Якоб Гримм - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs / Белоснежка и семь гномов

“Oh Grumpy, you can’t go without bidding me goodbye!”

Grumpy was ready to rush out, but Snow White stopped him and planted a big kiss on his forehead. Grumpy forgot to scowl and smiled instead. Snow White clapped her hands.

“Why Grumpy, you are smiling! How nice you look!”

Grumpy hastily wiped the smile off his face and rushed off.

While Snow White was bidding farewell to the dwarfs, the Queen was hiding behind a tree. She watched the dwarfs leave with their sacks, picks and shovels. When they were out of sight, she went to the window and looked in. She could hear Snow White singing as she worked. She had become really beautiful. The Queen felt very jealous.

She knocked at the window. Snow White peeped out.

“What do you want?” she asked, without opening the window.

“Oh, I don’t want anything. I picked these fresh, juicy apples this morning. I was passing by and when I saw you through the window, I wanted to give one to you because you are so beautiful.”

“But I don’t want any! Please forgive me.”

“Please don’t refuse a poor pedlar woman. Also, it is very cold out here. Let me in to warm myself just for a little while. What harm can I do?”

Snow White felt sorry for her. She looked at her torn and tattered clothes. The old woman looked very poor. ‘What harm can such a woman do to me?’ she thought. So she opened the door and invited her into the cottage. She pulled a comfortable chair before the fireplace and helped her to sit down.

The old pedlar woman warmed her hands in front of the fire.

“Thank you, my dear!”

Snow White looked at the basket of apples and exclaimed, “What lovely apples you have there!”

“They are delicious, dear. You must take this one. It is the juiciest one.”

“Oh no, I cannot!”

“Why?”

Then Snow White told her about the warning that the dwarfs had given her.

“You see,” she said, “they are afraid that the cruel Queen will try to kill me.”

The old woman cackled and said, “That is all rubbish! How can the Queen come here? You would recognise her, wouldn’t you?”

“But she’s a witch! She can change herself and then I will not recognise her.”

“Say what you will, but I’m certainly not the Queen. Me, an old pedlar woman, a Queen!” exclaimed the woman, and cackled loud and long. “Look, child, I’ll take a bite from this apple, the juiciest one. If nothing happens to me, you can surely eat the rest. You have been so kind to me. I will not harm you.”

So Snow White watched the pedlar woman take a bite of the apple and eat it up. She watched and waited. The woman smiled a toothless smile and said, “See, dear, no harm has come to me, so now you can eat the rest of the apple. It’s really sweet and juicy.”

Snow White’s forest friends had been anxiously watching. They did not like the old woman. Was she really a pedlar woman or was she the wicked Queen, they wondered. The birds chirped loudly and fluttered at her face, but she beat them away.

“Off with you, you stupid birds!” she cried at them.

When Snow White stretched out her hand and took the apple, her forest friends were terrified. The birds tried to stop her from eating the apple. They fluttered on her hands and face, but the old woman drove them away. They flew back to the trees. They had failed!

The apple looked so delicious that Snow White ate it. The next moment, before she could even finish eating the apple, she fell down as though dead.

Her forest friends watched in horror. They were very frightened and went off to the mountains. When they found the dwarfs, the birds chirped loudly and fluttered their wings, making a great deal of noise. The animals tried to pull and push the dwarfs.

“Something must have happened to Snow White,” said Bashful.

“It must be the wicked stepmother,” said Sleepy. “She really is a witch. She must have disguised herself and harmed Snow White. I wonder what she has done.”

They picked up their sacks, picks and shovels and hurried back to their cottage.

The Queen cackled in glee when she saw that her plan had worked. She picked up her basket of apples and began to leave. Suddenly, she heard loud thunder and saw a flash of lightning light up the sky. Black clouds filled the sky and heavy rain began to fall.

“I must leave before the dwarfs come back,” she said to herself, and set off as fast as she could. But the dwarfs had seen her and screamed, “There she is! Let’s go after her!”

They chased her through the forest for a long distance. The rain was falling heavily, but they did not slow down. They ran on till they came to a rocky place. There were large boulders everywhere, scattered all over a steep slope.

The frightened pedlar woman leaped up the boulders and reached the top. She watched the dwarfs climbing up after her. She was at the top of the hill. Suddenly, she lost her footing and slipped on one of the boulders. She went tumbling down the hillside. The boulders rolled over her and crushed her to death.

The dwarfs rushed home. They were horrified to find Snow White on the floor. They gathered around her. Doc got some water and sprinkled it on her face. They all tried to revive her but she lay still, her eyes closed. The dwarfs wept bitterly.

“She’s dead,” Doc told them.

“She looks so beautiful,” said Sneezy, “we will not bury her. We will place her in a glass coffin and carry it to the forest, so that anyone who passes can see her and admire her beautiful face.”

So they placed her in a glass coffin, put many flowers around her and carried the coffin into the forest. They put it under a large tree and kept watch over it by turns, day and night.

One day, a handsome young Prince came riding through the forest. He stopped when he saw the glass coffin and got off his horse to look at the beautiful girl inside. He knelt down and lifted the lid of the coffin. He had never seen such a lovely girl before. He fell in love with her instantly.

“Can I take her to my castle?” he asked the dwarfs.

“No, we cannot allow you to do that,” replied the dwarfs. They loved Snow White dearly and did not want her to be carried away.

“Can I at least kiss her? Please!”

The dwarfs liked the young Prince, so they agreed to let him kiss her.

He bent down and kissed her. At once, Snow White opened her eyes and stretched herself, as if she had merely been sleeping all this while.

“She’s alive! She’s alive!” shouted the dwarfs in joy.

Snow White looked at the Prince and smiled at him. The dwarfs cheered and danced in delight.

The Prince gently lifted her out of the coffin. Snow White was overjoyed to see the seven dwarfs around her. Their faces lit up with happiness. Even Grumpy was smiling!