Children's stories, German -- Translations into English; Fairy tales; Fairy tales -- Germany
And envy and pride grew higher and higher in her heart like a weed, so
that she had no peace day or night. She called a huntsman, and said,
“Take the child away into the forest. I will no longer have her in my
sight. Kill her.”
The huntsman obeyed, and took her away. But when he had drawn his
knife, and was about to pierce little Snow-White’s innocent heart, she
began to weep, and said, “Ah, dear Huntsman, leave me my life! I will
run away into the wild forest, and never come home again.”
And as she was so beautiful, the huntsman had pity on her and said,
“Run away, then, you poor child.” “The wild beasts will soon have
devoured you,” thought he, and yet it seemed as if a stone had been
rolled from his heart since it was no longer needful for him to kill
her.
But now, the poor child was all alone in the great forest, and so
terrified that she looked at every leaf of every tree, and did not
know what to do. Then she began to run, and ran over sharp stones and
through thorns, and the wild beasts ran past her, but did her no harm.
She ran as long as her feet would go, until it was almost evening. Then
she saw a little cottage and went into it to rest herself. Everything
in the cottage was small, but neater and cleaner than can be told.
There was a table on which was a white cover, and seven little plates,
and on each plate a little spoon. Moreover, there were seven little
knives and forks, and seven little mugs. Against the wall stood seven
little beds side by side, and covered with snow-white counterpanes.
Little Snow-White was so hungry and thirsty, that she ate some
vegetables and bread from each plate and drank a drop of wine out of
each mug, for she did not wish to take all from one only. Then, as she
was so tired, she laid herself down on one of the little beds, but none
of them suited her. One was too long, another too short, but at last
she found that the seventh one was right, so she remained in it, said a
prayer and went to sleep.
When it was quite dark the owners of the cottage came back. They were
seven Dwarfs who dug and delved in the mountains for ore. They lit
their seven candles, and, as it was now light within the cottage, they
saw that some one had been there, for everything was not in the same
order in which they had left it.
The first said, “Who has been sitting on my chair?”
The second, “Who has been eating off my plate?”
The third, “Who has been taking some of my bread?”
The fourth, “Who has been eating my vegetables?”
The fifth, “Who has been using my fork?”
The sixth, “Who has been cutting with my knife?”
The seventh, “Who has been drinking out of my mug?”
Then the first looked round and saw that there was a little hole on his
bed, and he said, “Who has been getting into my bed?”
The others came up and each called out, “Somebody has been lying in my
bed too.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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