Then she
began to run, and ran over sharp stones and through thorns, and the
wild beasts ran past her, but did her no harm.
She ran as long as her feet would go, until it was almost evening;
then she saw a little cottage, and went into it to rest herself.
Everything in the cottage was small, but neater and cleaner than
can be told. There was a table on which was a white cover, and seven
little plates, and by each plate was a little spoon; there were seven
little knives and forks, and seven little mugs. Against the wall stood
seven little beds side by side, covered with snow-white coverlets.
Little Snow-white was so hungry and thirsty that she ate some fruit
and bread from each plate, and drank a drop of milk out of each mug,
for she did not wish to take all from one only. Then, as 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; but at last she found the
seventh one was just right, and so she stayed in it, said her prayers,
and went to sleep.
When it was quite dark the owners of the cottage came back; they
were seven dwarfs who dug in the hills for gold. They lit their seven
candles, and as it was now light within the cottage they could see
that some one had been there, for everything was not in the same order
in which they had left it.