Snow White

This story is called Snow White, written by the brothers Grimm, adapted by Lorena Romero, and read by Madeline Walton-Hadlock. This is a LibraryCall adaptation and recording. Once upon a time, a king and queen welcomed to the world a beautiful daughter. The baby’s hair was black as obsidian, her cheeks pink as roses, and her skin white as snow. Thus, they named her Snow White. Unfortunately, her mother the queen passed away shortly after giving birth to the child, so the young girl never got to know her mother. Years later, the king remarried. His new wife was elegant, but also arrogant and jealous, and could not stand the thought of someone being more beautiful than her. She had a magic mirror that she used every day to admire her own reflection. She would stand in front of it and say: “Mirror, mirror, on the wall. Who in this land is fairest of all?” And the mirror would reply: ”You, oh Queen, are the fairest of all” And the queen would be satisfied with the answer, for she knew that the mirror never lied. Snow White grew up to be a lovely, enchanting young woman, and her stepmother noticed her intelligence and charm, and began to grow jealous. One day, her father was called upon to assist a kingdom far away. The king informed his daughter and wife that he would be traveling for many weeks, and left. That night, the queen asked the mirror: “Mirror, mirror, on the wall. Who in this land is fairest of all?” “Oh Queen you are fair! Quite fair, it is true – But Snow White’s a thousand times fairer than you” The queen was furious! She came up with a plan to make herself the most beautiful in the kingdom once more: she would order a servant to make Snow White disappear, and when the king returned, she would tell him that his daughter had been eaten by a bear in the woods. The next day, the queen called for one of her servants and said to them: “Take Snow White into the woods and get rid of her. I never want to see her again! Bring me a lock of her hair as proof that you completed the job.” The servant blinked in disbelief, hoping he had misunderstood the queen. “Get rid of her, your majesty?” he said. “You know what I mean,” replied the queen, slowly drawing her finger across her throat. Now do it! The servant, following the queen's orders, tricked Snow White into going out into the woods with him by telling her there was a fox that needed help near a creek. Kind hearted Snow White followed straight away. When they arrived at the creek, Snow White asked, “Well, where is the poor animal?” The servant approached her from behind, slowly taking out a knife from his pocket. “Forgive me princess, it’s the Queen's orders. Nothing personal.” Snow White realized what was happening and started to run. The servant ran after her, but the princess was a lot faster than he thought she would be. She ran along the creek as fast as she could, but her shoe got stuck between some rocks, and she fell into the water. The servant caught up to her and took the knife out once more, ready to complete his horrible task. “Please, let me go!”, begged Snow White. “I will stay in the woods, and you will never see me in the kingdom again!” The servant held the knife close to her neck, and with a quick movement, swish! He cut only her hair, and did not hurt her. He knew that the girl was innocent and felt pity for her. He helped her up and said, “Quick, girl! Run far away and never return!” Snow White fled once more, and the servant returned to the palace to give the queen the lock of hair as proof that Snow White was gone. Back in the forest, Snow White ran and ran, and eventually she was so tired that she sat under a tree to rest. Wet, afraid, and exhausted, the princess decided to find shelter. She looked down and noticed small footprints on the ground below. “Surely there must be a place to hide nearby,” she thought, and she followed the footprints. They eventually led her to a small house. As she she approached the house, she was reminded of a story she’d heard as a child, about a little girl who came across an empty house in the woods, and who went inside without even knocking, and who then proceeded to eat some food, and sleep on the beds, before finding out that the home belonged to a family of bears. Snow white was more cautious, and had better manners, so she knocked on the door and waited. When no one answered, she walked around the side of the house and looked through the window. Everything inside the house was small. There was a little table with seven little plates, and seven little beds pushed against the walls. But the house was a terrible mess. The princess was a very clean and organized person, and she could not easily ignore a mess like that. So, knowing she needed a place to hide, and also wanting to do something about that mess, she decided to jump into the house through the window. Then, instead of eating all the food and sleeping on the beds, she began to clean up. . It was just after sundown and Snow white was trying to set out a fresh table cloth on the table – it was too big for such a small table, and it hung to the floor. Suddenly, she heard footsteps approaching outside and Snow white panicked. Her first thought was that the Queen had sent more servants to come looking for her. . She crouched down and hid herself under the table; the tablecloth hid her completely. The door opened and she heard them come inside. She Heard them talking in unfamiliar voices — there were seven of them. They were dwarves, coming home from their day spent in caves in the mountains, mining– digging and searching for rare jewels. They lit their candles and noticed immediately that somebody had been inside their house. “Who washed my clothes?” one asked. “Who did the dishes?” asked another. A third one asked with surprise, “who made my bed?” When she realized they were not servants of the queen, she said “It was me.” The dwarves all jumped, as the voice seemed to come from out of nowhere. Snow White slowly came out from her hiding place. “I’m sorry for breaking into your house,” she said shyly, but my life is in danger, I needed a place to hide.” instead of being upset, the dwarves thanked her for cleaning the house and invited her to stay the night. The next morning, the dwarves cooked a delicious breakfast of fresh bread rolls and eggs for Snow White. She told them all about what had happened in the forest the day before. The dwarves felt sorry for her and offered to let her live in the house with them for as long as she wanted. Snow White accepted gratefully, and offered to clean for them while they worked in the mines, in exchange for their generosity. So, every morning, the dwarves headed to the mountains to find more jewels for their collection, leaving Snow White alone at home. This made them nervous, but she assured them that she wouldn’t open the door for anyone. Meanwhile, the queen, believing that Snow White was dead, had not asked her mirror anything for many weeks. But then one day, out of curiosity, she stood before the mirror and asked: “Mirror, mirror, on the wall. Who in this land is the fairest of all?” And this time, the mirror said: Oh Queen, in the forest, despite your commands, A servant’s compassion disrupted your plans. In the dwarves’ humble cottage she stays out of sight, For the fairest of all, even still, is Snow White. The mirror never lied, so the queen knew her servant must have tricked her. She was furious. “I will rid this kingdom of Snow white” said the evil queen, “Even if it costs me my life.” And then she came up with a plan. She knew that Snow White would no longer trust her, so she had to make herself unrecognizable. She painted wrinkles on her face and dressed as an old woman, knowing that Snow White was too polite to be rude to an elder. Then, with her knowledge of dark magic, she mixed an evil potion, and dipped into it, one apple. The poisoned apple was red, shiny and tempting, but a single bite would be fatal. At last, well disguised, she took her apple and headed into the woods to look for the dwarves’ cottage. Later that day, Snow White was reading a book about jewels when someone knocked on the door. She looked through the window and saw an old woman. Snow White thought she looked familiar, but couldn’t tell why. “Hello my dear, I’m selling apples. Care to have one?” “I’m sorry, but I’m not supposed to let anyone in the house,” Snow White replied gently. “Don’t you worry, my child. I can hand it to you through the window. Here, it’s a gift for you, for being so polite,” said the old woman. Snow White, not wanting to be rude, replied, “I suppose that’s alright... Don’t I know you from somewhere?” She held her hand out and took the shiny, red apple. The old woman didn’t answer, but just said, “Eat it, dear. Let me know if you like it.” Snow White bit the apple. Suddenly, everything around her began to blur, and in a few seconds, Snow White fell to the ground. The old woman, who was actually the evil queen, fled from the scene, proud to have finally put an end to Snow White. When the dwarves returned home that night, they found Snow White lying motionless on the floor with an apple in her hand. They tried to wake her up, but she didn’t move a muscle. She seemed quite dead; they assumed she must have choked on the apple. The next day, heartbroken, the dwarves arranged a bed of flowers outside on the grass, laid her body gently upon it, and gathered around her, crying for the loss of their friend. A few hours later, they heard galloping horses in the distance. A prince and his soldiers were passing through the forest. When they saw the weeping dwarves and the woman lying on a bed of flowers, they stopped. The prince approached and offered his sympathy. The dwarves told him all about how they had found their friend on the floor, holding an apple, and had not been able to wake her up. “That’s odd.” said the prince. “A person who’s choking doesn’t keep holding the thing that choked them. Where’d she get the apple?” he asked them after a pause. “I don’t see any apple trees in this part of the forest.” The dwarves all shrugged their shoulders. They hadn’t thought of it until now, but they never had apples at home, because none grew nearby. They didn’t know where the apple had come from. The prince inspected her closely. “This is the work of dark magic,” said the prince. “Alas– if only I had some emeralds and sapphires here! I know a counter-spell that could wake her up. But I have no idea where I’d find such rare jewels out here in the middle of the forest.” The dwarves’ eyes lit up, for being miners, they had a large collection of rare jewels. They ran to their house and quickly returned, bringing the prince the precious stones he needed. “How is it that you happen to know the counterspell for this exact type of magic?,” asked one of the dwarves, a little suspiciously “Well, you have to know these things when you’re a prince, you know?” he replied. Quickly, they laid the emeralds and sapphires all around Snow White. The prince said some magic words, and the jewels began to shine in beautiful shades of green and blue. Suddenly, Snow White opened her eyes and jumped up. “What happened? Where am I?” Snow White looked around and saw the seven dwarves, as well as a tall, young man that she didn’t recognize. Then she remembered the old woman and the apple, and realized that it had really been the queen who had tricked her. But, feeling relief, and the love of her loyal friends, she began to laugh. And soon, everyone was laughing with her. The dwarves explained how the prince had saved her life, and the young man offered to take her back to his kingdom, far away from the evil queen. Snow White accepted, but the dwarves insisted that they come too, to protect her along the way. The prince seemed friendly enough, but after all that had happened, they weren’t so sure that he wasn’t secretly working for the queen, and they were determined to make sure he was who he said he was. He agreed that they could come along. As it turned out, the dwarves need not have worried. When they arrived at the kingdom beyond the forest, it was clear that the prince was known to everyone there. In fact, his kingdom was the same one Snow White’s father had been visiting, and her father was still there! When they told him what the queen had been up to, Snow White’s father immediately sent some of his soldiers back to his own kingdom to arrest her. As the years passed, the Prince and Snow White became the closest of friends, and eventually they were married, and they lived happily ever after. And the dwarves? Well, The prince told them they could stay at his palace if they wished, but they politely declined. They preferred their simple life in the woods, and when everything was settled, they went home to their cottage, their mines, and their jewels. In fact, they’re probably still there now. The end. Thank you for listening to Snow White, by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, adapted by Lorena Romero, and narrated by Madeline Walton-Hadlock. This was a LibraryCall adaptation and recording.