Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Once upon a time, in a kingdom of snowy winters, a queen sat sewing by a window framed in black ebony wood. As snow fell softly outside, she pricked her finger, and three drops of blood fell upon the white snow on the sill. Looking at the red against the white, she wished, "Oh, how I wish I had a daughter with skin white as snow, lips red as blood, and hair black as this ebony wood." Soon after, her wish came true, and she named her daughter Snow White. But sadly, the queen did not live long after.

A New Queen, A Magic Mirror

The king married again, and his new wife was beautiful indeed — but her heart held little kindness. She owned a magic mirror, and every day she would ask it, "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" And every day the mirror replied, "You, my queen, are fairest of all." This pleased her greatly, for she wanted, more than anything, to be the most beautiful in the land.

But Snow White grew, year by year, into a girl of gentle kindness and rare beauty. One day, when the queen asked her question, the mirror answered differently: "You are fair, it is true, but Snow White is a thousand times fairer than you."

A terrible jealousy rose in the queen's heart like a storm cloud. She could not bear the thought of anyone being lovelier, kinder, or more loved than herself. So she called for a huntsman and ordered him to take Snow White into the forest — and to never let her return.

A Kindness in the Woods

The huntsman led Snow White deep among the trees, but when he raised his knife, he saw her frightened, trusting eyes, and his own heart softened. "Run, child," he whispered. "Run far away and never come back to the castle." Snow White ran, frightened and alone, until night fell and she stumbled upon a tiny cottage tucked between the pines.

Inside she found seven little beds, seven little chairs, and seven little plates, all set for supper. Exhausted, she nibbled a bit of food from each plate and fell asleep across three of the little beds pushed together.

When the seven dwarfs who lived there returned from digging in the mountain mines, they found her sleeping. "What a lovely child," they whispered, careful not to wake her. In the morning, when Snow White explained her story, the dwarfs looked at one another kindly. "You may stay with us," they said, "if you'll keep our little house tidy and cook for us." And so, in that small cottage, Snow White found something the queen's mirror could never show her — true friendship. The dwarfs loved her as their own, and each day when they left for the mines, they warned her, "Let no one in while we are away. The queen may find you yet."

The Jealous Queen Returns

Back at the castle, the queen asked her mirror once more, and to her fury, it told her Snow White still lived, safe among the seven hills with the seven dwarfs. Disguised as an old peddler woman, the queen journeyed to the cottage, her jealousy sharper than any blade.

"Pretty laces, my dear?" she called sweetly at the door. Snow White, kind and unsuspecting, let her in — and the old woman laced her bodice so tightly she fell to the floor as if dead. But when the dwarfs returned that evening, they loosened the laces just in time, and Snow White breathed again.

The queen tried again with a poisoned comb, and again the dwarfs saved her. Furious that her jealousy kept failing, the queen crafted her most wicked trick yet — a beautiful apple, red and white just like Snow White herself, with poison hidden only in the red half. Disguised once more, she knocked at the cottage door. "Try this apple, dearie," she coaxed. "I'll take a bite too, see?" — and she bit the safe white side, while Snow White bit the poisoned red.

Snow White fell to the ground, and this time, no dwarf could wake her. Heartbroken, the seven little friends could not bear to bury her in the cold earth, for she looked as lovely and peaceful as if merely asleep. So they placed her gently in a coffin of glass, set upon the hillside, where they visited her every day, keeping watch over their beloved friend with tears and hope.

True Love's Awakening

One day a prince came riding through the forest and saw the glass coffin shimmering on the hill. He gazed at Snow White's peaceful face and felt his heart fill with a love so true he could not leave her side. He asked the dwarfs if he might carry the coffin to his castle, so he could look upon her always. As his servants lifted it, one stumbled on a root — and the jolt shook loose the piece of poisoned apple caught in Snow White's throat.

Her eyes fluttered open. She was alive!

The prince's joy was boundless, and Snow White, waking to find true friends and true love surrounding her, wept with happiness. The prince asked her to marry him, and she agreed, for in his kindness she recognized the same warmth she had found in her seven small friends.

As for the jealous queen, when she learned that Snow White lived and was to marry a prince, her envy could not be soothed, and it consumed her utterly. But Snow White, surrounded by those who loved her for her kindness and not her crown, lived on in joy — proof that friendship and true love will always outshine even the darkest jealousy.

Moral / Lesson: Jealousy poisons the heart that holds it, but kindness, loyal friendship, and true love can outlast even the wickedest envy.

Attribution: Adapted from The Brothers Grimm, Kinder- und Hausmärchen (1812) — public domain.