GRIMMS' FAIRY TALES
LITTLE SNOW WHITE
It was in the middle of winter, when the broad flakes of snow were falling
around, that a certain queen sat working at her window, the frame of which
was made of fine black ebony; and, as she was looking out upon the snow,
she pricked her finger, and three drops of blood fell upon it. Then she
gazed thoughtfully down on the red drops which sprinkled the white snow
and said, "Would that my little daughter may be as white as that snow, as
red as the blood, and as black as the ebony window-frame!" And so the
little girl grew up; her skin was a white as snow, her cheeks as rosy as
blood, and her hair as black as ebony; and she was called Snow-White.
But this queen died; and the king soon married another wife, who was very
beautiful, but so proud that she could not bear to think that any one
could surpass her. She had a magical looking-glass, to which she used to
go and gaze upon herself in it, and say—
"Tell me, glass, tell me true!
Of all the ladies in the land,
Who is fairest? tell me who?"
And the glass answered, "Thou, Queen, art fairest in the land"
But Snow-White grew more and more beautiful; and when she was seven years
old, she was as bright as the day, and fairer than the queen herself. Then
the glass one day answered queen, when she went to consult it as usual—
"Thou, Queen, may'st fair and beauteous be,
But Snow-White is lovelier far than thee?"
When the queen heard this she turned pale with rage and envy; and calling
to one of her servants said, "Take Snow-White away into the wide wood,
that I may never see her more." Then the servant led the little girl away;
but his heart melted when she begged him to spare her life, and he said,
"I will not hurt thee, thou pretty child." So he left her there alone; and
though he thought it most likely that the wild beasts would tear her to
pieces, he felt as if a great weight were taken off his heart when he had
made up his mind not to kill her, but leave her to her fate.
Then poor Snow-White wandered along through the wood in great fear; and
the wild beasts roared around, but none did her any harm. In the evening
she came to a little cottage, and went in there to rest, for her weary
feet would carry her no further. Everything was spruce and neat in the
cottage: on the table was spread a white cloth, and there were seven
little plates with seven little loaves and seven little glasses with wine
in them; and knives and forks laid in order, and by the wall stood seven
little beds. Then, as she was exceedingly hungry, she picked a little
piece off each loaf, and drank a very little wine out of each glass; and
after that she thought she would lie down and rest. So she tried all the
little beds; and one was too long, and another was too short, till, at
last, the seventh suited her; and there she laid herself down and went to
sleep. Presently in came the masters of the cottage, who were seven little
dwarfs that lived among the mountains, and dug and searched about for
gold. They lighted up their seven lamps, and saw directly that all was not
right. The first said, "Who has been sitting on my stool?" The second,
"Who has been eating off my plate?" The third, "Who has been picking at my
bread?" The fourth, "Who has been meddling with 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 wine?" Then the first
looked around and said, "Who has been lying on my bed?" And the rest came
running to him, and every one cried out that somebody had been upon his
bed. But the seventh saw Snow-White, and called upon his brethren to come
and look at her; and they cried out with wonder and astonishment, and
brought their lamps and gazing upon her, they said, "Good heavens! what a
lovely child she is!" And they were delighted to see her, and took care
not to waken her; and the seventh dwarf slept an hour with each of the
other dwarfs in turn, till the night was gone.
In the morning Snow-White told them all her story, and they pitied her,
and said if she would keep all things in order, and cook and wash, and
knit and spin for them, she might stay where she was, and they would take
good care of her. Then they went out all day long to their work, seeking
for gold and silver in the mountains; and Snow-White remained at home; and
they warned her, saying, "The queen will soon find out where you are, so
take care and let no one in." But the queen, now that she thought Snow-
White was dead, believed that she was certainly the handsomest lady in the
land; so she went to her glass and said—
"Tell me, glass, tell me true!
Of all the ladies in the land,
Who is fairest? tell me who?"
And the glass answered—
"Thou, Queen, thou are fairest in all this land;
But over the Hills, in the greenwood shade,
Where the seven dwarfs their dwelling have made,
There Snow-White is hiding; and she
Is lovelier far, O Queen, than thee."
Then the queen was very much alarmed; for she knew that the glass always
spoke the truth, and she was sure that the servant had betrayed her. And
as she could not bear to think that any one lived who was more beautiful
than she was, she disguised herself as an old pedlar woman and went her
way over the hills to the place where the dwarfs dwelt. Then she knocked
at the door and cried, "Fine wares to sell!" Snow-White looked out of the
window, and said, "Good day, good woman; what have you to sell?" "Good
wares, fine wares," replied she; "laces and bobbins of all colors." "I
will let the old lady in; she seems to be a very good sort of a body,"
thought Snow-White; so she ran down, and unbolted the door. "Bless me!"
said the woman, "how badly your stays are laced. Let me lace them up with
one of my nice new laces." Snow-White did not dream of any mischief; so
she stood up before the old woman who set to work so nimbly, and pulled
the lace so tightly that Snow-White lost her breath, and fell down as if
she were dead. "There's an end of all thy beauty," said the spiteful
queen, and went away home.
In the evening the seven dwarfs returned; and I need not say how grieved
they were to see their faithful Snow-White stretched upon the ground
motionless, as if she were quite dead. However, they lifted her up, and
when they found what was the matter, they cut the lace; and in a little
time she began to breathe, and soon came to herself again. Then they said,
"The old woman was the queen; take care another time, and let no one in
when we are away."
When the queen got home, she went to her glass, and spoke to it, but to
her surprise it replied in the same words as before.
Then the blood ran cold in her heart with spite and malice to hear that
Snow-White still lived; and she dressed herself up again in a disguise,
but very different from the one she wore before, and took with her a
poisoned comb. When she reached the dwarfs' cottage, she knocked at the
door, and cried, "Fine wares to sell!" but Snow-White said, "I dare not
let any one in." Then the queen said, "Only look at my beautiful combs;"
and gave her the poisoned one. And it looked so pretty that the little
girl took it up and put it into her hair to try it; but the moment it
touched her head the poison was so powerful that she fell down senseless.
"There you may lie," said the queen, and went her way. But by good luck
the dwarfs returned very early that evening; and when they saw Snow-White
lying on the ground, they thought what had happened, and soon found the
poisoned comb. And when they took it away, she recovered, and told them
all that had passed; and they warned her once more not to open the door to
any one.
Meantime the queen went home to her glass, and trembled with rage when she
received exactly the same answer as before; and she said, "Snow-White
shall die, if it costs me my life." So she went secretly into a chamber,
and prepared a poisoned apple: the outside looked very rosy and tempting,
but whosoever tasted it was sure to die. Then she dressed herself up as a
peasant's wife, and travelled over the hills to the dwarfs' cottage, and
knocked at the door; but Snow-White put her head out of the window, and
said, "I dare not let any one in, for the dwarfs have told me not to." "Do
as you please," said the old woman, "but at any rate take this pretty
apple; I will make you a present of it." "No," said Snow-White, "I dare
not take it." "You silly girl!" answered the other, "what are you afraid
of? do you think it is poisoned? Come! do you eat one part, and I will eat
the other." Now the apple was so prepared that one side was good, though
the other side was poisoned. Then Snow-White was very much tempted to
taste, for the apple looked exceedingly nice; and when she saw the old
woman eat, she could refrain no longer. But she had scarcely put the piece
into her mouth when she fell down dead upon the ground. "This time nothing
will save thee," said the queen; and she went home to her glass, and at
last it said—"Thou, Queen, art the fairest of all the fair." And then her
envious heart was glad, and as happy as such a heart could be.
When evening came, and the dwarfs returned home, they found Snow-White
lying on the ground; no breath passed her lips, and they were afraid that
she was quite dead. They lifted her up, and combed her hair, and washed
her face with wine and water; but all was in vain. So they laid her down
upon a bier, and all seven watched and bewailed her three whole days; and
then they proposed to bury her; but her cheeks were still rosy, and her
face looked just as it did while she was alive; so they said, "We will
never bury her in the cold ground." And they made a coffin of glass so
that they might still look at her, and wrote her name upon it in golden
letters, and that she was a king's daughter. Then the coffin was placed
upon the hill, and one of the dwarfs always sat by it and watched. And the
birds of the air came, too, and bemoaned Snow-White. First of all came an
owl, and then a raven, but at last came a dove.
And thus Snow-White lay for a long, long time, and still only looked as
though she were asleep; for she was even now as white as snow, and as red
as blood, and as black as ebony. At last a prince came and called at the
dwarfs' house; and he saw Snow-White and read what was written in golden
letters. Then he offered the dwarfs money, and earnestly prayed them to
let him take her away; but they said, "We will not part with her for all
the gold in the world." At last, however, they had pity on him, and gave
him the coffin; but the moment he lifted it up to carry it home with him,
the piece of apple fell from between her lips, and Snow-White awoke, and
exclaimed, "Where am I!" And the prince answered, "Thou art safe with me."
Then he told her all that had happened, and said, "I love you better than
all the world; come with me to my father's palace, and you shall be my
wife." Snow-White consented, and went home with the prince; and everything
was prepared with great pomp and splendor for their wedding.
To the feast was invited, among the rest, Snow-White's old enemy, the
queen; and as she was dressing herself in fine, rich clothes, she looked
in the glass and said, "Tell me, glass, tell me true! Of all the ladies in
the land, Who is fairest? tell me who?" And the glass answered, "Thou,
lady, art the loveliest here, I ween; But lovelier far is the new-made
queen."
When she heard this, the queen started with rage; but her envy and
curiosity were so great, that she could not help setting out to see the
bride. And when she arrived, and saw that it was no other than Snow-White,
whom she thought had been dead a long while, she choked with passion, and
fell ill and died; but Snow-White and the prince lived and reigned happily
over that land, many, many years.
END
Dated 1812 CE
From gutenberg.org
Inscribed by etching.net
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