Once upon a
time in mid winter, when the snowflakes were falling like feathers from heaven,
a beautiful queen sat sewing at her window, which had a frame of black ebony
wood. As she sewed, she looked up at the snow and pricked her finger with her
needle. Three drops of blood fell into the snow. The red on the white looked so
beautiful, that she thought,
“If only I
had a child as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as this frame.”
Soon afterward she had a little daughter that was as white as snow, as red as
blood, and as black as ebony wood, and therefore they called her Little
Snow-White.
Now the
queen was the most beautiful woman in all the land, and very proud of her
beauty. She had a mirror, which she stood in front of every morning, and asked:
Mirror,
mirror, on the wall,
Who in this land is fairest of all?
Who in this land is fairest of all?
And the mirror always said:
You, my
queen, are fairest of all.
And then
she knew for certain that no one in the world was more beautiful than she.
Now
Snow-White grew up, and when she was seven years old, she was so beautiful,
that she surpassed even the queen herself. Now when the queen asked her mirror:
Mirror,
mirror, on the wall,
Who in this land is fairest of all?
Who in this land is fairest of all?
The mirror said:
You, my
queen, are fair; it is true.
But Little Snow-White is still
A thousand times fairer than you.
But Little Snow-White is still
A thousand times fairer than you.
When the
queen heard the mirror say this, she became pale with envy, and from that hour
on, she hated Snow-White. Whenever she looked at her, she thought that
Snow-White was to blame that she was no longer the most beautiful woman in the
world. This turned her heart around. Her jealousy gave her no peace. Finally
she summoned a huntsman and said to him,
“Take
Snow-White out into the woods to a remote spot, and stab her to death. As proof
that she is dead bring her lungs and her liver back to me. I shall cook them
with salt and eat them.”
The
huntsman took Snow-White into the woods.
“The wild
animals will soon devour her anyway. I’m glad that I don’t have to kill her.”
Just then a young boar came running by. He killed it, cut out its lungs and
liver, and took them back to the queen as proof of Snow-White’s death.
Snow-White
was now all alone in the great forest. Finally, just as the sun was about to
set, she came to a little house. The house belonged to seven dwarfs. Snow-White
went inside and found everything to be small, but neat and orderly
Snow-White
was hungry and thirsty, so she ate a few vegetables and a little bread from
each little plate, and from each little glass she drank a drop of wine. Because
she was so tired, she wanted to lie down and go to sleep. She tried each of the
seven little beds, one after the other, but none felt right until she came to
the seventh one, and she lay down in it and fell asleep.
When night
came, the seven dwarfs returned home from the work. They lit their seven little
candles, and saw that someone had been in their house.
And so
forth until the seventh one, and when he looked at his bed, he found Snow-White
lying there, fast asleep. The seven dwarfs all came running, and they cried out
with amazement. They fetched their seven candles and looked at Snow-White.
“Good
heaven! Good heaven!” they cried.
“She is so
beautiful!” They liked her very much. They did not wake her up, but let her lie
there in the bed. The seventh dwarf had to sleep with his companions, one hour
with each one, and then the night was done.
When
Snow-White woke up, they asked her who she was and how she had found her way to
their house. She told them how her mother had tried to kill her, how she had
run the entire day, finally coming to their house. The dwarfs pitied her.
The queen
thought that she was again the most beautiful woman in the land, and the next
morning she stepped before the mirror and asked:
Mirror,
mirror, on the wall,
Who in this land is fairest of all?
Who in this land is fairest of all?
The mirror answered once again:
You, my
queen, are fair; it is true.
But Little Snow-White beyond the seven mountains
Is a thousand times fairer than you.
But Little Snow-White beyond the seven mountains
Is a thousand times fairer than you.
When the
queen heard this, she shook and trembled with anger, “Snow-White will die, if
it costs me my life!” Then she went into her most secret room and she made a
poisoned, poisoned apple. From the outside it was red and beautiful, and anyone
who saw it would want it. Then she disguised herself as a peasant woman, went
to the dwarfs’ house and knocked on the door.
Snow-White
peeped out and said, “I’m not allowed to let anyone in. The dwarfs have
forbidden it most severely.”
“If you are afraid, then I will cut the apple
in two and eat half of it. Here, you eat the half with the beautiful red
cheek!” Now the apple had been so artfully made that only the red half was
poisoned. When Snow-White saw that the peasant woman was eating part of the
apple, her desire for it grew stronger, so she finally let the woman hand her
the other half through the window. She bit into it, but she barely had the bite
in her mouth when she fell to the ground dead.
The queen
was happy, went home, and asked her mirror:
Mirror,
mirror, on the wall,
Who in this land is fairest of all?
Who in this land is fairest of all?
And it answered:
You, my
queen, are fairest of all.
“Now I’ll
have some peace,” she said, “because once again I’m the most beautiful woman in
the land. Snow-White will remain dead this time.”
In the morning
she stepped before the mirror and said:
Mirror,
mirror, on the wall,
Who in this land is fairest of all?
The mirror answered:
You, my queen, are fair; it is true.
But the young queen
Is a thousand times fairer than you.
Who in this land is fairest of all?
The mirror answered:
You, my queen, are fair; it is true.
But the young queen
Is a thousand times fairer than you.
She was
horrified to hear this, and so overtaken with fear that she could not say
anything. Still, her jealousy drove her to go to the palace and see the young
queen. When she arrived she saw that it was Snow-White. Then they put a pair of
iron shoes into the fire until they glowed, and she had to put them on and
dance in them. Her feet were terribly burned, and she could not stop until she
had danced herself to death.
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