Fairytale : Snow Drop

It was the middle of winter, when the broad flakes of snow were  falling around, that the  queen  of a country many thousand miles off sat working at her window. The frame of the window was made of fine black ebony, and as she sat looking out upon the snow, she pricked her finger, and three  drops of blood  fell upon  it.  Then  she  gazed thoughtfully upon the red drops that sprinkled the white snow, and said, ‘Would that my little daughter may be as white as that snow, as red as that blood, and as black as this ebony windowframe!’ And so the little girl really did grow up; her skin was as white as snow, her cheeks as rosy as the blood, and her hair as black as ebony; and she was called Snowdrop.

But this queen died; and the king soon married another wife,  who  became queen, and was very beautiful, but so vain that she could not bear to think that anyone could be handsomer than she was. She had a fairy looking-glass, to which  she used to  go,  and  then  she would  gaze upon herself in it, and say:


’Tell me, glass, tell me true! Of all the ladies in the land, Who is fairest, tell me, who?’

And the glass had always answered:
’Thou, queen, art the fairest in all the land.’

But Snowdrop  grew  more  and  more  beautiful; and when she was seven years old she was as bright as the day, and fairer than the  queen herself. Then the glass one day answered the queen, when she went to look in it as usual:
’Thou, queen, art fair, and beauteous to see, But Snowdrop is lovelier far than thee!’

When she heard this she turned  pale with  rage and envy,  and  called to one of her servants, and said, ‘Take Snowdrop away into the wide wood, that I may never see her any more.’ Then  the  servant led her away; but  his heart melted when  Snowdrop begged  him  to  spare her life, and he said, ‘I will not hurt you, thou pretty  child.’ So he left her by herself; and though he thought it most likely that the wild beasts would tear her in pieces, he felt as if a great weight were taken off his heart when he had made up his mind not  to kill her but to leave her to her fate, with the chance of someone finding and saving her.
Then  poor  Snowdrop  wandered  along  through  the wood in  great fear; and the wild beasts roared about her,


but none did her any harm. In the evening she came to a cottage among the hills, and went in to rest, for her little feet would carry  her no further. Everything was  spruce and neat in the cottage: on  the table was spread a white cloth, and there were seven little plates, seven little loaves, and  seven little  glasses with  wine  in  them;  and  seven knives and forks laid in order; and by the wall stood seven little  beds. As she was very hungry,  she picked a little piece of each loaf and drank a very little wine out of each glass; and after that  she thought she would lie down and rest. So she tried all the little beds; but one was too long, and another was too short, till at last  the seventh suited her: and there she laid herself down and went to sleep.
By and by in came the masters of the cottage. Now they  were   seven  little  dwarfs,  that  lived  among  the mountains, and dug  and  searched for gold. They lighted up their seven lamps, and saw  at once that all was not right. The first said, ‘Who has been sitting  on my stool?’ The  second, ‘Who  has been  eating off my plate?’  The third,  ‘Who  has been  picking my  bread?’ The  fourth,
‘Who  has been  meddling  with  my  spoon?’ The  fifth,
‘Who has been handling my fork?’ The sixth, ‘Who has been cutting with my knife?’ The seventh, ‘Who has been drinking my wine?’ Then the first looked round and said,


‘Who has been  lying on  my  bed?’ And  the  rest came running  to  him, and everyone cried out  that somebody had been upon his  bed. But the seventh saw Snowdrop, and called all his brethren to  come and see her; and they cried out with wonder and astonishment and brought their lamps to  look at her,  and said, ‘Good heavens!  what a lovely child she is!’ And they were very glad to see her, and took care not to wake her; and the seventh dwarf slept an hour  with  each of the  other  dwarfs in turn,  till the night was gone.
In the morning Snowdrop told them all her story; and they  pitied  her, and said if she would keep all things in order, and cook and wash and knit and spin for them, she might stay where she was, and they would take good care of her. Then  they went out all day  long to their work, seeking  for   gold   and   silver  in   the   mountains:  but Snowdrop was left at home;  and they warned her,  and said, ‘The queen will soon find out where you are, so take care and let no one in.’
But the queen, now that she thought  Snowdrop was dead, believed that she must be the handsomest lady in the land; and she went to her glass and said:


’Tell me, glass, tell me true! Of all the ladies in the land, Who is fairest, tell me, who?’

And the glass answered:
’Thou, queen, art the fairest in all this land: But over the hills, in the greenwood shade,
Where the seven dwarfs their dwelling have made, There Snowdrop is hiding her head; and she
Is lovelier far, O queen! than thee.’

Then  the  queen  was very much  frightened; for  she knew  that  the glass always spoke the truth, and was sure that the servant had betrayed her. And she could not bear to think that anyone lived  who was more beautiful than she was; so she dressed herself  up as  an old pedlar, and went her way over the hills, to the place where the dwarfs dwelt. Then  she knocked at the  door,  and cried, ‘Fine wares to sell!’ Snowdrop looked out at the window, and said, ‘Good  day, good woman! what have you to  sell?’
‘Good wares, fine wares,’ said she; ‘laces and bobbins of all colours.’ ‘I will let the old lady in; she seems to be a very good sort of body,’  thought Snowdrop, as she ran down and unbolted the door. ‘Bless  me!’ said the old woman,
‘how badly your stays are laced! Let me lace them up with one of  my  nice new laces.’ Snowdrop did not dream of any mischief; so she stood before the old woman; but she


set to work so nimbly, and pulled the lace so tight, that Snowdrop’s breath was stopped, and she fell down as if she were dead. ‘There’s an  end  to  all thy beauty,’ said the spiteful queen, and went away home.
In the  evening the  seven dwarfs came home;  and I need not  say how grieved they were to see their faithful Snowdrop stretched  out upon  the ground, as  if she was quite dead. However, they  lifted  her up, and when they found what ailed her, they cut the lace; and in a little time she began to breathe, and very soon came to life  again. Then  they said, ‘The old woman was the queen herself; take  care another time, and let no one in when we are away.’
When the queen got home, she went straight to her glass, and spoke to it as before; but to her great grief it still said:
’Thou, queen, art the fairest in all this land: But over the hills, in the greenwood shade,
Where the seven dwarfs their dwelling have made, There Snowdrop is hiding her head; and she
Is lovelier far, O queen! than thee.’

Then the blood ran cold in her heart with spite and malice, to  see that Snowdrop still lived; and she dressed herself up again, but  in  quite another dress from the one