Snow White: the full story
Part One · The Mirror
One snowy winter day, a queen sat sewing by a window with a black wooden frame. She pricked her finger, and three drops of blood fell on the snow outside. The red looked so lovely on the white that she sighed. "I wish I had a daughter as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as the wood of this window." Soon she had a little girl, and they named her Snow White. Some time later, the king took a new wife.
The new queen was beautiful, but she was also proud, and she could not bear for anyone to be lovelier than she was. She owned a magic mirror, and every morning she stood in front of it and asked, "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" As long as the mirror answered, "You, my queen, are the fairest in the land," she was satisfied, because the mirror always told the truth.
But Snow White grew up, and every year she grew more lovely. By the time she was seven, she was as bright as the day, and fairer than the queen herself. One morning, the mirror answered, "My queen, you are fair, it is true. But Snow White is a thousand times fairer than you." The queen turned yellow and green with jealousy, and from that hour she could hardly look at the girl without feeling cold inside.
At last, the queen could stand it no longer. She called for a huntsman. "Take the child deep into the forest, and do not bring her back." But when they were far among the trees, Snow White began to cry. "Please, dear huntsman, let me go! I will run into the wild wood, and I will never come home again." She was so young and so lovely that the huntsman felt sorry for her. "Run away, then, poor child," he said.
Part Two · The Little House
The huntsman went home with a lighter heart and told the queen that the deed was done. Snow White was left all alone in the great forest, and she was frightened. She ran over sharp stones and through brambles, while wild animals leaped past her, but none of them hurt her. She ran as long as her feet could carry her, and just as evening came, she saw a little house.
Everything in the little house was small, but it was tidy and clean. On the table, covered with a white cloth, were seven little plates, with seven little spoons and seven little cups. Along the wall stood seven little beds. Snow White was so hungry and thirsty that she ate a little from each plate and took a sip from each cup. Then she tried all the beds, and the seventh was just right. She lay down and fell fast asleep.
When it grew dark, the owners of the house came home. They were seven dwarfs, who spent every day digging for gold in the mountains. They lit their seven little candles, and they saw at once that someone had been there. "Who has been sitting in my chair?" said the first. "Who has been eating from my plate?" said the second. Each one asked a question of his own, until the seventh looked at his bed.
"Look!" he whispered. "A little girl is sleeping in my bed!" All seven crowded around with their candles. "Goodness, what a lovely child!" they cried, and they were so glad that they let her sleep all night. In the morning, Snow White woke up and was frightened at first. But the dwarfs were friendly, and they asked her name and how she had come to their house. She told them everything.
"If you will keep our house for us," they said. "Cook for us, make the beds, wash and sew, and keep everything neat. Then you may stay with us, and you will not want for anything." Snow White said yes with all her heart. "But beware of your stepmother," they warned her. "She will soon find out that you are here. Do not open the door to anyone."
Part Three · The Three Visits
Meanwhile, the queen stood in front of her mirror. "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" The mirror answered, "My queen, you are fair, it is true. But over the seven hills, with the seven little men, Snow White is a thousand times fairer than you." The queen was horrified, because she knew the mirror never lied. So she wrapped herself in old clothes and went over the seven hills in disguise.
She knocked at the door of the little house and called, "Pretty laces for sale! Come and see!" Snow White peeked out of the window. "Good day, good woman, what do you have?" "Laces in every color," said the old woman. Snow White thought there could be no harm in a kind old woman, so she opened the door. But the old woman laced her up so tight that she could not breathe, and Snow White fell to the floor as if she were asleep.
When the dwarfs came home that night, they cut the laces, and Snow White woke up. "That old woman was the queen," they said. "Do not let anyone in again!" But when the queen asked her mirror, she learned that Snow White was still alive, and she was angrier than ever. This time she made a comb with a spell of sleep on it.
She went to the little house in a different disguise. Snow White said, "I may not let anyone in." "But you may look at it, surely," said the woman. The comb was so pretty that Snow White opened the door, and the moment the comb touched her hair, she fell down. Again the dwarfs came home in time, and they pulled out the comb, and she woke up.
The third time, the queen shut herself in a secret room and made an apple. It was the finest apple anyone had ever seen, white on one side and rosy red on the other. Whoever ate the red half would fall into a deep, deep sleep. She dressed as a farmer's wife and went over the seven hills one more time, and she knocked on the window of the little house.
"I cannot let anyone in," said Snow White. "The seven little men have forbidden it." "Then I will leave this apple as a gift," said the woman. "Look, I will cut it in two. You take the red half, and I will eat the white." Snow White's mouth watered, because the woman ate her half and seemed to be quite all right. She took one bite of the red half, and at once she fell down.
"White as snow, red as blood, black as wood!" the queen said, laughing. "This time the dwarfs cannot wake you." She hurried home, and when she asked her mirror, it told her, "You, my queen, are the fairest of all." So her jealous heart was at rest, at least for a little while, and she did not once think of the poor girl in the little house.
Part Four · The Glass Coffin
When the dwarfs came home that evening, they found Snow White lying on the floor. They lifted her up and loosened her laces. They combed her hair and washed her face with water and wine, but nothing helped. She lay still, with pink cheeks, as if she were only sleeping. The dwarfs wept for three days. They could not bear to bury her in the dark ground, so they made a coffin of glass and wrote her name on the lid in gold.
They carried the glass coffin to the top of a mountain, and one of the dwarfs always stayed beside it. Birds came to weep for Snow White, first an owl, then a raven, and last of all a little dove. For a long, long time, she lay in the coffin and did not change at all. She was as white as snow, as red as blood, and her hair was as black as ebony wood.
One day, a prince came wandering through the forest and stopped at the dwarfs' house to spend the night. On the mountain, he saw the glass coffin and the lovely girl inside it, and he read the gold letters. "Please let me have this coffin," he said to the dwarfs. "I will give you anything you like." "We would not sell it for all the gold in the world," they answered.
"Then give it to me," said the prince, "because I cannot live without looking at her. I will take care of her as if she were my own dear friend." The good dwarfs felt sorry for him, and they gave him the coffin. The prince's servants lifted it onto their shoulders and carried it down the mountain. On the way, they stumbled over a tree stump, and the coffin gave a great jolt.
The piece of apple that was stuck in Snow White's throat flew out of her mouth. All at once she opened her eyes, pushed up the lid and sat up. "Oh dear," she said, "where am I?" "You are with me," said the prince joyfully. He told her everything that had happened, and he said, "Come with me to my father's castle, and be my wife."
Snow White was glad to go with him, and the wedding was planned with great splendor. The wicked queen was invited too. When she put on her best gown, she stood before her mirror and asked, "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" The mirror answered, "My queen, you are fair, it is true. But the young queen is a thousand times fairer than you."
The queen was so furious and so frightened that she turned and ran out of the kingdom, and no one ever saw her again. Snow White and her prince were married, and the seven dwarfs came down from the mountain to the wedding. They all lived happily for the rest of their days, and the little house in the woods was never empty of friends.