Once upon a time there was a queen. It was the middle of winter. The queen loved to look at the white landscape and sighed, “Oh if only I had a child, white as snow, red as blood and hair as black as ebony.
A year later, the queen’s wish came true. She had a baby with ebony black hair, skin as white as snow and lips as red as blood. The queen named her Snow White.
The same year the queen died. The king married a new woman not much later. It was a beautiful woman, but she was very concerned about being the most beautiful person. She had a miraculous mirror, which she constantly asked the same question:
‘Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the most beautiful of them all?’
The mirror answered again and again, ‘It is you Lady Majesty, you are the most beautiful of them all’
DThe queen knew that the mirror was telling the truth. But one day when she asked her mirror for the umpteenth time who was the most beautiful, it replied: ‘Queen, as always, very beautiful you are, but it is Snow White, who is a thousand times more beautiful now!’ The queen turned green with jealousy, because the mirror only spoke the truth. Furious, she ordered a hunter to lure Snow White into the forest to kill her. He also had to take her heart to the palace as evidence.
The hunter took Snow White into the forest. When he pointed his arrow at her, she begged him not to kill her. The hunter couldn’t go through with it. She was so enchantingly beautiful and so young. He killed a deer and gave the animal’s heart to the queen.
Snow White knew she could not go home again. She fled far into the forest until she came to a cottage. The table was set with seven plates and seven cups. Snow White was hungry and took something from a plate and drank from a cup. There she saw seven beds lined up in a row. She pushed the beds together and fell asleep.
Seven dwarfs came home from work that night. ‘Who sat on my little chair?” asked the first dwarf. ‘Who ate from my plate?” asked the second dwarf. Then they saw Snow White lying there. ‘Ah what a sweet girl, and how beautiful she is!’ whispered all seven of them.
‘My name is Snow White,’ she said the next morning and told the story of the hunter. ‘Stay with us! If you take care of the household, we’ll make sure you’re well cared for,’ said the oldest dwarf. Snow White stayed. During the day she was alone, so the dwarfs asked her to be careful.
Meanwhile, the queen asked the mirror who was the most beautiful. To her shock, the mirror replied: ‘Oh queen, you are the most beautiful in this land! But Snow White is a thousand times more beautiful, there over the mountains, with the dwarves.’ The queen was outraged. Snow White was still alive! She devised a ruse. Dressed as an old peasant woman, she knocked on the window of the dwarves’ house. Snow White carefully opened the window.
‘Hello dear girl,’ said the peasant woman, ‘I have some delicious apples here. Would you like to taste one?’ Snow White replied, ‘Actually, I’m not allowed to talk to strangers, but tasting an apple won’t hurt. Thank you ma’am! After taking a bite of the apple, she dropped dead.
The dwarfs were shocked when they found Snow White. Because it looked like she was sleeping, the dwarfs put her in a glass coffin.
One day, a prince appeared in the forest. Super infatuated with Snow White, he asked the dwarfs if he could take her with him. This moved the dwarves so they allowed it. When moving the glass coffin, the piece of apple shot out of Snow White’s throat. She opened her eyes and saw the handsome prince.
What happened to the stepmother next is still a mystery. Some say she turned into a statue; it’s not entirely clear. In any case, it is true that Snow White never had to worry about her again.
The prince and Snow White married and lived happily ever after.