In a great kingdom, a queen was sitting at the window of a castle, embroidering. It was winter and snowflakes were flying outside. The winter landscape was beautiful, and the queen opened her window and looked out. For a moment she forgot that she was holding a needle and pricked her finger as she leaned out of the window.
A drop of blood fell on the window frame. The queen smiled and thought, “If only I had a daughter who had black hair like the ebony frame of the window, white skin like the snow that covers the frame, and red lips like the drop of blood that fell.”
The queen’s wish was soon fulfilled, and the girl she had dreamed of was born. She was named Snow White. However, the Queen didn’t live a long life, and Snow White was soon a motherless child. Her royal father, however, did not want to be left alone to take care of her, so he found a new wife in a short time. The new queen, Snow White’s stepmother, was beautiful, but there was no goodness of heart to speak of. She was only interested in the admiration of the people around her, beautiful clothes and expensive jewels.
Reassuring of her courtiers of her infinite beauty was not enough. She came from a family that had always cultivated witchcraft and magic, especially the evil kind. Her family possession, the only one she brought to the castle, was a magic mirror. She asked it the same question every day:
“Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” And the mirror always answered truthfully, “My lady, I look around the land, but I see no greater beauty than you.”
This was the answer for many years, but in the meantime Snow White was growing in beauty. One day, as always, the queen asked the mirror her question: “Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” And the mirror, as always, answered truthfully, “My lady, though you are as beautiful as a dream, Snow White is more beautiful.”
For a moment, the queen’s beautiful features turned frightening. Her face wrinkled with anger. No, the queen was not a woman who would put up with being less beautiful than a younger girl, even if she was her stepdaughter. She wandered the chambers for days, not wanting to see anyone, thinking only of how to see Snow White out of the world. And she finally figured it out. She asked a young hunter who was bringing game to the castle kitchen to drag Snow White deep into the woods, cut out her heart and bring it to the Queen. She didn’t choose the hunter by accident. He had long been a devoted admirer of the Queen and her beauty.
So soon the hunter, accompanied by Snow White, went into the forest and led her deeper and deeper. But when he was about to perform that deed, he realized he couldn’t do it. Looking into Snow White’s innocent eyes, he was unable to do so. “You must never return to the castle again, or the Queen will dispose of you in another way,” he warned Snow White. “Go in that direction until you come to the house where the dwarves live. Tell them what is threatening you in the castle. I’m sure they’ll let you spend the night at their house.”
Snow White soon found the house. It was empty, but it was clear that someone lived there. There were seven beds and seven bowls on the table. Snow White tidied up the house and cooked a meal. Late in the afternoon, seven little men arrived: Doc, Happy, Sneezy, Bashful, Sleepy, Grumpy and Dopey. When they found out that there was an uninvited visitor in their house, they were prepared to deal with him. But Snow White immediately softened them with her smile and the dinner she had prepared. After hearing her story, the dwarves made no objection to her staying with them. On the contrary, they were glad for such beautiful and good-hearted company.
Meanwhile, the hunter had returned to the castle. Instead of Snow White, he killed a young doe for the royal kitchen. But he cut out the heart and gave it for the Queen as proof that Snow White was no longer among the living. The smile finally returned to the Queen’s face. It was a wicked smile, as the Queen rejoiced at Snow White’s supposed death. So now she’s the most beautiful again. She sat proudly in front of the mirror and asked it who was the fairiest now. What the mirror said made her angry. It mentioned Snow White again.
The queen struck the hunter as hard as possible. She finally managed to make him confess that he had not killed Snow White and where he had sent her. The Queen had the hunter put in prison. It was clear to her that if she wanted to get rid of her stepdaughter, she would have to do it herself. After much thought, she decided to prepare something worse than death for her. She cast a powerful spell on the apple, and a bite was all it took for the curse to plunge Snow White into an eternal sleep.
The queen disguised herself as an old woman and, armed with the apple and her devious plans, set off into the heart of the forest where Snow White was supposed to live. She walked all night, but at last she saw the roof of the house peeking through the forest. Cautiously, she crept closer. She saw the door open and seven dwarves emerge from it. They were carrying pickaxes and heading for the rocks. Behind them came Snow White, who waved and wished them good luck with their digging. Then she went back inside.
But a moment later the Snowwhite heard a knock at the door. When she opened it, she saw an old woman. The disguised queen pretended she needed to be shown the way. Snow White gave her advice, and the queen gave her an apple as a reward. “Just take a bite, girl. You’ll be even more beautiful after such a good apple,” she croaked. The guileless Snowwhite did not suspect any danger. If the dwarves would have been here, they would have chased the old woman! So Snow White bit into the apple with delight. At that moment, a piece of the apple got stuck in her throat and Snow White fell asleep. It was so deep that nothing could wake her. So deep that she could not perceive anything that was happening around her. The Evil Queen made her triumphant way back to the castle.
In a few hours the dwarves returned from their regular mining. They found Snow White sleeping, but they couldn’t wake her up. The ever-cheerful dwarves were in a daze. It was clear to them that some evil spell was at work here, but they didn’t know what they could do to break it. For days they tried everything they had ever heard of, but Snow White would not wake up. Finally, they put her in a glass coffin. They put it in front of the cottage so that the sunlight would shine on Snow White’s beautiful face every day. The days passed one by one and Snow White was still sleeping. But one day a prince passed by the dwarf’s cottage. He saw a glass coffin and a girl sleeping in it. He came closer and couldn’t believe how someone could be so beautiful. He opened the lid of the coffin and tried to wake the beauty. But to no avail. He looked at her and realized that he had fallen in love with her at first sight. He didn’t know how long he’d been staring at her when he heard a rustling sound. It was the dwarves returning. They told the prince how Snow White was and that nothing in the world could wake her up. So the unhappy prince kissed her at least good-bye on her beautiful red lips.
The kiss of love, however, broke the evil spell! Snow White gasped and spat out a piece of apple. There was no end to the happiness at the dwarf’s cottage. The prince asked Snow White to marry him and she agreed. The dwarves did not object to such a groom, and even Rejpal was happy about it.
Later that day, the queen sat down in front of her mirror with a proud expression, eager to hear who was the fairest of all. And she got her answer from the mirror:
“My lady, though you are as beautiful as a dream, Snow White is more beautiful.” And the mirror showed the queen Snow White in the arms of a handsome prince. For a long time, the queen had been consumed with anger and envy. Snow White’s happiness, which she had failed to destroy, was the proverbial last straw. Her heart broke with rage.
But Snow White, whose heart knew nothing but kindness, would have a long and happy life by the prince’s side
