snow white[from a movie]

One day in the middle of winter, when the snowflakes
fell from the sky like feathers, a queen sat at a
window netting. Her netting-needle was of black
ebony, and as she worked, and the snow glittered,
she pricked her finger, and three drops of blood fell
into the snow. The red spots looked so beautiful in the white snow that the queen thought to herself: "Oh, if I
only had a little child, I should like it to be as fair as
snow, as rosy as the red blood, and with hair and
eyes as black as ebony."
Very soon after this the queen had a little daughter
who was very fair, had rosy cheeks, and hair as black as ebony; and they gave her the name of Snow-white.
But at the birth of the little child the queen died.
When Snow-white was a year old, the king took
another wife. She was very handsome, but so proud
and vain that she could not endure that anyone should
surpass her in beauty. She possessed a wonderful mirror, and when she stood before it to look at herself
she would say:
"Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Am I most beautiful of all?"
Then the mirror would reply:
"Young queen, thou are so wondrous fair, None can with thee at all compare."
Then she would go away quite contented, for she
knew the magic mirror could speak only the truth. Years went by, and as Snow-white
grew up, she became day after
day more beautiful, till she reached
the age of seven years, and then
people began to talk about her, and
say that she would be more lovely even than the queen herself. So the
proud woman went to her magic
looking-glass, and asked: "Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Am I most beautiful of all?"
But the mirror answered:
"Queen, thou are lovely still to see,
But Snow-white will be
A thousand times more beautiful than thee." Then the queen was terrified, and turned green and
yellow with jealousy. If she had caught sight of Snow-
white at that moment, she would have been ready to
tear her heart out of her body, she hated the maiden
so fiercely.
And this jealousy and envy grew every day stronger and stronger in her heart, like a disease, till she had
no rest day or night.
At last she sent for a hunter, who lived near a forest,
and said to him, "Hunter, I want to get rid of that child.
Take her out into the wood, and if you bring me some
proofs that she is dead, I will reward you handsomely. Never let her appear before my eyes again."
So the hunter enticed the child into the wood; but
when he took out his hunting-knife to thrust into
Snow-white's innocent heart, she fell on her knees
and wept, and said, "Ah, dear hunter, leave me my
life; I will run away into the wild wood, and never, never come home any more."
She looked so innocent and beautiful as she knelt, that
the hunter's heart was moved with compassion: "Run
away, then, thou poor child," he cried; "I cannot harm
thee."
Snow-white thanked him so sweetly, and was out of sight in a few moments.
"She will be devoured by wild beasts," he said to
himself. But the thought that he had not killed her was
as if a stone-weight had been lifted from his heart.
To satisfy the queen, he took part of the inside of a
young fawn, which the wicked woman thought was poor little Snow-white, and was overjoyed to think
she was dead.
But the poor little motherless child, when she found
herself alone in the wood, and saw nothing but trees
and leaves, was dreadfully frightened, and knew not
what to do. At last she began to run over the sharp stones and through the thorns, and though the wild
beasts sprang out before her, they did her no harm.
She ran on as long as she could till her little feet
became quite sore; and towards evening she saw, to
her great joy, a pretty little house. So she went up to it,
and found the door open and no one at home. It was a tiny little house, but everything in it was so
clean and neat and elegant that it is beyond
description. In the middle of the room stood a small
table, covered with a snow-white table-cloth, ready
for supper. On it were arranged seven little plates,
seven little spoons, seven little knives and forks, and seven mugs. By the wall stood seven little beds, near
each other, covered with white quilts.
Poor Snow-white, who was hungry and thirsty, ate a
few vegetables and a little bread from each plate, and
drank a little drop of wine from each cup, for she did
not like to take all she wanted from one alone. After this, feeling very tired, she thought she would lie
down and rest on one of the beds, but she found it
difficult to choose one to suit her. One was too long,
another too short; so she tried them all till she came to
the seventh, and that was so comfortable that she laid
herself down, and was soon fast asleep. When it was quite dark the masters of the house
came home. They were seven little dwarfs, who dug
and searched in the mountains for minerals. First they
lighted seven little lamps, and as soon as the room
was full of light they saw that some one had been
there, for everything did not stand in the order in which they had left it.
Then said the first, "Who has been sitting in my little
chair?"
The second exclaimed, "Who has been eating from my
little plate?"
The third cried, "Some one has taken part of my bread."
"Who has been eating my vegetables?" said the
fourth.
Then said the fifth, "Some one has used my fork."
The sixth cried, "And who has been cutting with my
knife?" "And some one has been drinking out of my cup," said
the seventh.
Then the eldest looked at his bed, and, seeing that it
looked tumbled, cried out that some one had been
upon it. The others came running forward, and found
all their beds in the same condition. But when the seventh approached his bed, and saw Snow-white
lying there fast asleep, he called the others, who
came quickly, and holding their lights over their
heads, cried out in wonder as they beheld the
sleeping child. "Oh, what a beautiful little child!" they
said to each other, and were so delighted that they would not awaken her, but left her to sleep as long as
she liked in the little bed, while its owner slept with
one of his companions, and so the night passed away.
In the morning, when Snow-white awoke, and saw all
the dwarfs, she was terribly frightened. But they
spoke kindly to her, till she lost all fear, and they asked her name.
"I am called Snow-white," she replied.
"But how came you to our house?" asked one.
Then she related to them all that had happened; how
her stepmother had sent her into the wood with the
hunter, who had spared her life, and that, after wandering about for a whole day, she had found their
house.
The dwarfs talked a little while together, and then one
said, "Do you think you could be our little
housekeeper, to make the beds, cook the dinner, and
wash and sew and knit for us, and keep everything neat and clean and orderly? If you can, then you shall
stay here with us, and nobody shall hurt you."
"Oh yes, I will try," said Snow-white. So they let her
stay, and she was a clever little thing. She managed
very well, and kept the house quite clean and in order.
And while they were gone to the mountains to find gold, she got their supper ready, and they were very
happy together.
But every morning when they left her, the kind little
dwarfs warned Snow-white to be careful. While the
maiden was alone they knew she was in danger, and
told her not to show herself, for her stepmother would soon find out where she was, and said, "Whatever
you do, let nobody into the house while we are gone."
After the wicked queen had proved, as she thought,
that Snow-white was dead, she felt quite satisfied
there was no one in the world now likely to become
so beautiful as herself, so she stepped up to her mirror and asked:
"Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is most beautiful of all?"
To her vexation the mirror replied:
"Fair queen, at home there is none like thee,
But over the mountains is Snow-white free, With seven little dwarfs, who are strange to see;
A thousand times fairer than thou is she."
The queen was furious when she heard this, for she
knew the mirror was truthful, and that the hunter
must have deceived her, and that Snow-white still
lived. So she sat and pondered over these facts, thinking what would be best to do, for as long as she
was not the most beautiful woman in the land, her
jealousy gave her no peace. After a time, she decided
what to do. First, she painted her face, and whitened
her hair; then she dressed herself in old woman's
clothes, and was so disguised that no one could have recognised her.
Watching an opportunity, she left the castle, and took
her way to the wood near the mountains, where the
seven little dwarfs lived. When she reached the door,
she knocked, and cried, "Beautiful goods to sell;
beautiful goods to sell." Snow-white, when she heard it, peeped through the
window, and said, "Good-day, old lady. What have you
in your basket for me to buy?"
"Everything that is pretty," she replied; "laces, and
pearls, and earrings, and bracelets of every colour;"
and she held up her basket, which was lined with glittering silk.
"I can let in this respectable old woman," thought
Snow-white; "she will not harm me." So she unbolted
the door, and told her to come in. Oh, how delighted
Snow-white was with the pretty things; she bought
several trinkets, and a beautiful silk lace for her stays, but she did not see the evil eye of the old woman who
was watching her. Presently she said, "Child, come
here; I will show you how to lace your stays
properly." Snow-white had no suspicion, so she placed
herself before the old woman that she might lace her
stays. But no sooner was the lace in the holes than she began to lace so fast and pull so tight that Snow-
white could not breathe, and presently fell down at
her feet as if dead.
"Now you are beautiful indeed," said the woman, and,
fancying she heard footsteps, she rushed away as
quickly as she could. Not long after, the seven dwarfs came home, and they
were terribly frightened to see dear little Snow-white
lying on the ground without motion, as if she were
dead. They lifted her up, and saw in a moment that
her stays had been laced too tight Quickly they cut the
stay-lace in two, till Snow-white began to breathe a little, and after a time was restored to life. But when
the dwarfs heard what had happened, they said: "That
old market-woman was no other than your wicked
stepmother. Snow-white, you must never again let
anyone in while we are not with you."
The wicked queen when she returned home, after, as she thought, killing Snow-white, went to her looking-
glass and asked:
"Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Am I most beautiful of all?"
Then answered the mirror:
"Queen, thou art not the fairest now; Snow-white over the mountain's brow
A thousand times fairer is than thou."
When she heard this she was so terrified that the
blood rushed to her heart, for she knew that after all
she had done Snow-white was still alive. "I must think
of something else," she said to herself, "to get rid of that odious child."
Now this wicked queen had some knowledge of
witchcraft, and she knew how to poison a comb, so
that whoever used it would fall dead. This the wicked
stepmother soon got ready, and dressing herself
again like an old woman, but quite different from the last, she started off to travel over the mountains to the
dwarfs' cottage.
When Snow-white heard the old cry, "Goods to sell,
fine goods to sell," she looked out of the window and
said:
"Go away, go away; I must not let you in." "Look at this, then," said the woman; "you shall have it
for your own if you like," and she held up before the
child's eyes the bright tortoise-shell comb which she
had poisoned.
Poor Snow-white could not refuse such a present, so
she opened the door and let the woman in, quite forgetting the advice of the dwarfs. After she had
bought a few things, the old woman said, "Let me try
this comb in your hair; it is so fine it will make it
beautifully smooth and glossy."
So Snow-white, thinking no wrong, stood before the
woman to have her hair dressed; but no sooner had the comb touched the roots of her hair than the poison
took effect, and the maiden fell to the ground lifeless.
"You paragon of beauty," said the wicked woman, "all
has just happened as I expected," and then she went
away quickly.
Fortunately evening soon arrived, and the seven dwarfs returned home. When they saw Snow-white
lying dead on the ground, they knew at once that the
stepmother had been there again; but on seeing the
poisoned comb in her hair they pulled it out quickly,
and Snow-white very soon came to herself, and
related all that had passed. Again they warned her not to let anyone enter the
house during their absence, and on no account to
open the door; but Snow-white was not clever enough
to resist her clever wicked stepmother, and she forgot
to obey.
The wicked queen felt sure now that she had really killed Snow-white; so as soon as she returned home
she went to her looking-glass, and inquired:
"Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is most beautiful of all?"
But the mirror replied:
"Queen, thou art the fairest here, But not when Snow-white is near;
Over the mountains still is she,
Fairer a thousand times than thee."
As the looking-glass thus replied, the queen trembled
and quaked with rage. "Snow-white shall die," cried
she, "if it costs me my own life!" Then she went into a lonely forbidden chamber where
no one was allowed to come, and poisoned a beautiful
apple. Outwardly it looked ripe and tempting, of a pale
green with rosy cheeks, so that it made everyone's
mouth water to look at it, but whoever ate even a
small piece must die. As soon as this apple was ready, the wicked queen
painted her face, disguised her hair, dressed herself
as a farmer's wife, and went again over the
mountains to the dwarfs' cottage.
When she knocked at the door, Snow-white stretched
her head out of the window, and said, "I dare not let you in; the seven dwarfs have forbidden me."
"But I am all right," said the farmer's wife. "Stay, I will
show you my apples. Are they not beautiful? let me
make you a present of one."
"No, thank you," cried Snow-white; "I dare not take it."
"What!" cried the woman, "are you afraid it is poisoned? Look here now, I will cut the apple in
halves; you shall have the rosy-cheek side, and I will
eat the other."
The apple was so cleverly made that the red side
alone was poisonous. Snow-white longed so much for
the beautiful fruit as she saw the farmer's wife eat one half that she could not any longer resist, but
stretched out her hand from the window and took the
poisoned half. But no sooner had she taken one
mouthful than she fell on the ground dead.
Then the wicked queen glanced in at the window with
a horrible look in her eye, and laughed aloud as she exclaimed:
"White as snow, red as blood, and black as ebony; this
time the dwarfs will not be able to awake thee."
And as soon as she arrived at home, and asked her
mirror who was the most beautiful in the land, it
replied: "Fair queen, there is none in all the land
So beautiful as thou."
Then had her envious heart rest, at least such rest as
a heart full of envy and malice ever can have.
The little dwarfs, when they came home in the
evening, found poor Snow-white on the ground; but though they lifted her up, there were no signs of
breath from her mouth, and they found she was really
dead. Yet they tried in every way to restore her; they
tried to extract the poison from her lips, they combed
her hair, and washed it with wine and water, but all to
no purpose: the dear child gave no signs of life, and at last they knew she was dead. Then they laid her on a
bier, and the seven dwarfs seated themselves round
her, and wept and mourned for three days. They
would have buried her then, but there was no change
in her appearance; her face was as fresh, and her
cheeks and lips had their usual colour. Then said one, "We cannot lay this beautiful child in the dark, cold
earth."
So they agreed to have a coffin made entirely of glass,
transparent all over, that they might watch for any
signs of decay, and they wrote in letters of gold her
name on the lid, and that she was the daughter of a king. The coffin was placed on the side of the
mountain, and each of them watched it by turns, so
that it was never left alone. And the birds of the air
came near and mourned for Snow-white; first the owl,
then the raven, and at last the dove. Snow-white lay
for a long, long time in the glass coffin, but showed not the least signs of decay. It seemed as if she slept; for
her skin was snow white, her cheeks rosy red, and
her hair black as ebony.
It happened one day that the son of a king, while
riding in the forest, came by chance upon the dwarfs'
house and asked for a night's lodging. As he left the next morning he saw the coffin on the mountain-side,
with beautiful Snow-white lying in it, and read what
was written upon the lid in letters of gold.
Then he said to the dwarfs, "Let me have this coffin,
and I will give you for it whatever you ask."
But the elder dwarf answered, "We would not give it thee for all the gold in the world."
But the prince answered, "Let me have it as a gift,
then. I know not why, but my heart is drawn towards
this beautiful child, and I feel I cannot live without her.
If you will let me have her, she shall be treated with
the greatest honour and respect as one dearly beloved."
As he thus spoke the good little dwarfs were full of
sympathy for him, and gave him the coffin. Then the
prince called his servants, and the coffin was placed
on their shoulders, and they carried it away, followed
by the king's son, who watched it carefully. Now it happened that one of them made a false step and
stumbled. This shook the coffin, and caused the
poisoned piece of apple which Snow-white had bitten
to roll out of her mouth. A little while after she
suddenly opened her eyes, lifted up the coffin-lid,
raised herself and was again alive. "Oh! where am I?" she cried.
Full of joy, the king's son approached her, and said,
"Dear Snow-white, you are safe; you are with me."
Then he related to her all that had happened, and
what the little dwarfs had told him about her, and said
at last, "I love you better than all in the world besides, dear little Snow-white, and you must come with me to
my father's castle and be my wife."
Then was Snow-white taken out of the coffin and
placed in a carriage to travel with the prince, and the
king was so pleased with his son's choice that the
marriage was soon after celebrated with great pomp and magnificence.
Now it happened that the stepmother of Snow-white
was invited, among other guests, to the wedding-
feast. Before she left her house she stood in all her
rich dress before the magic mirror to admire her own
appearance, but she could not help saying; "Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Am I most beautiful of all?"
Then to her surprise the mirror replied:
"Fair queen, thou art the fairest here,
But at the palace, now,
The bride will prove a thousand times More beautiful than thou."
Then the wicked woman uttered a curse, and was so
dreadfully alarmed that she knew not what to do. At
first she declared she would not go to this wedding at
all, but she felt it impossible to rest until she had seen
the bride, so she determined to go. But what was her astonishment and vexation when she recognised in
the young bride Snow-white herself, now grown a
charming young woman, and richly dressed in royal
robes! Her rage and terror were so great that she
stood still and could not move for some minutes. At
last she went into the ballroom, but the slippers she wore were to her as iron bands full of coals of fire, in
which she was obliged to dance. And so in the red,
glowing shoes she continued to dance till she fell dead
on the floor, a sad example of envy and jealousy.