Snow-White
(by The Brothers Grimm, adapted)
It is the middle of the winter.
Snowflakes are falling down on the
ground all around. A queen of a large
country is working at her window.
She is making clothes with strings,
ribbons and needle. The snow is
white and the frame of the window is
black as a night.
She has a magic mirror which tells her only the truth. She looks into it
every day and asks it:
«Tell me, mirror, tell me true!
Who is the most beautiful of all?»
And the mirror always answers:
«You, my Queen, are the finest and the most beautiful lady in the world.»
Suddenly she has hurt her finger, and
three drops of blood falls down on
the snow. She looks at the red drops
and says: «I wish my little daughter
would be as white as that snow. I
wish her cheeks would be as red as
that blood. And I wish her hair would
be as black as this window-frame, as dark as a night!»
And her little girl is growing up as she has wished. Her skin is
white as snow. Her cheeks are rosy as blood. And her hair is
black as a night. She is a very beautiful and pretty girl. And all
people call her Snow-White.
Unfortunately the kind queen has been ill and she dies. Sometime
later the King marries another wife, who becomes a new queen.
She is beautiful too but she is too proud of her beauty. She can’t
bear to think that anyone is more beautiful than she is.
But Snow-White is growing up. She becomes more and more beautiful.
When she is seventeen years old she becomes as bright as a day, and more
beautiful than the wicked Queen. One day the mirror answers the Queen,
that she is not the most beautiful lady in the world anymore:
«You, my Queen, are fine, it’s true.
But the most beautiful girl in the world is Snow-White.»
When the Queen has heard this
she gets very angry. She calls her
servants and says: «Take SnowWhite into a dark forest and kill
her! I don’t want to see her
alive!» The servants take SnowWhite into the forest and leave
her there. They didn’t kill her
because they loved Snow-White
very much. So they just leave her alone at the forest and go home.
The poor Snow-White is walking among woods. She is very scared.
She sees and hears wild animals but they don’t hurt her. In the evening
she comes to a strange house. She comes in and sees that all things
inside are small. There is a small table with small seven little plates on
it, and also seven little spoons, and seven little knives and forks, and
seven little glasses of milk. And there are seven little beds near the
wall. It is very strange!
As she is very hungry,
she eats all the food
from the plates and
drinks all the milk from
the glasses. After that
she moves the seven
beds together, lies down
on them and falls
asleep.
Look! The masters of the house are seven little dwarfs! They are very
little! They live in that house and work in the mountain, searching for
gold and silver. They light up their seven lamps and see that something
is wrong in the house.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The first says: «Who has been sitting on my stool?»
The second: «Who has been eating off my plate?»
The third: «Who has been picking my bread?»
The fourth: «Who has been touching my spoon?»
The fifth: «Who has been handling my fork?»
The sixth: «Who has been cutting with my knife?»
The seventh: «Who has been drinking my milk?»
Then the first dwarf looks around and says: «Who is that?!», pointing to
the girl. They all see Snow-White and everyone cries out: «Who is that?!»
Then they look at her very carefully and notice her beauty. They say:
«Good heavens! What a lovely child she is! How nice she is!» They are
very glad to see her and decide not to awake her.
In the morning Snow-White wakes up and sees seven little dwarfs. She is
very wondering! She tells them her story; and they are very pity of her.
They invite her to live with them, but only if she would keep all things in
order and cook for them. She agrees and stays there. They start to live very
happily. The dwarfs work all day long, seeking for gold and silver in the
mountains. And Snow-White is at home, doing things about the house.
Meanwhile the wicked Queen believes that Snow-White is dead. She
thinks that now she is the most beautiful lady in the world. She looks
at the magic mirror and asks:
«Tell me, mirror, tell me true!
Who is the most beautiful of all?»
The Queen knocks at the door, and cries: «Fine things to sell!»
Snow-White looks out of the window, and says, «Good day, good
woman! What do you sell?». The Queen says: «Good things! Fine
things! Strings and ribbons of all colors, sharp needles! All you
want!». With no care Snow-White thinks: «I will let this old lady
come in because she seems to be a good person.», and she opens the
door. Oh, no!
And the mirror answers:
«You, my Queen, are fine, it’s true.
But the most beautiful girl in the world is
Snow-White.
She lives in the forest with seven little
dwarfs.»
«Good day!», says the old woman (the wicked Queen). «How old
your ribbons are! Let me replace them with my nice new ribbons!»
Snow-White doesn’t suspect any wrong and so she stands calm in
front of her. Suddenly the Queen is putting the ribbon on her neck
around and pulling it so strong, that Snow-White's falls down dead
because of no breath. «That is the end of all your beauty!», says the
wicked Queen and runs away quickly.
At this moment the Queen understands
that the servants deceit her and betray
her. They didn’t kill Snow-White as she
had ordered. The Queen gets very afraid
and very angry.
The Queen cannot bear to think that
anyone is more beautiful than she is. So
she wants to make an evil, to commit a
crime. She wants to kill Snow-White herself. She puts the old dress on
and goes to the forest. She comes to the house where the seven little
dwarfs and Snow-White live. The dwarfs are at work and Snow-White
is at home alone.
In the evening the seven
dwarfs come home and
see the Snow-White on
the floor. They are
shocked! They lift her up
and see a ribbon around
her neck. They cut the
ribbon and in a little time
she begins to breathe.
Very soon she returns to
life. She is very lucky!
She tells them what’s happened. The seven dwarfs quickly
understand everything and explain to her: «That old woman was the
queen herself. She wants to kill you because of your beauty. Take
care another time! Don’t let anyone come in when we are at work.
No one!»
Meantime when the Queen gets
home, she goes straight to her magic
mirror and speaks to it as before:
«Tell me, mirror, tell me true!
Who is the most beautiful of all?»
But to her great wonder it says:
«You, my Queen, are fine, it’s true.
But the most beautiful girl in the
world is Snow-White.
She lives in the forest with seven
little dwarfs.»
She becomes pale and her blood becomes
cold. She doesn’t believe that SnowWhite is still alive. She dresses herself up
again, but in another dress. Now she takes
a poisoned comb. She goes to the dwarfs’
house again. She knocks at the door and
cries: «Fine things to sell!» But SnowWhite says: «I don’t let anyone in.» Good
girl!
Then the Queen says: «Only look at my
beautiful combs!» and she gives her the poisoned one. And it looks so
pretty, that Snow-White takes it up and puts it into her hair to try it.
Oh, no! The poison is so powerful that she falls down senseless in a
moment. The Queen says: «That is it!» and runs away quickly.
By good luck the dwarfs come home very early that evening. And
when they see Snow-White lying on the ground, they understand
everything. Soon they have found the poisoned comb and take it away.
In a little time Snow-White feels better. She is very lucky again!
She tells them all what’s happened. They warn her once more not to
open the door to anyone, not to speak to anyone, and not to take
anything from strangers.
Meantime the Queen goes home and
asks her magic mirror:
«Tell me, mirror, tell me true!
Who is the most beautiful of all?»
But she hears the same answer:
'You, my Queen, are fine, it’s true.
But the most beautiful girl in the
world is Snow-White.
She leaves in the forest with seven
little dwarfs'
The Queen cries: «Snow-White will die even if it cost me my life!» So
she takes a poisoned apple and goes outside. The apple looks very rosy
and tasty but everyone who bites it will die in a moment. She puts on
the poor dress and goes to the dwarfs’ house again.
She knocks at the door and says
«Hello!». Snow-White puts her
head out of the window and says:
«I do not let you in because the
dwarfs have told me not.» SnowWhite has forgotten not to speak to
anyone! So the Queen answers:
«Do as you please, but just take
this pretty apple. It’s my present for you!». «No!», says Snow-White,
«I don’t take it because it might be poisoned.» Good girl!
And the wicked Queen answers: «No, little silly! It isn’t poisoned.
Come on! Eat one half of it, and I will eat another. It is safely!» But
that apple is made up very deceitful. One half of it is poisoned, but
another is normal. The Queen tastes the good half and gives the
poisoned half to Snow-White. The girl believes her and tastes it and
falls down in a moment. Poor Snow-White! She has been deceived
again.
«This time nothing will save you!», says the Queen and hurries up to
her mirror to ask:
«Tell me, mirror, tell me true!
Who is the most beautiful of all?»
At last, the mirror says:
«You, my Queen, are the finest and the
most beautiful lady in the world.»
And then her wicked heart is glad and
happy. And it is cold as before.
When the dwarfs come
home, they have found
Snow-White lying on the
ground. She has no
breath. There are no
ribbons around her neck
and no combs in her hair,
so that they cannot
understand what to do.
They are afraid that she is really dead. They lift her up and wash her
face with water; but all is useless and the little girl seems to be dead.
But her cheeks are still rosy and it is very strange! Maybe is she still
alive? So they put her into a glass box and just watch at her with hope
of a miracle.
Day by day Snow-White has been laying there for a very long time.
She looks like she is sleeping. Her face is white as snow, and her
cheeks are red as blood, and her hair is black as a night.
At last, a prince comes into a cave and
sees Snow-White in the glass box. He
reads her name written in golden letters
by the seven dwarfs. And he notices a
piece of apple between her lips. He
takes it out and Snow-White wakes up.
She says: «Where am I?» And the
prince says: «You are in safety with
me! I’ll protect you!»
Then he tells her all that has happened and says: «I love you much
more than the entire world! So come with me to my palace, and be my
wife!» Snow-White agrees and follows him. They have a merry
wedding with a great pomp.
Meanwhile the wicked Queen puts her fine rich clothes on and as usual
asks the mirror:
«Tell me, mirror, tell me true!
Who is the most beautiful of all?»
Suddenly the mirror answers:
«You, my Queen, are fine, it’s true.
But the most beautiful girl in the
world is Snow-White!
She is alive and she lives in the
palace with her prince!
And she is happy!»
When the Queen has heard this she
becomes so angry that her heart is
broken and she falls down dead.
The mirror always says the truth. Snow-White and the prince live
happily for many-many years. And sometimes they visit the seven
little dwarfs, who were so kind to Snow-White in her time of need.