Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young queen. Her favourite pastimes were sewing, leisure and conversations with her magic mirror, which would loudly praise her beauty as soon as she stood in front of it. On a snowy winter day, the queen sat sewing at the palace window, which was framed in most exquisite black ebony wood. She watched the snowflakes falling, got distracted and accidentally pricked her finger with her needle. Three drops of blood fell into the snow, and the red and white and black were so stunning a combination of colour that the queen wished for a child, a daughter with snow white skin, blood red lips and ebony black hair.
And her wish was granted. Soon afterwards the young queen had a child, a daughter as beautiful as she had wanted, with blood red lips and snow white skin and ebony black hair. The child was therefore called Snow White.
Now every morning the queen stood in front of the mirror and asked:
"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who in this land is fairest of all?"
And the mirror always replied:
"You, my queen, are fairest of all."
Which humoured the queen a great deal, no doubt. She was one vain and lazy woman; had she been in possession of but a little more self-esteem, a little more certainty that she had some other thing to show than her beauty, had she at least been gifted with some artistic talent - and the impending catastrophe could well have been averted. But alas, she had nothing, or so she thought, and that's pretty much the same when it comes to consequences.
Meanwhile Snow White grew up, became a dazzling, merry girl, and soon her beauty surpassed even the queen's gorgeous looks. One day the queen asked her mirror her usual question. But the reply that came was shocking:
"You, my queen, are fair, it is true. But little Snow White is still a thousand times fairer than you."
The queen could not believe her ears. She asked the same question the next day, and the day after that, but the mirror's answer was always the same: Snow White is more beautiful - MORE BEAUTIFUL than her own mother. And not just a bit more, o no - she was supposed to be "a thousand times fairer". That was especially hard to bear. The queen could not understand how her daughter could have so suddenly become so much more fair that herself. Could she, the queen, have put on weight without noticing that subtle women's trap? She took to exercising and eating nothing but light salads, and soon succeeded in becoming even slimmer than she was, but to no avail. The mirror's judgement was relentless.
Since that day, the queen developed a deep-felt hatred of her daughter. She cursed that winter day when she had wished for a beautiful child. Oh, if she only could absorb that insolent young life back into herself and get her beauty back! For the queen started to believe that Snow White's beauty was in fact her own; that she had unwittingly passed it on by wishing for the daughter's gorgeous skin, and lips, and hair. There was, after all, only so much beauty in the world to pass around, the queen thought, and what one woman gets, another must therefore lose. But she would get her own back, she would... And so one frosty winter day the queen summoned a huntsman and said to him, "Take Snow White out into the woods and kill her. As proof of her death you shall bring me her liver and her heart."
The huntsman took Snow White into the woods to do what he was ordered to. Those were still the times when royal orders were mostly followed to the letter. But when he took out his knife to slay her, she cried and begged for mercy. She promised to run away into the woods and never to return to court. The huntsman had not liked the murderous order in the first place, and he thought, "The wild animals will soon get her anyway, or she will freeze to death. I really don't need to burden my poor soul with needless murder." He left the girl alone, killed a doe and brought its heart and liver to the queen. She took them, cooked them and ate them, supposing that she had eaten Snow White's heart and liver. Now, the queen supposed, she would certainly get her beauty back.
Meanwhile Snow White, alone and afraid in the great, cold forest, began to run, then walk, then stumble tiredly over stones and fallen trees. Finally, just before sunset, she came to a neat house in the woods, under a great grey mountain's shadow. The house belonged to seven dwarfs who lived there and mined the mountain's depths for ore and precious stones. The dwarfs were yet at work. Snow White went inside - in a desolate wood the dwarfs had never needed to lock their door - and found a set table with seven plates, seven spoons, seven knives and forks, seven mugs, and in another room there were seven freshly made beds, all a bit small for adult men, but very much okay for dwarfs. Snow White was hungry, thirsty and cold, so she ate something from each plate, and from each mug she drank a drop of wine. She was too tired to stay awake, climbed into one of the beds and fell asleep.
The seven dwarfs returned home from work and saw that someone had been in their house.
The first one said, "Who has been sitting in my chair?"
The second one, "Who has been eating from my plate?"
The third one, "Who has been eating my bread?"
The fourth one, "Who has been eating my vegetables?"
The fifth one, "Who has been using my fork?"
The sixth one, "Who has been cutting with my knife?"
The seventh one, "Who has been drinking from my mug?"
Then the first one said, "Who is lying in my bed?" There was Snow White, fast asleep. The seven dwarfs looked at her face and cried out with deep amazement. She was too beautiful to behold! They took much care not wake her up. The first dwarf spent the rest of the night on the floor.
In the morning Snow White told the seven dwarfs how her mother had ordered her dead and how she had wandered the woods to end up at their house. The dwarfs pitied her. Hers was a beauty to kill for. They liked her very much and said, "If you will keep house for us, you can stay here. We will provide you everything you want. All day we spend digging for gold and stones in the mine; we'll make you bracelets of purest mountain gold and diadems of rubies and sapphires. Just watch out for the queen, and do not let anyone in while we are gone to work."
So Snow White began to live with the seven dwarfs, who were very much happy with this arrangement. She kept the house well enough and had learned to cook quite tolerable suppers, but more importantly - she was a real princess, and of unparalleled beauty. The dwarfs provided her with everything they promised. They were masterful smiths, makers of jewellry and art; now they finally had someone to make those splendid things for. And they made her a magic mirror of crystal and chalcedony; and every time they presented her with a new piece of jewellry, she stood before the mirror and asked:
"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who in this land is fairest of all?"
"You, Snow White, are the fairest of all," - the mirror replied.
The queen, however, soon knew that Snow White was still alive, for she had waited several weeks - for Snow White's heart and liver to be properly digested, and for her beauty to become her mother's once again, - and asked: "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who in this land is fairest of all?" "You, my queen, are fair; it is true, - the mirror said, - but Little Snow White under the mountain with the seven dwarfs is a thousand times fairer than you."
So the queen decided to take the matter into her own hands. After all, she had always suspected that in order to get anything done properly, you have to do it all yourself. She poisoned one half of a ripe apple, magically disguised herself as an old peddler woman and went to the seven dwarfs' house. She knocked on the door.
"I'm not allowed to let anyone in!" - said Snow White.
"But I have interesting things for sale!" said the queen.
"What are you selling?" asked Snow White, peering out of the window.
"Silks, my child, and ivory combs, and fine bodice laces," said the queen. "And also plums, and apricots, and red and golden apples!"
And Snow White forgot all about the danger. "It's just an old peddler woman, - she thought, - a friendy stranger." She let her mother in and bargained for silks and combs and bodice laces. She tried them on one after another and looked in her magic mirror, and smiled at her reflection. The queen watched her with a friendly face and said: "You are so fair, child! You must be the most beautiful girl of this land! Here, have an apple!"
"Thanks, but I can't accept anything, - said Snow White. - It might be dangerous. And the dwarfs don't want me to."
"Ah, but it's just an apple, - the queen replied. - If you are afraid I'll cut it in two and eat a half, and you can have another half." And she cut the apple in two, ate the safe half and gave Snow White the poisoned one. Barely had Snow White bitten into it - and she fell to the ground, dead. The queen sat there and smiled. Then she cast off the peddler woman's look and asked the mirror on the wall:
"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who in this land is fairest of all?"
"You, my queen, are the fairest of all," - the mirror replied.
The queen went home, happy.
That evening, the dwarfs discovered their beloved Snow White lying on the floor. She seemed asleep but would not wake. They knew that she had died. They cried and cried. They wanted to bury her, but soon they saw that her body remained fresh. "It is a miracle, - they said. - A miracle of unstained beauty." And they dressed her in a bridal gown, placed her inside a coffin made of mountain glass and hung the coffin up on golden chains in a deep cave.
Several years later, a prince of the neighbouring country passed beside that cave. Coming from the cave he saw a twinkling light. He went inside and saw a beautiful young bride in a glass coffin, with hair as black as ebony, lips red as blood, and skin as white as snow. He could not take his eyes off her. That moment the prince had a notion that his life's love, the princess of his dreams, the epithome of all innocence and beauty was before him, inside a coffin made of mountain glass. He ordered his guards to take the coffin down. He intended to take it and its precious content to his palace so that he never would have to take his eyes off her for long. But the guards were clumsy, and the coffin fell down. The piece of the poisoned apple came out of Snow White's throat, and she came back to life.
The queen, Snow White's mother, soon got an invitation to a neighbouring prince's wedding. Before the journey she stepped before her mirror - just to be sure that she, and no one else, would be the most beautiful woman at the wedding ball - and asked:
"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who in this land is fairest of all?"
And the mirror answered:
"You, my queen, are fair; it is true. But the young prince's bride is a thousand times fairer than you."
The queen was terrified. At first she did not want to go to the wedding, but curiosity got the better of her, and she went. When she arrived she saw that her rival was Snow White, her supposedly dead daughter. The spirit had come back to life to haunt the queen once more. She did not show her shock and powerless rage. All day and night Snow White's mother danced at her worst enemy's wedding, and she felt as if she was dancing in red-hot iron shoes. When she came home, she undertook a last and desperate attempt to gain her beauty back. She took a diet and lost pound after pound, all to no avail: day after day, the mirror was relentless in its judgement. The queen starved herself to death.
The prince, Snow White's loving husband, was told the whole story. He did not care much about his wife opening doors to dangerous witches. But this was a new life, in which Snow White was a prince's wife and would one day become a queen. She did not need to open any doors, the palace guards would do such things for her. She also had special servants who tasted all her food for poison. Snow White and her prince began to lead a happy life. She took to spending her leisure hours at the palace window, sewing and looking at the mountains and the grace of falling snow. She often consulted the mirror made for her by the seven dwarfs, which always told her that she was the most beautiful woman in that land. She soon started to wish for a daughter, a little princess with snow white skin, blood red lips and ebony black hair. At first, the prince did not like the mirror and wanted to get rid of it somehow, but Snow White soon became pregnant, and he completely forgot the thing.