Once there was a Queen. She was sitting at the window. There was snow
outside in the garden snow on the hill and in the lane, snow on the
hunts and on the trees all things were white with snow. The Queen was
making a coat for a little child. She said, "I want my child to be white
as this cloth, white as the snow. And I shall call her Snow white."
Some days after that the Queen had a child. The child was white as
snow. The Queen called her Snow white. But the Queen was very ill,
and after some days she died. Snow white lived, and was a very happy
and beautiful child. One year after that, the King married another Queen.
The new Queen was very beautiful; but she was not a good woman.
A wizard had given this Queen a glass. The glass could speak. It was on
the wall in the Queen's room. Every day the queen looked in the glass
to see how beautiful she was. As she looked in the glass, she asked: "Tell
me, glass upon the wall, who is most beautiful of all?" And the glass
spoke and said: "The Queen is most beautiful of all." Year went by.
Snow white grew up and became a little girl. every day the Queen looked
in the glass and said, "Tell me, glass upon the wall, who is most
beautiful of all?" And the glass said, "Snow white is most beautiful
of all." When the Queen heard this, she was very angry. She said,
"Snow-white is not more beautiful than I am. There is no one who is more
beautiful than I am." Then the Queen sat on her bed and cried. After one
hour the Queen went out of her room. She called one of the servants, and
said, "Take Snow-white into the forest and kill her." The servant took
Snow white to the forest, but he did not kill her, because she was so
beautiful and so good. He said, "I shall not kill you; but do not go to
the King's house, because the Queen is angry and she will see you. If the
Queen sees you, she will make some other man kill you. Wait here in the
forest; some friends will help you." Then he went away. Poor Snow white
sat at the foot of a tree and cried. Then she saw that night was coming.
She said, "I will not cry. I will find some house where I can sleep
tonight. I cannot wait here: the bears will eat me."
She went far into the forest. Then she saw a little hut. She opened the
door of the hut, and went in. In the hut she saw seven little beds.
There was a table, and on the table there were seven little loaves and
seven little glasses. She ate one of the loaves. Then she said, "I want
some water to drink." So she drank some water out of one of the glasses.
Then she fell asleep on one of the seven little beds. The hut was the
home of seven Little Men. When it was night, the seven Little Men came
to the hut. Each Little Man had a big beard, and a little blue coat. Each
Little Man came into the hut, and took his little lamp. Then each Little
Man sat down, and ate his little loaf, and drank his little glass of
water. But one Little Man said, "Someone has eaten my little loaf." And
another Little Man said, "Someone has drunk my little glass of water."
Then the seven Little Men went to bed, but one Little Man said,
"Someone is sleeping on my little bed." All the seven Little Men came
to look at Snow white as she slept on the Little Men's bed. They said,
"She is very beautiful." Snow white awoke, and saw the seven Little
Men with their big beards standing near her bed. She was afraid.
The Little men said, "Do not be afraid. We are your friends.
Tell us how you came here." Snow white said, "I will tell you."
Then she told them her story. They said, "Do not be afraid.
Live here with us. But see that the door shut when we are not in the
house with you. Do not go out. If you go out, the bad Queen will
find you. Then she will know that you are not dead, and will tell
someone to kill you." So Snow white lived in the hut with the seven
Little Men. After some days Snow white went into the garden.
One of the Queen's servants was going through the forest, and
he saw her. He went and told the Queen, "Snow white is in a hut
in the forest." The Queen was very angry when she heard that
Snow white was not dead. The Queen took an apple. She made
a hole in the red side of the apple, and put some powder into the
hole. Then she put on old clothes and went to the hut. She called,
"Is any one there?" Snow white opened the door, and came out to
her. The Queen said, "I have some pretty apples. Eat one of my
pretty apples." Snow white took the apple and said, "Is it good?"
The Queen said, "See, I will eat this white side of the apple;
you eat the red side. Then you will know that it is good."
Snow white ate the red side of the apple. When the powder was in
her mouth, she fell down dead. The Queen went back to her house.
She went into her room. she looked into the glass and said, "Tell me,
glass upon the wall, who is most beautiful of all?" The glass said,
"The Queen is most beautiful of all." Then the Queen know that
Snow white was dead. The Little Men came back to the hut. When
they saw that Snow white was dead, the poor Little Men cried.
Then they put Snow white in a box made of glass. They took the
glass box to a hill and put it there, and said, "Everyone who goes
by will see how beautiful she was." Then each Little Man put one
white flower on the box, and they went away. Just as they were
going away, a Prince came by. He saw the glass box and said,
"What is that?" Then he saw Snow white in the box. He said,
"She was very beautiful: but do not put her there. There is a hall in
the garden of my father's house. It is all made of white stone.
We will take the glass box and put it in the hall of beautiful white
stone." The Little Men said, "Take her." Then the Prince told his
servants to take up the box. They took up the box. Just then one
of the servants fell down. The box fell, and Snow white fell with
the box. The bit of apple fell out of her mouth: she awoke, and
sat up, and said, "Where am I?" The Prince said, "You are with me.
I never saw anyone as beautiful as you. Come with me and be my
Queen." The Prince married Snow white, and she became his Queen.
A man went and told this to the bad Queen. When she heard it she
was so angry that she fell down dead. Snow white lived and was very
happy ever after. And the Little Men came to see her every year.