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