swstory

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

Long, long ago, in the winter-time, when the snowflakes were falling like little white feathers form the sky a beautiful Queen sat beside her window, which was framed in black ebony, and stitched. As she worked, she looked sometimes at the falling snow, and so it happened that she pricked her finger with her needle, so that three drops of blood fell upon the snow. How pretty the red blood looked upon the dazzling white! The Queen said to herself as she saw it, "Ah me! If inly I had a dear little child as white as the snow, as rosy as the blood, and with hair as black as the ebony window frame."

The Original Version

Soon afterwards a little daughter came to her, who was white as snow, rosy as the blood, and whose hair was as black as ebony -- so she called her Little Snow-White. A year later, the Queen passed away and the King took another wife. She was very beautiful, but so proud and haughty that she could not bear to be surpassed in beauty to anyone. She possessed a wonderful mirror which could answer her when she stood before it and said, "Mirror, mirror upon the wall. Who is the fairest of all?"

The mirror answered, "Thou, O Queen, art the fairest of all," and the Queen was contented, because she knew that the mirror could speak nothing but the truth.

But as time passed on, Little Snow-White grew more and more beautiful, until when she was seven years old, she was as lovely as the bright day, and still more lovely than the Queen herself, so that the lady one day asked her mirror, "Mirror, mirror upon the wall. Who is the fairest of all?"

The mirror answered, "O Lady Queen, though fair ye be, Snow-White is fairer far to see."

The Queen was horrified, and from that moment envy and pride grew in her heart like rank weeds, until one day she called a hustman and said, "Take the child away into the woods and kill her, for I can no longer bear the sight of her. And when you return bring with you her heart, that I may know you have obeyed my will."

The huntsman dared not disobey, so she led Snow-White out into the woods and placed an arrow in his bow to pierce her innocent heart, but the little maid begged him to spare her life, and the child's beauty touched his heart wit pity so that he bade her run away.

Then as a young wild boar came rushing by, he killed it, took out its heart, and carried it home to the Queen.

Poor little Snow-White was now all alone in the wild wood, and so frightened was she that she trembled at every leaf that rustled. So she began to run, and ran on and on until she came to a little house, where she went in to rest. In the little house everything she saw was tiny, but more dainty and clean than words can tell.

Upon a white-covreed table stood seven little plates and upon each plate lay a little spoon, besides which there were seven knives and forks and seven little goblets. Against the wall, and side by side, stood seven little beds covered with snow-white sheets.

Snow-White was so hungry and thirsty that she took a little food from each of the seven plates, and drank a few drops of wine from each goblet, for she did not want to take everything away from one.

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