SNOWDROP
Once upon a time, in the middle of winter, when the snowflakes were falling like feathers from the sky, a queen sat sewing at a window framed in black ebony. And as she sat sewing and looking out upon the snow, she pricked her finger with the needle, and three drops of blood fell on the snow outside. Because the red looked so beautiful on the white snow, she thought to herself, “How I should like to have a child as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as the wood of this ebony frame!”
Very soon after this she had a little daughter whose hair was black as ebony, and whose cheeks were red as blood, while her skin was white as snow; so they called her Snowdrop. But not long after her birth the Queen died.
When Snowdrop was a year old the King took another wife. She was a beautiful woman, but so proud and haughty that she could not bear to have any one surpass her in beauty. She had a magic mirror, and when she stood before it gazing at herself, she would say,
“Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is fairest of us all?”
Then the mirror would reply,
“Queen, so beautiful and tall,
Thou art fairest of them all.”
Then she was content, for she knew the mirror always spoke the truth.
But Snowdrop was growing prettier and prettier every day, and when she was seven years old she was so beautiful that she was even fairer than the Queen herself. One day when the Queen asked her mirror the usual question,
“Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is fairest of us all?”
it answered,
“Lady Queen, thou art fairest here,
But Snowdrop is fairer far, ’tis clear.”
Then the Queen was terrified and turned every shade of green in her jealousy. From that hour she hated Snowdrop so bitterly that she was thrown into a secret passion every time she saw her. And every day envy and pride grew up swiftly like evil weeds in her heart, till she had no rest day or night.
At last she sent for a huntsman and said to him: “Take the child out into the wood, and never let me see her again. You are to kill her and bring me her heart as a token that you have done it.”
The huntsman obeyed, and took Snowdrop into the wood; but when he drew out his hunting knife to kill her, she began to weep and said, “O dear huntsman, spare my life; I will run away into the wild forest and never come home again.”
And because she was so beautiful the huntsman took pity on her and said, “Well, run away then, poor child.” For he thought to himself, “The wild beasts will soon devour her.” But yet it seemed as if a stone had been rolled from his heart because he did not have to kill her.
As a young boar came running by just then, he stabbed it, and took the heart to the Queen as proof that Snowdrop was dead. The wicked woman had it cooked in salt and ate it, thinking she had made an end of Snowdrop.
But when the poor child found herself all alone in the great forest, even the trees and their leaves began to seem terrible to her, and she was so frightened that she did not know what to do. She began to run, and ran over the sharp stones and through the brambles, and the wild beasts ran past her, but they did her no harm. She ran as far as her feet would carry her, till it was nearly evening. Then she saw a little house and went into it to rest herself. Everything in the little house was very small, but cleaner and neater than anything you can think of. A small table covered with a white cloth stood ready with seven small plates, and by each plate were a spoon, knife, fork, and cup. Against the wall stood seven little beds, side by side, covered with snow-white counterpanes.
Snowdrop was so hungry and so thirsty that she ate a bit of bread and a little stew from each plate, and drank a drop of wine out of each cup, for she did not wish to take all from one portion. Then feeling very tired she lay down on one of the little beds, but it was not comfortable. She tried them all in turn, but one was too long, another too short, till she came to the seventh, which was just right; so she lay down upon it, said her prayers, and fell asleep.
When it was quite dark the masters of the little house came home. They were seven little dwarfs, who dug and delved in the mountains for ore. They lighted their seven little lamps, and as soon as the room was full of light they saw that some one had been there, for all was not in the same order in which they had left it.
The first said, “Who has been sitting on my chair?”
The second said, “Who has been eating off my plate?”
The third said, “Who has been eating some of my bread?”
The fourth said, “Who has been tasting my stew?”
The fifth said, “Who has been using my fork?”
The sixth said, “Who has been cutting with my knife?”
The seventh said, “Who has been drinking out of my cup?”
Then the first dwarf looked around and saw a little hollow in his bed, and asked, “Who has been lying on my bed?” The others came running up and exclaimed, “And mine! and mine!” But the seventh, when he came to his bed, saw Snowdrop lying there fast asleep. He called the others, who cried out in astonishment and held up their little lamps to see better when they found Snowdrop sleeping there.
“Heavens!” they cried; “what a beautiful child!” and were so pleased that they did not wake her, but let her sleep on in the little bed. The seventh dwarf slept with his companions, one hour in each bed, and so got through the night.
When Snowdrop awoke in the morning and saw the seven little dwarfs, she was frightened. But they were so friendly and asked her name so kindly that she took courage and answered, “I am called Snowdrop.”
“How came you to our house?” they asked.
Then she told them how her stepmother had wanted to have her killed, how the huntsman had spared her life, and how she had run all day until she had found their little house.
The dwarfs talked a little together and then said: “Will you stay and keep house for us,—cook, make the beds, wash, sew, and knit? If you will, then you shall stay with us and want for nothing.”
“Oh, I should love to,” said Snowdrop. So she stayed with them and kept the house in order. Every morning the dwarfs went out into the mountains to dig for gold, and in the evening when they came back Snowdrop had their supper ready. But during the day she was left all alone and the good dwarfs warned her, saying, “Beware of your stepmother. She will soon find out that you are here. Whatever you do, don’t let any one into the house.”
Now the Queen, believing that she had eaten Snowdrop’s heart, had no doubt that she was again the most beautiful woman in the world; so stepping before her mirror one day she said,
“Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is fairest of us all?”
Then the mirror replied,
“Lady Queen, thou art fairest here,
But Snowdrop up in the mountains near,
Who lives with the seven dwarfs, odd and queer,
A thousand times fairer doth appear.”
Then she was startled and angry, for she knew that the mirror always spoke the truth, and she saw that the huntsman must have deceived her, and that Snowdrop was still alive. Once more she pondered day and night how she might destroy Snowdrop, for as long as she herself was not the fairest in all the land her jealous heart gave her no peace. At last she thought of a plan. She stained her face and dressed herself like an old peddler woman, and was so changed that no one could have known her. In this disguise she went over the hills to the home of the seven dwarfs. There she knocked at the door, calling out, “Fine wares to sell! fine wares to sell!”
Snowdrop peeped out of the window and said, “Good day, my good woman, what have you to sell?”
“Good wares, fine wares,” she answered; “bodice laces of all colors,” and she pulled out one that was woven of gay-colored silk.
“Surely I may let this honest woman in,” thought Snowdrop; so she unbarred the door and bought the pretty lace.
“Child, child,” said the old woman, “what a figure you have! Come, let me lace you properly for once.”
Snowdrop had no suspicion, but stood before the woman and let her lace her with the new lace. But the old woman laced her so quickly and so tightly that it took Snowdrop’s breath away, and she fell down as though dead.
“Now you are no longer the fairest,” said the Queen, and she hurried away.
Not long after, toward evening, the seven dwarfs came home and were terribly frightened to see their dear little Snowdrop lying on the floor, still and motionless as if she were dead. They lifted her up, and when they saw how tightly she was laced, they cut the laces in two; then she began to breathe a little and gradually came back to life. When the dwarfs heard what had happened they said: “The old peddler woman was none other than the wicked Queen. Snowdrop, you must take care and let no one in when we are not at home.”
The wicked Queen went straight to her mirror the minute she got home and said,
“Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is fairest of us all?”
Then the mirror answered as before,
“Lady Queen, thou art fairest here,
But Snowdrop up in the mountains near,
Who lives with the seven dwarfs, odd and queer,
A thousand times fairer doth appear.”
When she heard this she turned pale with fright and anger, for she knew that Snowdrop must have come back to life again.
“I will think of some way to make an end of her once for all,” she said to herself.
By means of witchcraft, in which she was skilled, she prepared a poisoned comb. Then she took the form of another old woman. She went over the hills till she came to the house of the seven dwarfs, and knocking at the door she called out, “Wares, fine wares, to sell!”
Snowdrop looked out of the window and said, “Go away; I am not to let any one in.”
“But surely you are allowed to look out,” said the old woman; and she held up the poisoned comb for her to see.
The child was so pleased with it that she let herself be beguiled, and opened the door. When they had settled their bargain the old woman said, “Now I will comb your hair properly for once.”
Poor little Snowdrop had no thought of evil and let the woman do as she pleased, but hardly had she put the comb in the child’s hair when the poison took effect, and she fell down unconscious.
“Well, my beauty, you are really done for now,” said the wicked woman, and she went away.
Fortunately it was near evening, when the seven dwarfs always came home. When they saw Snowdrop lying on the floor as if she were dead, they at once suspected the stepmother had been there again; so they searched till they found the poisoned comb, and as soon as they had drawn it out, Snowdrop came to herself and told them what had happened. Again they warned her to be on her guard and to open the door to no one.
As soon as the Queen got home she went to her mirror and said,
“Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is fairest of us all?”
But the mirror replied as before,
“Lady Queen, thou art fairest here,
But Snowdrop up in the mountains near,
Who lives with the seven dwarfs, odd and queer,
A thousand times fairer doth appear.”
When she heard these words she actually trembled and shook with rage.
Then she went into a secret room, which no one but herself ever entered, and there she prepared a poisoned apple. Outwardly it looked very pretty, with such rosy cheeks that every one who saw it would long to eat it, but any one who ate a piece of it would be sure to die. When the apple was ready she stained her face and dressed herself as a peasant woman, and so she went over the hills to the home of the seven dwarfs. She knocked at the door as usual, but Snowdrop put her head out of the window and said, “I am not to let any one in; the seven dwarfs have forbidden me.”
“It is all the same to me,” answered the woman. “I shall soon get rid of my apples. There, I will give you one.”
“No,” said Snowdrop, “I am not to take anything.”
“Are you afraid of poison?” said the woman. “See, I will cut the apple in two. You eat the red cheek and I will eat the white.”
The apple was so cunningly made that only the red side was poisoned. Snowdrop longed to eat the fine apple, and when she saw that the peasant woman was eating it herself, she could resist no longer, but stretched out her hand and took the poisoned half. But hardly had she touched the first bite to her lips before she fell down dead. Then the cruel Queen looked down on her with fiendish delight, and laughing aloud she cried, “As white as snow, as red as blood, as black as ebony; this time the dwarfs cannot wake you.”
When she got home and asked the mirror,
“Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is fairest of us all?”
it answered at last,
“Queen, so beautiful and tall,
Thou art fairest of them all.”
Then her jealous heart was at rest—at least, as far as a jealous heart can ever be at rest.
When the dwarfs came home in the evening they found Snowdrop lying on the floor, and she neither breathed nor moved. They lifted her up and looked to see if they could find anything poisonous. They unlaced her bodice, washed her with water and wine, but all in vain; the child was dead, and remained dead. Then they laid her on a bier, and the seven dwarfs seated themselves round her, and wept for her, and mourned for three days. They were going to bury her, but she looked so fresh and lifelike and had such pretty color in her cheeks that they said, “We cannot lay her away in the dark ground.”
So they had a transparent coffin made of glass, and they laid her in it, and wrote on the lid in letters of gold her name, and that she was a King’s daughter. Then they put the coffin on the top of the mountain, and one of the dwarfs always stayed by it and kept watch over it. And the birds came, too, and mourned for Snowdrop,—first an owl, then a raven, and last of all a little white dove.
Snowdrop lay a long, long time in the coffin unchanged, looking as if she were asleep; for she was still as white as snow, as red as blood, and her hair as black as ebony.
Now it happened that one day a King’s son came into the wood and went to the dwarfs’ house to spend the night. He saw the coffin on the mountain with beautiful Snowdrop lying in it, and when he had read what was written on the lid in letters of gold, he said to the dwarfs: “Let me have the coffin. I will give you whatever you like for it.”
But the dwarfs said, “No; we would not part with it for all the gold in the world.”
But he replied: “Then give it to me as a gift, for I cannot live without Snowdrop to gaze upon. I will honor and prize it as my dearest possession.”
When he spoke in this way the good dwarfs took pity on him and gave him the coffin, and the Prince had his servants bear it away upon their shoulders. Now it happened that one of them stumbled over a tree stump. This jolted the coffin so sharply that the poisoned piece of apple which Snowdrop had bitten fell out of her throat. Before long she slowly opened her eyes, lifted up the lid of the coffin, and sat up alive once more.
“Oh, dear!” she cried, “where am I?”
The Prince answered joyfully, “You are with me,” and told her all that happened, saying as he finished the story: “I love you better than any one in the world. Will you come with me to my father’s palace and be my wife?”
Snowdrop consented and went with him, and their wedding was celebrated with great state and splendor.
Now Snowdrop’s wicked stepmother was one of those invited to the feast. When she had arrayed herself in beautiful clothes, for the occasion she went to the mirror and said,
“Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is fairest of us all?”
The mirror answered,
“Lady Queen, thou art fairest here,
But the young Queen now at the palace near
A thousand times fairer doth appear.”
Then the wicked woman uttered a curse and was so beside herself with anger and mortification that she did not know what to do. At first she resolved not to go to the wedding at all, but she felt she could have no peace till she had seen the young Queen. When she went in she recognized Snowdrop and stood stock-still with rage and fear. She knew she could not be again the most beautiful woman in the world, and her anger was so great that she fell dead at the feast.