In the morning, Snow White woke up. When she saw the dwarfs, she was frightened, but they were friendly and asked, “What’s your name?”
“My name is Snow White,” she replied.
“How did you get to our house?” asked the dwarfs.
Then she told them how her stepmother had tried to kill her and that the huntsman had spared her life. She had run all day long until she had arrived at their cottage.
The dwarfs told her: “If you will keep house for us, cook, make the beds, wash, sew, knit, and keep everything neat and tidy, then you can stay with us, and we’ll give you everything you need.”
“Yes, with pleasure,” Snow White replied, and she stayed with them.
She kept house for them. In the morning, they went up to the mountains in search of minerals and gold. In the evening, they returned, and dinner had to be ready for them. Since the girl was by herself during the day, the good dwarfs gave her a strong warning:
“Beware of your stepmother. She’ll know soon enough that you’re here. Don’t let anyone in the house.”
After the queen had finished eating what she thought were Snow White’s lungs and liver, she was sure that she was once again the fairest of all in the land. She went to the mirror and said:
“Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
Who’s the fairest of them all?”
The mirror replied:
“Here you’re the fairest, dearest queen,
But little Snow White, who plans to stay
With the seven dwarfs far far away,
Is now the fairest ever seen.”
When the queen heard this she was horrified, for she knew that the mirror could not tell a lie. She realized that the huntsman had deceived her and that Snow White must still be alive. She thought long and hard about how she could kill Snow White. Unless she herself was the fairest in the land, she would never be able to feel anything but envy. Finally, she came up with a plan. After staining her face and dressing up as an old peddler woman, she was completely unrecognizable. She traveled beyond the seven hills to the seven dwarfs in that disguise. Then she knocked on the door and called out: “Pretty wares for a good price.”
Snow White peeked out of the window and said: “Good day, old woman, what do you have for sale?”
“Nice things, pretty things,” she replied. “Staylaces1 in all kinds of colors,” and she took out a silk lace woven of many colors.
“I can let this good woman in,” Snow White thought to herself, and she unbolted the door and bought the pretty lace.
“Oh my child, what a sight you are. Come, let me lace you up properly.”
Snow White wasn’t the least bit suspicious. She stood in front of the old woman and let her put on the new lace. The old woman laced her up so quickly and so tightly that Snow White’s breath was cut off, and she fell down as if dead.
“So much for being the fairest of them all,” she said and hurried away.
Not much later, in the evening, the seven dwarfs came home. When they saw their beloved Snow White lying on the ground, they were horrified. She didn’t move in the slightest, and they were sure she was dead. They lifted her up, and when they saw that she had been laced too tightly, they cut the staylace in two. Snow White began to breathe, and little by little she came back to life. When the dwarfs heard what had happened, they said: “The old peddler woman was none other than the wicked queen. Beware, and don’t let anyone in unless we’re at home.”
When the wicked woman returned home, she went to the mirror and asked:
“Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
Who’s the fairest of them all?”
The mirror replied as usual:
“Here you’re the fairest, dearest queen,
But little Snow White, who plans to stay
With the seven dwarfs far far away,
Is now the fairest ever seen.”
The blood froze in her veins when she heard those words. She was horrified, for she knew that Snow White was still alive. “But this time,” she said, “I will dream up something that will destroy you.”
Using all the witchcraft in her power, she made a poisoned comb. She then changed her clothes and disguised herself as another old woman. Once again she traveled beyond the seven hills to the seven dwarfs, knocked on the door, and called out: “Pretty wares at a good price.”
Snow White peeked out of the window and said: “Go away, I can’t let anyone in.”
“But you can at least take a look,” said the old woman, and she took out the poisoned comb and held it up in the air. The child liked it so much that she was completely fooled and opened the door. When they had agreed on a price, the old woman said: “Now I’ll give your hair a good combing.”
Poor Snow White suspected nothing and let the woman go ahead, but no sooner had the comb touched her hair when the poison took effect, and the girl fell senseless to the ground.
“There, my beauty,” said the wicked woman, “now you’re finished,” and she rushed away.
Fortunately, it was almost evening, and the seven dwarfs were on their way home. When they saw Snow White lying on the ground as though dead, they suspected the stepmother right away. They examined Snow White and found the poisoned comb. As soon as they pulled it out, Snow White came back to life and told them what had happened. Again they warned her to be on her guard and not to open the door to anyone.
At home, the queen stood before the mirror and said:
“Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
Who’s the fairest of them all?”
The mirror answered as before:
“Here you’re the fairest, dearest queen,
But little Snow White, who plans to stay
With the seven dwarfs far far away,
Is now the fairest ever seen.”
When the queen heard the words of the mirror, she began trembling with rage. “Snow White must die!” she cried out. “Even if it costs me my life.”
Then she went into a remote, hidden chamber where no one ever set foot and made an apple full of poison. On the outside it looked beautiful—white with red cheeks—so that if you saw it you longed for it. But anyone who took the tiniest bite would die. When the apple was finished, she stained her face, dressed up as a peasant woman, and traveled beyond the seven hills to the seven dwarfs.
She knocked at the door, and Snow White put her head out the window to say: “I can’t let anyone in. The seven dwarfs won’t allow it.”
“That’s all right,” replied the peasant woman. “I’ll get rid of my apples soon enough. Here, I’ll give you one.”
“No,” said Snow White, “I’m not supposed to take anything.”
“Are you afraid that it’s poisoned?” asked the old woman. “Here, I’ll cut the apple in two. You eat the red part, I’ll eat the white.”
The apple had been made so artfully that only the red part of it was poison. Snow White felt a craving for the beautiful apple, and when she saw that the peasant woman was eating it, she could no longer resist. She put her hand out the window and took the poisoned half. But no sooner had she taken a bite when she fell down on the ground dead. The queen stared at her with savage eyes and burst out laughing: “White as snow, red as blood, black as ebony! This time the dwarfs won’t be able to bring you back to life!”
At home, she asked the mirror:
“Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
Who’s the fairest of them all?”
And finally it replied:
“Oh queen, you are the fairest in the land.”
Her envious heart was finally at peace, as much as an envious heart can be.
When the little dwarfs returned home in the evening, they found Snow White lying on the ground. Not a breath of air was coming from her lips. She was dead. They lifted her up and looked around for something that might be poisonous. They unlaced her, combed her hair, washed her with water and wine, but it was all in vain. The dear child was dead and nothing could bring her back. They placed her on a bier,
and all seven of them sat down on it and mourned her. They wept for three days. They were about to bury her, but she still looked just like a living person with beautiful red cheeks.
They said: “We can’t possibly lower her into the dark ground.” And so they had a transparent glass coffin made that allowed Snow White to be seen from all sides. They put her in it, wrote her name on it in golden letters, and added that she was the daughter of a king. They brought the coffin up to the top of a mountain, and one of them was always there to keep vigil. Animals also came to mourn Snow White, first an owl, then a raven, and finally a dove.
Snow White lay in the coffin for a long, long time. But she did not decay and looked as if she were sleeping, for she was still white as snow, red as blood, and with hair as black as ebony.
One day the son of a king was traveling through the woods and arrived at the dwarfs’ cottage. He wanted to spend the night there. On top of the mountain, he saw the coffin with beautiful Snow White lying in it, and he read what had been written in golden letters. Then he said to the dwarfs: “Let me have the coffin. I will give you whatever you want for it.”
The dwarfs answered: “We wouldn’t sell it for all the gold in the world.”
Then he said: “Make me a present of it, for I can’t live without seeing Snow White. I will honor and cherish her as if she were my beloved.”
The good dwarfs took pity on him when they heard these words, and they gave him the coffin. The prince ordered his servants to carry the coffin away on their shoulders. It happened that they stumbled over a shrub, and the jolt freed the poisonous piece of apple lodged in Snow White’s throat. She came to life. “Good heavens, where am I?” she cried out.
The prince was overjoyed and said: “You are with me,” and he described what had happened and said: “I love you more than anything else on earth. Come with me to my father’s castle. You shall be my bride.” Snow White had tender feelings for him, and she departed with him. Their marriage was celebrated with great splendor.
Snow White’s wicked stepmother was also invited to the wedding feast. She put on beautiful clothes, stepped up to the mirror, and said:
“Mirror, mirror on the wall:
Who’s the fairest of them all?”
The mirror replied:
“My queen, you may be the fairest here,
But the young queen is a thousand times more fair.”
The wicked women let loose a curse, and she became so petrified with fear that she didn’t know what to do. At first she didn’t want to go to the wedding feast. But she never had a moment’s peace after that and had to go see the young queen. When she entered, Snow White recognized her right away. The queen was so terrified that she just stood there and couldn’t budge an inch. Iron slippers had already been heated up over a fire of coals. They were brought in with tongs and set right in front of her. She had to put on the red hot iron shoes and dance in them until she dropped to the ground dead.
* * *
† Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm, “Schneewittchen,” in Kinder- und Hausmärchen, 7th ed. (Berlin: Dieterich, 1857; first published: Berlin: Realschulbuchhandlung, 1812). Translated for the first edition of this Norton Critical Edition by Maria Tatar. Copyright © 1999 by Maria Tatar.
1. Laces used to tighten the band of strips in a corset.
ANNE SEXTON
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs†
No matter what life you lead
the virgin is a lovely number:
cheeks as fragile as cigarette paper,
arms and legs made of Limoges,1
lips like Vin Du Rhône,2
5
rolling her china-blue doll eyes
open and shut.
Open to say,
Good Day Mama,
and shut for the thrust
10
of the unicorn.
She is unsoiled.
She is as white as a bonefish.
Once there was a lovely virgin
called Snow White.
15
Say she was thirteen.
Her stepmother,
a beauty in her own right,
though eaten, of course, by age,
would hear of no beauty surpassing her own.
20
Beauty is a simple passion,
but, oh my friends, in the end
you will dance the fire dance in iron shoes.
The stepmother had a mirror to which she referred—
something like the weather forecast—
25
a mirror that proclaimed
the one beauty of the land.
She would ask,
Looking glass upon the wall,
who is fairest of us all?
30
And the mirror would reply,
You are fairest of us all.
Pride pumped in her like poison.
Suddenly one day the mirror replied,
Queen, you are full fair, ’tis true,
35
but Snow White is fairer than you.
Until that moment Snow White
had been no more important
than a dust mouse under the bed.
But now the queen saw brown spots on her hand
40
and four whiskers over her lip
so she condemned Snow White
to be hacked to death.
Bring me her heart, she said to the hunter,
and I will salt it and eat it.
45
The hunter, however, let his prisoner go
and brought a boar’s heart back to the castle.
The queen chewed it up like a cube steak.
Now I am fairest, she said,
lapping her slim white fingers.
50
Snow White walked in the wildwood
for weeks and weeks.
At each turn there were twenty doorways
and at each stood a hungry wolf,
his tongue lolling out like a worm.
55
The birds called out lewdly,
talking like pink parrots,
and the snakes hung down in loops,
each a noose for her sweet white neck.
On the seventh week
60
she came to the seventh mountain
and there she found the dwarf house.
It was as droll as a honeymoon cottage
and completely equipped with
seven beds, seven chairs, seven forks
65
and seven chamber pots.
Snow White ate seven chicken livers
and lay down, at last, to sleep.
The dwarfs, those little hot dogs,
walked three times around Snow White,
70
the sleeping virgin. They were wise
and wattled like small czars.
Yes. It’s a good omen,
they said, and will bring us luck.
They stood on tiptoes to watch
75
Snow White wake up. She told them
about the mirror and the killer-queen
and they asked her to stay and keep house.
Beware of your stepmother,
they said.
80
Soon she will know you are here.
While we are away in the mines
during the day, you must not
open the door.
Looking glass upon the wall …
85
The mirror told
and so the queen dressed herself in rags
and went out like a peddler to trap Snow White.
She went across seven mountains.
She came to the dwarf house
90
and Snow White opened the door
and bought a bit of lacing.
The queen fastened it tightly
around her bodice,
as tight as an Ace bandage,
95
so tight th
at Snow White swooned.
She lay on the floor, a plucked daisy.
When the dwarfs came home they undid the lace
and she revived miraculously.
She was as full of life as soda pop.
100
Beware of your stepmother,
they said.
She will try once more.
Looking glass upon the wall …
Once more the mirror told
105
and once more the queen dressed in rags
and once more Snow White opened the door.
This time she bought a poison comb,
a curved eight-inch scorpion,
and put it in her hair and swooned again.
110
The dwarfs returned and took out the comb
and she revived miraculously.
She opened her eyes as wide as Orphan Annie.
Beware, beware, they said,
but the mirror told,
115
the queen came,
Snow White, the dumb bunny,
opened the door
and she bit into a poison apple
and fell down for the final time.
120
When the dwarfs returned
they undid her bodice,
they looked for a comb,
but it did no good.
Though they washed her with wine
125
and rubbed her with butter
it was to no avail.
She lay as still as a gold piece.
The seven dwarfs could not bring themselves
to bury her in the black ground
130
so they made a glass coffin
and set it upon the seventh mountain
so that all who passed by
could peek in upon her beauty.
A prince came one June day
135
and would not budge.
He stayed so long his hair turned green
and still he would not leave.
The Classic Fairy Tales (Second Edition) (Norton Critical Editions) Page 17