In the depth of winter, when great feathery flakes were whirling everywhere in the sky, a queen sat by a palace window sewing for her little daughter. The cold wind swept the snow in through the casement, and many flakes fell upon the ebony windowsill. As she looked out, her needle slipped and pricked her finger; three bright drops of blood fell upon the snow that had blown in.
She gazed thoughtfully at the crimson on the whiteness, then at the ebony sill, and said,“Would that my little daughter’s skin were white as this snow and flushed with this blood, and that her hair were black and shining like this ebony!”
Her little girl grew and grew—fresh and lovely, beloved by all. Her skin was indeed as white as snow, with a rosy bloom like blood, and her hair shone black as polished ebony. So the queen named her Snow White.
But before Snow White came of age, her mother the queen died.
Not long after, the king married again. The new queen was very beautiful, but proud and haughty, and her jealousy was fierce，if ever she heard that anyone surpassed her beauty, she could not endure it. She owned a magic mirror and would often stand before it and ask:
“Mirror, mirror, tell me true:
Among all women beneath this roof, who is fairest?
Tell me—who?”
And the mirror would answer,“It is you, O Queen! You are the fairest here.”
Hearing this, she would smile, well content.
But Snow White grew and flourished, more radiant each day.
By the time she was seven, she shone brighter than a spring morning and was lovelier than the queen herself.
So one day, when the queen asked her mirror as usual, it answered:
“Fair you are and fair you be,
But Snow White is fairer yet than thee!”
At these words, rage and jealousy filled the queen; her face turned pale. She summoned a servant and said, “Take Snow White into the deep forest. I never want to set eyes on her again.”
He led the child away. There in the forest, as he was about to kill her, she wept and begged for mercy. Moved by pity for the dear, helpless princess, the servant said, “You are a child whom all would love; I will not harm you.”
He left her alone in the great wilderness.
Though he knew the wild beasts might tear her to pieces, the stone upon his heart was lighter for not having killed her himself.
When he was gone, Snow White wandered, terrified, through the forest, seeking a way out.
The wild beasts roared around her, but none harmed her.
At evening she came upon a little cottage.
Finding no one at home, she pushed the door open to rest, for she was utterly spent.
Inside, all was neat and in perfect order. A table stood covered with a white cloth; upon it were set seven little plates, each with a piece of bread and other food, and beside them seven little glasses filled with wine, and seven knives and forks; against the wall stood seven little beds in a row.
Hungry and thirsty, and not stopping to wonder whose they were, she cut a morsel from each piece of bread, and sipped a little wine from each glass.
Then, weary, she tried the beds—this one too long, that one too short—
until she came to the seventh, which suited her; there she lay down and soon fell fast asleep.
Before long the owners returned—seven dwarfs who mined for gold in the mountains.Lighting their seven lamps, they at once noticed that someone had been in the house.
The first said, “Who has been sitting in my chair?” The second, “Who has been eating from my plate?” The third, “Who has been eating my bread?” The fourth, “Who has been using my spoon?” The fifth, “Who has been using my fork?” The sixth, “Who has been using my little knife?” The seventh, “Who has been drinking my wine?”
The first then looked round, went to the beds, and cried, “Who has been lying in my bed?” The others came running and cried out too, for each saw his bed had been disturbed. The seventh dwarf found Snow White asleep upon his bed. They brought their lamps and gazed at her for a long time. “Heavens! What a lovely child!” they whispered.
Fearing to wake her, they stood watch over her tenderly. That night, the seventh dwarf took turns with the others, each sleeping an hour, to pass the night.
In the morning, Snow White awoke and, seeing seven dwarfs around her, started with fright. But they spoke kindly and asked, “What is your name?” Looking at their honest faces and warm eyes, she answered, “My name is Snow White.”
“How came you to our house?” they asked. So she told them all that had befallen her. They pitied her and said, “If you will keep house for us—cook, make the beds, wash, spin, and mend— you may stay here, and we will care for you.” “Gladly,” said Snow White.
From then on the seven dwarfs went daily to the mountains for gold and silver,
and Snow White stayed at home doing the housework.
They warned her,
“The queen will soon learn where you are. Do not let anyone in.”
The servant returned and reported, and the queen believed Snow White dead.
Thinking herself now the fairest in the land, she stood before the mirror and said:
“Mirror, mirror, tell me true:
“Mirror, mirror, tell me true:
In all the land, who is fairest—who?”
Tell me—who?”
The mirror replied:
“You are fair, O Queen, ’tis clear—
The fairest in this place, I swear.
Yet over the mountains,
in shadowed green,
In a cottage by seven dwarfs unseen,
Snow White lies hidden from your ken
Oh, Queen!
And she is fairer far again.”
The queen started, for the mirror never lied.
The servant had deceived her; Snow White lived.
She could not endure that anyone more beautiful than she should draw breath.
So she disguised herself as a peddler-woman, climbed the mountains, and came to the dwarfs’ cottage. Knocking, she cried, “Fine wares to sell! Good wares!” Snow White peeped from the window and said, “Good day, good mother! What do you sell?” “Pretty things, the prettiest things—laces and colored threads,” said the old woman. Snow White thought, She does not look wicked; I will let her in. She opened the door. “Ah! What a wretched bodice-string,” clucked the crone. “Come, let me lace you properly.”
Never dreaming of danger, Snow White stood before her. The old woman laced her swiftly—then tugged so tight that the child could not breathe and fell to the floor as if dead.
“Now your beauty is ended!” snarled the wicked queen, and went away content.
That evening the dwarfs returned. Finding their dear Snow White lying motionless as dead, their hearts clenched with fear. They cut the laces at once; soon she began to breathe again and came back to herself.
Hearing what had happened, they said, “That old woman was the queen. Beware! Do not let anyone in when we are away.”
Back at the palace, the queen hurried to her mirror:“Mirror, mirror, tell me true:
In all the land, who is fairest—who?”
Again it answered:
“You are fair, O Queen, ’tis clear—
The fairest in this place, I swear.
Yet over the mountains,
in shadowed green,
In a cottage by seven dwarfs unseen,
“You are fair, O Queen, ’tis clear—
The fairest in this place, I swear.
Yet over the mountains, in shadowed green,
In a cottage by seven dwarfs unseen,
Snow White lies hidden from your ken—
And she is fairer far again.”
Snow White still lives, concealed from men
Oh, Queen!
And she is fairer far again.”
Knowing Snow White yet lived, rage and spite shook the queen; still she could not give up.
She disguised herself anew—again an old woman, but not the same as before。
and took with her a poisoned comb.
She knocked and cried, “Wares to sell!”
From within Snow White answered, “I dare not let anyone in.”
“Only look at this pretty comb,” said the queen, passing it through the crack.
It was indeed beautiful. Snow White took it, wishing to try it in her hair.
But the moment it touched her head, the poison worked; she fell down senseless.
“Lie there as you ought to have long ago,” sneered the queen, and departed.
Luckily, the dwarfs came home early that day.
Seeing Snow White on the floor, they knew mischief had come again.
They lifted her and quickly found the poisoned comb;
when they drew it out, she soon revived.
After she told them all, they warned her yet again never to open the door to anyone.
Meanwhile the queen was at her mirror once more，and heard the same hateful answer.
Shaking with fury, she cried,
“Snow White must die, even if it cost me my life!”
She shut herself away and made a poisoned apple，
rosy and tempting to the eye,but a single bite would bring death.
Disguised as a peasant woman, she climbed the mountains again and knocked.
Snow White put her head out the window and said, “I dare not let anyone in. The dwarfs forbade me to open the door.” “As you please,” said the old peasant, holding up the apple. “But such a lovely apple ought not go to waste. I will give it to you as a gift.” “No, I dare not take it,” said Snow White. “Foolish child,” muttered the woman. “Do you fear poison? Here—we’ll share it. You take half; I take half.”She cut the apple in two.
(The queen had poisoned only one side; the other was harmless.) Snow White longed to taste it, for it looked so sweet.
Seeing the woman eat her half, she could no longer resist and bit into the other.
No sooner had the piece passed her lips than she fell dead to the floor.
The queen smiled with cruel delight.
“This time no one will save you!”
She returned to her mirror:
“Mirror, mirror, tell me true:
“Mirror, mirror, tell me true:
In all the land, who is fairest—who?”
Tell me—who?”
“Mirror, mirror, tell me true:
In all the land, who is fairest—who?”
And the mirror replied,
“You are fair, O Queen, ’tis clear—
“It is you, O Queen. You are the fairest in the land.”
Only then did her envy rest and her heart feel ease.
Night fell, and the dwarfs came home to find Snow White lying breathless.
They could not believe she was truly dead. They lifted her, combed her hair, washed her face with wine and water— all in vain. She seemed indeed to have died.
In deepest grief they laid her upon a bier and watched
beside her three days and nights.
At last, despairing of hope, they would have buried her; but her cheeks were still rosy and her face life like. “We cannot lay her in the cold, dark earth,” they said. So they made a glass coffin in which she might be seen, and set her name and an inscription upon it in letters of gold. They placed it upon a little hill and set one dwarf always to keep watch.
They placed it upon a little hill and set one dwarf always to keep watch.
Birds gathered in mourning—first an owl, then a raven, at last a dove.
Long she lay thus upon the hill, as if asleep:
skin white as snow, cheeks flushed like blood, hair black as ebony.
One day, a prince came to the dwarfs’ house and visited them.
On the hill he saw the maiden and read the inscription, and his heart was stirred so deeply he could not be at peace.
He begged the dwarfs to let him take her and the coffin, offering them gold.
They said, “Not for all the gold in the world would we let her leave us.” He pleaded on and on, even with tears.
At last, moved by his sincerity, they consented.
But when his men lifted the coffin to carry it away, they stumbled; and the jolt dislodged the piece of poisoned apple from Snow White’s throat. She opened her eyes.
“Where am I?” she asked, bewildered. “With me, safe and sound,” said the prince; and he told her all that had happened and said at last, “I love you more than all things in the world. Come with me to my father’s castle, and I will make you my wife.”
Snow White agreed and went with him.
When all was made ready and the palace adorned in splendor, they set the wedding day and invited many guests.
Among them was Snow White’s stepmother, the queen.
Decked out in rich finery, she went to her mirror:
“Mirror, mirror, tell me true:
“Mirror, mirror, tell me true:
In all the land, who is fairest—who?”
Tell me—who?”
The mirror replied:
“Mirror, mirror, tell me true:
In all the land, who is fairest—who?”
The mirror answered:
“You are fair, or so it seems
“Mirror, mirror, tell me true:
In all the land, who is fairest—who?”
The mirror answered:
“You are fair, or so it seems—
At these words, wrath rose in her again, but she could do nothing.Jealousy and curiosity drove her to see the bride.
When she reached the place of feasting, she learned that the bride was none other than Snow White, whom she had thought long dead.
At the sight, she swooned; from that day she sickened, and not long after she died, consumed by envy, fury, and her own torment.
Snow White and the prince were wed, and happiness filled their days; they lived together in joy all their lives.
Allegorical Summary
Concise. Jealousy and vanity are doomed to fall before innocence and goodness. True guardianship and courage restore justice to life.
Extended. Snow White is more than a romance; it is a parable of human nature, desire, and virtue.
- A warning against envy and vanity. The queen’s jealousy is the deadliest poison: when vanity swells, it devours reason and can even destroy kinship and self.
- The strength of kindness and innocence. Snow White’s goodness wins the dwarfs’ protection and keeps hope alive in darkness. The tale reminds us that even in peril, a pure heart calls forth warmth and guardianship.
- Love and redemption. The prince’s devotion symbolizes courage and faith: though malice may suppress what is good, the truly beautiful will awaken again.
Thus the deeper meaning is clear: the shadows of the heart cannot eclipse the light forever; genuine goodness, courage, and love break the spell of evil and bring new life.
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——Endnote——
This work is included in the public copyright work "Snow White"
Original author: Brothers Grimm
Edited and Digitized by: EverBook Team
Illustrations and Audio Narration: AI-Enhanced Edition (2025)
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