Then she was astounded, for she knew that the looking-glass never spoke
falsely, and she knew that the huntsman had betrayed her, and that
little Snow-white was still alive.
And so she thought and thought again how she might kill her, for so
long as she was not the fairest in the whole land, envy let her have no
rest. And when she had at last thought of something to do, she painted
her face, and dressed herself like an old peddler-woman, and no one
could have known her. In this disguise she went over the seven
mountains to the seven dwarfs, and knocked at the door and cried,
“Pretty things to sell, very cheap, very cheap.” Little Snow-white
looked out of the window and called out, “Good-day my good woman, what
have you to sell?” “Good things, pretty things,” she answered;
“stay-laces of all colours,” and she pulled out one which was woven of
bright-coloured silk. “I may let the worthy old woman in,” thought
Snow-white, and she unbolted the door and bought the pretty laces.
“Child,” said the old woman, “what a fright you look; come, I will lace
you properly for once.” Snow-white had no suspicion, but stood before
her, and let herself be laced with the new laces. But the old woman
laced so quickly and so tightly that Snow-white lost her breath and
fell down as if dead. “Now I am the most beautiful,” said the Queen to
herself, and ran away.
Not long afterwards, in the evening, the seven dwarfs came home, but
how shocked they were when they saw their dear little Snow-white lying
on the ground, and that she neither stirred nor moved, and seemed to be
dead. They lifted her up, and, as they saw that she was laced too
tightly, they cut the laces; then she began to breathe a little, and
after a while came to life again. When the dwarfs heard what had
happened they said, “The old peddler-woman was no one else than the
wicked Queen; take care and let no one come in when we are not with
you.”
But the wicked woman when she had reached home went in front of the
glass and asked—
“Looking-glass, Looking-glass, on the wall,
Who in this land is the fairest of all?”
and it answered as before—
“Oh, Queen, thou art fairest of all I see,
But over the hills, where the seven dwarfs dwell,
Snow-white is still alive and well,
And none is so fair as she.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account