Snow White

Once upon a time, in the middle of winter, with snowflakes falling like feathers from the sky, a queen sat sewing at a window with a black ebony frame. And as she was sewing and looking out at the snow, she pricked her finger with a needle. And three drops of blood fell into the snow. And because the red in the white snow looked so beautiful, she thought to herself, "If I had a child as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as the wood on the frame." Soon she had a little daughter who was as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black-haired as ebony, and was therefore called Snow White. And when the child was born, the queen died.

For over a year the king took another wife. It was a beautiful woman, but she was proud and cocky, and could not stand that she should be surpassed in beauty by anyone. She had a wonderful mirror. When she stood in front of it and looked at herself, she said

"Mirror, mirror on the wall,
who is the most beautiful in all the land?"

This is how the mirror answered:

"Madam Queen, you are the most beautiful in the land."

Then she was satisfied, because she knew that the mirror was telling the truth.
But Snow White grew up and became more and more beautiful. And when she was seven years old, she was as beautiful as the clear day and more beautiful than the queen herself. When she once asked her mirror:

"Mirror, mirror on the wall,
who is the most beautiful in all the land?"

So he answered:

"Madam Queen, you are the most beautiful here,
but Snow White is a thousand times more beautiful than you."

Then the queen was frightened and turned yellow and green with envy. From that hour on, when she saw Snow White, her heart twisted around in her body, so she hated the girl. And envy and arrogance grew like a weed in her heart, so that she had no peace day and night. Then she called a hunter and said: "Take the child out into the forest, I don't want to see it before my eyes anymore. You shall kill it and bring me the lungs and liver for proof." The hunter obeyed and led it out. And when he had drawn the deerstalker and was about to pierce Snow White's innocent heart, she began to cry and said, "alas, dear huntsman, let me live! I will run into the wild forest and never come home again." And because it was so beautiful, the hunter felt sorry for it and said: "Run away, you poor child. "The wild beasts will soon have eaten you," he thought, and yet he felt as if a stone had rolled from his heart because he did not need to kill it. And when just then a young freshling came jumping along, he stabbed it, took out the lungs and liver and brought them back to the queen for proof. The cook had to boil them in salt and the mischievous hag ate them and thought she had eaten Snow White's lungs and liver.

Now the poor child was all alone in the great forest. And he became so afraid that he looked at all the leaves on the trees and didn't know how to help himself. So he started to run and ran over the sharp stones and through the thorns. And the wild animals jumped past it, but they did nothing to it. It ran as long as its feet could carry it. Until the evening. Then he saw a small house and went inside to rest. In the little house everything was small, but so dainty and clean that it cannot be described. There was a white table with seven small plates, each plate with its little spoon, seven little knives and forks, and seven little cups. On the wall, seven little beds were set up next to each other and snow-white sheets were laid over them. Snow White, because she was so hungry and thirsty, ate a little vegetable and bread from each little plate, and drank a drop of wine from each little cup; for she did not want to take everything from one person alone. Afterwards, because it was so tired, it lay down in a little bed. But none fit; one was too long, the other too short, until at last the seventh was right. And in it it remained lying, ordered itself God and fell asleep.

When it had become completely dark, the masters of the little house came. They were the seven dwarfs who were digging and chopping ore in the mountains. They lit their seven little lights, and when it had become light in the little house, they saw that someone had been in it. For not everything was in order as they had left it. The first said, "Who has been sitting on my little chair? The second: "who has eaten from my little plate"? The third: "who has taken from my roll?" The fourth: "who ate from my little vegetable?" The fifth: "who stabbed with my fork?" The sixth: "who has cut with my little knife?" The seventh: "who has drunk from my little cup?" Then the first looked around and saw that there was a little dent in his bed, so he said, "who has kicked my little bed?" The others came running and shouted, "someone has also lain in mine." The seventh, however, when he looked into his bed, saw Snow White. She was lying in it and sleeping. Now he called the others, who came running and screamed in amazement, fetched their seven little lights, and illuminated Snow White. "Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" they cried, "what a beautiful child she is!" and they were so happy that they did not wake her up, but let her sleep on in her little bed. The seventh dwarf, however, slept with his companions, each for an hour, and the night was over.

When it was morning, Snow White woke up and when she saw the seven dwarfs, she was frightened. But they were friendly and asked, "What is your name?" My name is Snow White," he answered. "How did you come to our house?" the dwarfs asked. Then he told them that his stepmother had wanted to kill him, but the huntsman had given him life. And then it would have walked all day until it finally found their little house. The dwarves said: "Will you take care of our household, cook, make our beds, wash, sew and knit? And will you keep everything neat and clean? Then you can stay with us and you shall want for nothing." "Yes," said Snow White: "with all my heart" - and stayed with them. It kept their house in order: in the morning they went into the mountains and searched for ore and gold, in the evening they came back, and there their food had to be ready. During the day the girl was alone. Then the good dwarfs warned her and said: "Beware of your stepmother, she will soon know that you are here; don't let anyone in.

But the queen, after she thought she had eaten Snow White's lungs and liver, thought she was now the first and most beautiful again, stood before her mirror and spoke:

"Mirror, mirror on the wall,
who is the most beautiful in all the land?"

Then the mirror answered:

"Madam Queen, you are the most beautiful here,
but Snow White over the mountains
at the seven dwarfs
is a thousand times more beautiful than you."

Then she was frightened, because she knew that the mirror did not speak an untruth, and realized that the huntsman had deceived her - and Snow White was still alive. And then she pondered and pondered again how she could kill it. For as long as she was not the most beautiful in the whole country, envy left her no peace. And when she had finally thought of something, she dyed her face and dressed like an old shopkeeper, and was completely unrecognizable. In this guise, she went over the seven mountains to the seven dwarfs, knocked on the door, and called out, "beautiful merchandise feil! feil!" Snow White looked out of the window and called out, "good day, dear lady, what have you to sell?". "Good merchandise, beautiful merchandise," she answered. "Lace straps of all colors," and took out one that was woven of colorful silk. "I can let the honest woman in," thought Snow White, unlocking the door and buying the pretty lace strap. "Child," said the old woman, "how you look! Come, let me lace you up properly for once." Snow White was not afraid, stood in front of her and let herself be laced with the new lace. But the old woman laced quickly and laced so tightly that Snow White lost her breath and fell down as if dead. "Now you have been the most beautiful," she said and hurried out.

Not long after, at dinnertime, the seven dwarfs came home. But how frightened they were when they saw their dear Snow White lying on the ground, not moving or moving at all, as if she were dead. They lifted it up, and seeing that it was tied too tightly, they cut the lace in two. Then it began to breathe a little, and gradually came back to life. When the dwarfs heard what had happened, they said: "The old shopkeeper's wife was none other than the godless queen. Beware and let no man enter unless we are with you." But the wicked woman, when she had come home, went before the mirror and asked:

"Mirror, mirror on the wall,
who is the most beautiful in all the land?"

Then he answered as usual:

"Madam Queen, you are the most beautiful here,
but Snow White over the mountains
at the seven dwarfs
is a thousand times more beautiful than you."

When she heard this, all the blood ran to her heart, so she was frightened, for she now knew that Snow White had come to life again. "But now," she said, "I will devise something that will destroy you. And with witchcraft she understood, she made a poisonous comb. Then she disguised herself and took the form of another old woman. So she went over the seven mountains to the seven dwarfs, knocked on the door, and called out: "Good goods for sale! Snow White looked out and said, "Go on, I must not let anyone in." "You are allowed to look at it," said the old woman, pulling out the poisonous comb and holding it aloft. The child liked it so much that she let herself be beguiled and opened the door. When they had agreed on the purchase price, the old woman said, "Now I will comb you properly once." Poor Snow White thought nothing of it and let the old woman have her way. But no sooner had she put the comb into her hair than the poison in it took effect and the girl fell down without thinking. "You paragon of beauty," said the wicked woman, "now it's all over for you," and she went away. Fortunately, it was soon evening and the seven dwarfs returned home. When they saw Snow White lying on the ground as if dead, they immediately suspected the stepmother, searched and found the poisonous comb. And as soon as they had pulled it out, Snow White came to again and told them what had happened. Then they warned her once again to be on her guard and not to open the door to anyone.
The queen stood in front of the mirror at home and spoke:

"Mirror, mirror on the wall,
who is the most beautiful in all the land?"

Then he answered, as before:

"Madam Queen, you are the most beautiful here,
but Snow White over the mountains
at the seven dwarfs
is still a thousand times more beautiful than you."

When she heard the mirror speak thus, she trembled and shook with anger. "Snow White shall die," she cried, "even if it costs my own life." Thereupon she went into a completely hidden lonely chamber, where nobody came, and made there a poisonous poison apple. Outwardly it looked beautiful, white with red cheeks, so that everyone who saw it had a desire for it, but whoever ate a piece of it had to die. When the apple was ready, she dyed her face and disguised herself as a farmer's wife. So she went over the seven mountains to the seven dwarfs. She knocked on the door, Snow White stuck her head out of the window, and said, "I can't let anyone in, the seven dwarfs have forbidden me." "That's all right with me," replied the farmer's wife, "I'll get rid of my apples. Here, I will give you one." "No," said Snow White, "I must not accept anything." "Are you afraid of poison?" said the old woman. "You see, there I cut the apple in two - the red cheek you eat, the white I will eat." But the apple was so artificially made that the red cheek alone was poisoned. Snow White was very tempted by the beautiful apple and when she saw the farmer's wife eating it, she could resist no longer, reached out her hand and took the poisonous half. But as soon as it had a bite of it in its mouth, it fell dead to the ground. Then it looked at the queen with ghastly eyes and laughed out loud, saying: "White as snow, red as blood, black as ebony! This time the dwarves cannot awaken you again." And when she asked the mirror at home,

Mirror, mirror on the wall,
who is the most beautiful in all the land?"

Sso he finally answered:

"Madam Queen, you are the most beautiful in the land."

Then her envious heart had rest, as well as an envious heart can have rest.
The dwarves, when they came home in the evening, found Snow White lying on the ground and no breath was coming out of his mouth. And it was dead. They picked him up, looked for something poisonous, untied him, combed his hair, washed him with water and wine, but it was no use. The dear child was dead and remained dead. They laid him on a bier and sat down all seven of them and wept for him - and wept for three days. Then they wanted to bury it. But it still looked as fresh as a living person, and still had its beautiful red cheeks. They said, "We cannot bury it in the black earth," and had a transparent coffin made of glass so that it could be seen from all sides. They put it inside and wrote its name on it in golden letters. And that it was a king's daughter. Then they put the coffin out on the mountain and one of them always stayed to guard it. And the animals also came and wept for Snow White. First an owl, then a raven, and finally a little dove.

Now Snow White lay in the coffin for a long time and did not decompose, but looked as if she were asleep. For she was still as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black-haired as ebony. But it happened that a king's son got into the forest and came to the dwarf's house to spend the night there. He saw the coffin on the mountain and the beautiful Snow White in it and read what was written on it in golden letters. Then he said to the dwarves, "let me have the coffin, and I will give you what you want for it." But the dwarves answered, "we will not give it for all the gold in the world." Then he said, "give it to me, for I cannot live without seeing Snow White. I will honor and esteem it as my dearest." As he spoke, the good dwarfs felt compassion for him and gave him the coffin. The king's son had his servants carry it away on their shoulders. Then it happened that they stumbled over a bush, and from the shaking the poisonous apple piece, which Snow White had bitten off, came out of her throat. And not long after, it opened its eyes, lifted the lid of the coffin and straightened up. And it was alive again. "Oh God, where am I?" it cried. The king's son said with joy: "You are with me", and told what had happened and said: "I love you more than anything in the world. Come with me to my father's castle, you shall become my wife." Then Snow White was good to him and went with him. And their wedding was arranged with great pomp and glory.

But Snow White's godless stepmother was also invited to the feast. As she had dressed herself in beautiful clothes, she stood in front of the mirror and spoke:

"Mirror, mirror on the wall,
who is the most beautiful in all the land?"

The mirror replied:

"Madam Queen, you are the most beautiful here,
but the young queen is a thousand times more beautiful than you."

Then the wicked woman uttered a curse, and she became so frightened that she knew neither the way in nor out. That is why she did not want to come to the wedding at first. But she had no peace, she had to go and see the young queen. And as she entered, Snow White recognized her. And in fear and horror she stood there and could not move. Iron slippers had already been placed over coal fires and were carried in with tongs and placed in front of her. There she had to slip into the red-hot shoes and dance until she fell dead to the ground.