Snow White

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful queen who lived in a big castle.

One winter day, she was sitting by her window, sewing with a needle.

She looked out at the snow falling on the black trees.

Suddenly, she hurt her finger with the needle, and three drops of red blood fell on the white snow.

"I wish I had a daughter with skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as night," she said quietly.

Soon after, the queen had a baby girl.

The little princess had skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as night.

The queen named her Snow White, but sadly, the queen died when Snow White was still very young.

The king married again.

His new wife was very beautiful, but she was also very proud and mean.

She had a magic mirror that could talk.

Every morning, she looked in the mirror and asked, "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the most beautiful of all?"

The mirror always answered, "You are the most beautiful, my queen."

This made the new queen very happy.

She loved to hear these words every day.

Snow White grew up to be more and more beautiful.

When she was sixteen years old, something changed.

One morning, the queen asked her usual question to the mirror.

"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the most beautiful of all?"

But this time, the mirror gave a different answer.

"You are beautiful, my queen, but Snow White is more beautiful than you."

The queen became very angry.

Her face turned red, and her heart filled with hate.

She could not stand the idea that someone else was more beautiful than her.

The queen called a hunter to come to the castle.

"Take Snow White into the forest," she ordered.

"Kill her and bring me back her heart as proof."

The hunter was a good man, but he was afraid of the queen.

He took Snow White deep into the dark forest.

Snow White did not know what was happening.

She thought they were just going for a walk.

When they were far from the castle, the hunter stopped.

He looked at Snow White's kind face and could not hurt her.

"Princess," he said sadly, "the queen wants me to kill you because she is jealous of your beauty."

"But I cannot do this terrible thing. You must run away and never come back to the castle."

Snow White was very scared.

"Where can I go?" she asked.

"Run deep into the forest," the hunter said.

"Find somewhere safe to hide."

The hunter killed a wild animal and took its heart back to the queen.

He told her it was Snow White's heart.

The evil queen was very pleased.

Snow White ran through the forest for hours.

The trees were tall and dark.

Strange sounds came from behind the bushes.

She was very frightened and tired.

Just when she thought she could not run anymore, she saw a small house in a clearing.

The house was very small and neat.

Everything was tiny but very clean.

There were seven small plates on the table, seven small cups, seven small knives and forks, and seven small beds in a row.

Snow White was very hungry and thirsty.

She ate a little food from each plate and drank a little water from each cup.

Then she was so tired that she lay down across three of the small beds and fell asleep.

When evening came, the owners of the house returned.

They were seven little men who worked in the mountains, digging for gold and silver.

They were very surprised to find someone in their house.

"Someone has been eating our food!" said the first dwarf.

"Someone has been drinking from our cups!" said the second dwarf.

"Someone is sleeping in our beds!" said the seventh dwarf.

They gathered around Snow White with their candles.

She looked so peaceful sleeping there.

"She is very beautiful," whispered one dwarf.

"Let her sleep," said another.

"We will talk to her in the morning."

When Snow White woke up, she saw seven little men looking at her kindly.

She was not afraid because their faces were friendly.

"Who are you?" asked the oldest dwarf.

"And why are you in our house?"

Snow White told them her sad story.

The dwarfs felt very sorry for her.

"You can stay with us," said the oldest dwarf.

"But you must help us. You can cook, clean, wash, and sew. In return, we will protect you."

Snow White was very happy.

"Thank you so much," she said.

"I will work hard and take good care of your house."

So Snow White stayed with the seven dwarfs.

Every day, they went to work in the mountains, and she cleaned the house, cooked their meals, and mended their clothes.

In the evening, they came home and told her stories about their work.

She was much happier than she had ever been at the castle.

Meanwhile, the evil queen thought Snow White was dead.

Every morning, she asked her mirror, "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the most beautiful of all?"

For many months, the mirror answered, "You are the most beautiful, my queen."

But one day, the mirror told the truth again.

"You are beautiful, my queen, but Snow White is still more beautiful than you. She lives with seven dwarfs in the forest."

The queen was furious.

She realized that the hunter had lied to her.

"I must kill Snow White myself," she said angrily.

The queen was very clever.

She knew magic, so she made herself look like an old woman.

She put on old clothes and made her face look wrinkled and ugly.

Then she filled a basket with beautiful things to sell and went into the forest.

She walked until she found the dwarfs' house.

Snow White was alone, as the dwarfs were at work.

"Beautiful things for sale!" called the old woman.

"Pretty ribbons and laces!"

Snow White looked out of the window.

The old woman seemed harmless, so she opened the door.

"What pretty ribbons!" Snow White said.

"I would like to buy the red one."

"Let me tie it around your waist," said the disguised queen.

"It will make you look even more beautiful."

But the evil queen tied the ribbon so tightly that Snow White could not breathe.

She fell to the ground, unable to speak or move.

The old woman quickly left.

She thought Snow White was dead.

When the seven dwarfs came home that evening, they found Snow White lying on the floor.

They saw the ribbon tied too tightly around her waist.

"This ribbon is too tight!" said one dwarf.

Quickly, they cut the ribbon with a knife.

Snow White began to breathe again.

Slowly, she opened her eyes and sat up.

"What happened?" asked the dwarfs.

Snow White told them about the old woman and the ribbon.

"That was not an old woman," said the oldest dwarf.

"That was the evil queen in disguise. You must never open the door to strangers again."

Snow White promised to be more careful.

The next morning, the queen asked her mirror again, "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the most beautiful of all?"

"Snow White is still the most beautiful," replied the mirror.

The queen was even more angry.

She decided to try again.

This time, she disguised herself as a different old woman.

She made a beautiful comb, but she put poison on it.

Again, she went to the dwarfs' house when they were at work.

"Beautiful combs for sale!" she called.

Snow White remembered what the dwarfs had said, so she spoke through the closed door.

"I cannot let anyone in. The seven dwarfs told me not to."

"You don't need to let me in," said the disguised queen.

"Just open the window, and I will show you this beautiful comb."

Snow White opened the window.

The comb was so beautiful that she wanted it very much.

"Let me put it in your hair," said the old woman.

"It will make your hair look lovely."

Snow White let the woman put the comb in her hair.

But as soon as the poisoned comb touched her head, Snow White fell down unconscious.

"Now you will die," said the evil queen, and she hurried away.

Luckily, it was almost evening, and the dwarfs came home early.

They found Snow White lying on the floor again.

"What happened this time?" they asked each other.

They looked at Snow White carefully and saw the beautiful comb in her hair.

"This comb is poisoned!" said one dwarf.

They carefully removed the comb from her hair.

Soon, Snow White woke up and felt better.

"You must promise never to take anything from strangers," said the oldest dwarf.

"The queen is very dangerous."

Snow White promised again.

When the queen asked her mirror the next morning, it gave the same answer.

"Snow White is still the most beautiful."

Now the queen was so angry that she shook with rage.

"I will kill her myself, even if it costs me my life!" she screamed.

She went to a secret room in her castle where she kept her most powerful magic.

She made a beautiful apple that was red on one side and white on the other.

The red side looked delicious, but it was full of deadly poison.

The white side was safe to eat.

Once again, she disguised herself as an old woman and went to the forest.

"Fresh apples for sale!" she called outside the dwarfs' house.

Snow White looked out of the window but did not open it.

"I cannot buy anything," she said.

"The seven dwarfs told me not to."

"I understand," said the disguised queen.

"But I will give you this apple as a gift. Look how beautiful it is!"

She held up the apple.

It was the most beautiful apple Snow White had ever seen.

"I cannot take gifts from strangers either," Snow White said.

"You think it is poisoned?" laughed the old woman.

"Look, I will eat half of it myself."

The clever queen ate the white side of the apple, which was safe.

"See? It is perfectly good. Now you can eat the other half."

Snow White thought it must be safe if the old woman ate part of it.

She reached out and took the apple.

As soon as she bit into the red, poisoned side, Snow White fell down as if she were dead.

"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the most beautiful of all?" laughed the evil queen.

This time she knew that Snow White was truly dead.

The queen hurried back to her castle.

When she asked her mirror again, it finally said, "You are the most beautiful, my queen."

When the seven dwarfs came home, they found Snow White on the floor.

They tried everything to wake her up.

They cut her clothes to help her breathe, they washed her face with water, they looked for poison combs or tight ribbons, but nothing worked.

Snow White looked as if she were sleeping peacefully, but she did not wake up.

The dwarfs cried and cried.

They loved Snow White like a daughter.

"We cannot bury her in the dark ground," said one dwarf.

"She is too beautiful."

So they made a glass coffin and put Snow White inside.

They wrote her name on the coffin in golden letters: "Snow White, A King's Daughter."

They carried the coffin to the top of a mountain and took turns watching over it.

Many animals came to visit Snow White and cry for her - first the owls, then the ravens, and finally the doves.

Snow White lay in the glass coffin for a long, long time.

She did not change at all.

She still looked as if she were just sleeping, with skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as night.

One day, a prince was riding through the forest.

He saw the glass coffin on the mountain and read the golden letters.

When he saw how beautiful Snow White was, he fell in love with her immediately.

"Please let me buy this coffin," he said to the dwarfs.

"I will give you anything you want for it."

"We would not sell it for all the gold in the world," said the dwarfs.

"We love her too much."

"Then please give it to me as a gift," said the prince.

"I cannot live without seeing her beautiful face every day."

"I will honor her and care for her always."

The dwarfs felt sorry for the prince.

They could see that he truly loved Snow White.

"You may take her," said the oldest dwarf.

"But you must promise to take good care of her."

The prince's servants carefully lifted the glass coffin to carry it to his castle.

But as they walked down the mountain, one servant tripped on a root.

The coffin shook hard, and the piece of poisoned apple fell out of Snow White's mouth.

Immediately, Snow White opened her eyes and sat up in the coffin.

"Where am I?" she asked, looking around in wonder.

"You are safe with me," said the prince joyfully.

"I am Prince William, and I love you with all my heart."

"Will you come to my castle and be my wife?"

Snow White looked at the kind prince and felt her heart fill with happiness.

"Yes," she said. "I will marry you."

The seven dwarfs were so happy to see Snow White alive again.

They danced and sang with joy.

Snow White and Prince William had a beautiful wedding.

They invited everyone in the kingdom, including the seven dwarfs, who sat at the high table as honored guests.

The evil queen was also invited to the wedding, but she did not know it was Snow White's wedding.

When she asked her mirror that morning, "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the most beautiful of all?" it replied, "You are beautiful here, but the new queen is more beautiful than you."

The queen was furious, but she was also curious.

She decided to go to the wedding to see this new queen.

When she arrived at the castle and saw that the bride was Snow White, she became so angry and shocked that she could not move or speak.

Her heart was so full of evil and jealousy that it stopped beating, and she fell down dead.

Snow White and Prince William lived happily ever after in their castle.

The seven dwarfs visited them often, and Snow White never forgot their kindness.

They all lived long, happy lives, and Snow White was never jealous or mean to anyone.

The magic mirror was broken, and no one ever needed to ask who was the most beautiful again, because everyone knew that true beauty comes from having a kind and loving heart.