Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Once  upon  a  time,  a  princess  named  Snow  White  lived  in  a  castle  with  her  father,  the  king,  and  her  stepmother,  the  queen.  Her  father,  had  always  said  to  his  daughter  that  she  must  be  fair  to  everyone  at  court.  That  she  must  be  fair  to  everyone  at  court.  Said  he.  People  come  here  to  the  castle  when  they  have  a  problem.

They  need  the  ruler  to  make  a  fair  decision.  Nothing  is  more  important  than  to  be  fair.  The  queen,  Snow  White's  stepmother,  knew  how  much  this  meant  to  her  husband.  At  the  first  chance,  she  rushed  to  her  magic  mirror.  Mirror,  mirror,  mirror  on  the  wall,  said  the  queen,  who  is  the  fairest  of  them  all?

Snow  White  is  the  fairest  of  them  all,  said  the  Magic  Mirror.  What?  Yelled  the  queen.  No  one  is  more  fair  than  I.  The  queen  must  have  the  best  of  everything.

Everyone  knows  that.  What  could  be  more  fair?  Snow  White  is  the  fairest  of  them  all,  repeated  the  Magic  Mirror.  What  do  you  know?  You're  a  mirror.

Roared  the  queen,  and  she  stormed  off.  Still,  the  queen  was  bothered.  So  bothered  was  she  that  the  queen  decided  to  be  rid  of  the  girl  once  and  for  all.  I  cannot  wait  another  day.  She  declared.

The  queen  called  for  her  servant,  a  huntsman.  Find  a  reason  to  take  Snow  White  deep  into  the  woods,  she  said,  pointing  her  long  finger  at  the  servant.  Then  kill  her.  The  huntsman  was  shocked.  But  she  was  the  queen,  and  what  could  he  do?

The  next  day,  he  took  Snow  White  into  the  woods.  As  he  drew  his  knife  to  slay  her,  Snow  White  turned  around.  Look.  She  said,  taking  something  out  of  her  pocket.  You  have  always  been  good  to  me.

She  held  in  front  of  him  six  perfect  arrowheads  that  she  had  carefully  shaped.  Do  you  like  them?  She  said.  They  are  for  you,  Snow  White,  said  the  huntsman.  I  cannot  do  this.

Of  course  you  can.  Take  these.  Said  Snow  White.  That's  not  what  I  meant,  said  the  servant.  He  dropped  to  his  knees.

How  can  I  say  this  to  you,  the  queen,  your  step  mother  ordered  me  to  kill  you,  he  said,  but  I  cannot.  She  did  what?  Snow  White  called  out  with  alarm.  You  must  run  away,  said  the  huntsman.  Far  into  the  woods  now  and  never  come  back  to  the  castle.

Snow  White  turned  and  ran  into  the  woods  as  fast  as  she  could.  Deeper  and  deeper  she  ran.  It  was  getting  dark,  and  the  wolves  were  starting  to  howl.  She  tripped,  and  her  skirt  was  torn.  Tall  tree  branches  seemed  to  reach  down  to  the  very  ground  to  grab  her.

She  was  scratched,  bleeding  and  scared.  Yet  she  ran  on  and  on.  Then,  all  of  a  sudden,  far  away,  there  was  a  light.  Who  was  living  so  deep  in  the  woods?  She  stepped  up  closer.

It  was  a  cottage.  Yet  no  sound  came  from  the  cottage,  only  light  from  the  windows.  Hello,  she  said,  knocking  softly  on  the  door.  Hello?  No  answer.

The  door  was  a  little  bit  open.  She  opened  it  some  more  and  stepped  in.  Hello?  Is  anyone  home?  She  looked  around.

What  a  mess.  She  had  never  seen  a  messier  living  room.  This  cottage  may  be  the  biggest  mess  I  ever  saw,  she  thought.  But  it's  a  roof  over  my  head  for  tonight.  Maybe  if  I  clean  up  around  here,  I  can  earn  my  sleep.

As  she  cleaned,  she  thought  of  someone  she  already  missed.  Before  her  father  had  remarried,  she  and  a  prince  who  lived  in  the  next  kingdom  were  getting  to  know  each  other.  They  would  take  long  walks  in  the  royal  garden  and  tell  each  other  stories  and  laugh.  After  the  queen  had  moved  into  the  castle,  her  stepmother  had  made  a  new  rule  no  more  visitors.  Now  the  prince  had  to  slip  over  the  palace  gate  in  secret.

He  would  call  out  to  her  from  under  her  window  and  they  could  talk  a  bit  that  way.  It  wasn't  as  good  as  the  long  walks,  but  it  was  the  best  they  could  manage.  Now  that  she  had  to  run  away  from  home,  would  she  ever  see  him  again?  After  Snow  White  cleaned  up  the  living  room,  she  went  upstairs.  On  the  second  floor  there  were  seven  little  beds  lined  up  in  a  row.

As  if  for  children  tired  from  cleaning,  snow  White  yawned  and  lay  across  all  seven  of  the  beds.  Soon  she  fell  fast  asleep.  In  the  meantime,  the  seven  dwarves  were  heading  home  from  a  long  day  of  working  in  the  jewel  mines  when  they  opened  the  door.  You  can  imagine  their  surprise  when  they  saw  their  cottage  all  cleaned  up.  What  kind  of  magic  is  this?

Said  one  of  the  dwarves,  whose  name  was  Doc.  I  wouldn't  mind  more  magic  like  this,  said  another  of  the  dwarves  with  a  smile.  His  name  was  Dopey.  We  better  check  upstairs,  said  another  dwarf,  whose  name  was  Grumpy.  Something  is  fishy  around  here,  that's  for  sure.

There,  lying  across  all  their  beds,  was  a  young  lady,  fast  asleep.  Who  are  you?  Said  all  the  Dwarfs.  At  once.  Snow  white  bolted  awake.

The  seven  dwarves  could  tell  she  was  as  surprised  as  they  were.  Soon  they  all  relaxed  and  shared  their  stories.  Snow  White  learned  their  names  bashful,  Doc,  Dopey,  Grumpy,  Happy,  Sleepy  and  Sneezy.  She  told  them  all  about  her  step  mother,  that  her  stepmother  had  tried  to  get  the  huntsman  to  kill  her,  that  the  huntsman  had  set  her  free  in  the  woods  and  that  she  could  never  go  back  home  again.  Stay  here  with  us,  said  Bashful.

That's  sweet,  said  Snow  White.  But  if  I  were  to  stay  here  at  your  home,  I  would  have  to  do  something  for  all  of  you.  You  already  cleaned  up  our  place,  said  Sneezy.  Keeping  the  house  clean  will  be  easy,  said  Snow  White.  As  long  as  we  all  pitch  in,  I  will  let  everyone  know  what  part  they  can  do.

And  I  will  do  my  share  too,  of  course.  That's  fair.  Said  happy.  But  there  must  be  something  else  I  can  do  for  you,  said  Snow  White.  The  seven  dwarves  shrugged.

Do  you  know  how  to  read?  Said  Doc.  We  have  these  books  filled  with  wonderful  tales  and  would  love  to  be  able  to  read  them.  And  so  it  was  agreed  that  Snow  White  would  teach  them  how  to  read  them.  And  so  it  was  agreed  that  Snow  White  would  teach  them  how  to  read.

To  celebrate  their  new  friendship,  Snow  White  and  the  seven  dwarves  sang  and  danced  the  night  away.  The  next  morning,  before  they  left  for  work,  the  seven  dwarves  warned  Snow  White  she  must  not  open  the  door  to  anyone.  After  all,  who  knows  what  evil  her  stepmother  might  do?  The  princess  nodded  in  agreement,  and  the  dwarves  left  the  house.  The  princess  prepared  her  first  reading  lesson.

She  also  prepared  a  good  hot  meal  for  the  seven  dwarves  when  they  returned  home  that  night.  And  so  the  days  passed.  Back  at  the  castle,  the  queen  marched  up  to  her.  Mirror,  mirror,  mirror  on  the  wall,  she  demanded,  who  is  the  fairest  of  them  all?  Snow  White  is  the  fairest