At the beginning of the story, a queen sits sewing at an open window during a winter snowfall when she pricks her finger with her needle, causing three drops of blood to drip onto the freshly fallen snow on the black window sill. Then she says to herself, “How I wish that I had a daughter who had skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood and hair as black as ebony.” Some time later, the queen dies giving birth to a baby daughter whom she names Snow White. (However, in the 1812 version of the tale, the queen does not die but later behaves the same way the stepmother does in later versions of the tale, including the 1854 iteration.) A year later, Snow White’s father, the king, marries again. His new wife is very beautiful, but a vain and wicked woman who practices witchcraft. The new queen possesses a magic mirror, which she asks every morning, “Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?” The mirror always tells the queen that she is the fairest. The Queen is always pleased with that response because the magic mirror never lies. When Snow White is seven years old, her fairness surpasses that of her stepmother. When the Queen again asks her mirror the same question, it tells her that Snow White is the fairest.[1][5]
This gives the Queen a great shock. She becomes envious, and from that moment on, her heart turns against Snow White, whom the Queen grows to hate increasingly with time. Eventually, she orders a huntsman to take Snow White into the forest and kill her. As proof that Snow White is dead, the Queen also wants him to return with her heart. The huntsman takes Snow White into the forest, but after raising his dagger, he finds himself unable to kill her when Snow White realizes her stepmother’s plan and tearfully begs the huntsman, “Spare me this mockery of justice! I will run away into the forest and never come home again!” After seeing the tears in the princess’s eyes, the huntsman reluctantly agrees to spare Snow White and brings the Queen a boar’s heart instead.[1][5]
After wandering through the forest for hours, Snow White discovers a tiny cottage belonging to a group of seven dwarfs. Since no one is at home, she eats some of the tiny meals, drinks some of their wine, and then tests all the beds. Finally, the last bed is comfortable enough for her, and she falls asleep. When the dwarfs return home, they immediately become aware that there has been a burglar in their house because everything in their home is in disorder. Prowling about frantically, they head upstairs and discover the sleeping Snow White. She wakes up and explains to them about her stepmother’s attempt to kill her, and the dwarfs take pity on her and let her stay with them in exchange for a job as a housemaid. They warn her to be careful when alone at home and to let no one in while they are working in the mountains.[1][5]
Snow White grows into a lovely, fair, and beautiful young maiden. Meanwhile, the queen, who believes she got rid of Snow White, asks her mirror once again: “Mirror mirror on the wall, who now is the fairest one of all?” The mirror tells her that not only is Snow White still the fairest in the land, but is also currently hiding with the dwarfs.[1] The Queen is furious and decides to kill her herself. First, she appears at the dwarfs’ cottage, disguised as an old peddler, and offers Snow White a colourful, silky laced bodice as a present. The Queen laces her up so tightly that Snow White faints; the dwarfs return just in time to revive Snow White by loosening the laces. Next, the Queen dresses up as a comb seller and convinces Snow White to take a beautiful comb as a present; she strokes Snow White’s hair with the poisoned comb. The girl is overcome by the poison from the comb, but is again revived by the dwarfs when they remove the comb from her hair. Finally, the queen disguises herself as a farmer’s wife and offers Snow White a poisoned apple. Snow White is hesitant to accept it, so the queen cuts the apple in half, eating the white (harmless) half and giving the red poisoned half to Snow White; the girl eagerly takes a bite and then falls into a coma, causing the Queen to think she has finally triumphed. This time, the dwarfs are unable to revive Snow White, and, assuming that the queen has finally killed her, they place her in a glass casket as a funeral for her.[1][5]
Some time later, a prince stumbles upon a seemingly dead Snow White lying in her glass coffin during a hunting trip. After hearing her story from the seven dwarfs, the prince is allowed to take Snow White to her proper resting place back at her father’s castle. All of a sudden, while Snow White is being transported, one of the prince’s servants trips and loses his balance. This dislodges the piece of the poisoned apple from Snow White’s throat, magically reviving her.[6] (In the 1812 version, the prince becomes so obsessed with Snow White that he carries her coffin wherever he goes, until one of his servants, in anger, lifts Snow White from the coffin and strikes her on the back, causing the piece of apple to come out of her throat.[7]) The Prince is overjoyed by this, and he declares his love for the now alive and well Snow White, who, surprised to meet him face to face, humbly accepts his marriage proposal. The prince invites everyone in the land to their wedding except for Snow White’s stepmother.
The Queen, believing herself finally to be rid of Snow White, asks again her magic mirror, who is the fairest in the land. The mirror says that there is a bride of a prince who is yet fairer. The queen decides to go to the wedding and investigate. Once she arrives, the Queen becomes frozen with rage and fear when she finds out that the prince’s bride is her stepdaughter, Snow White herself. The furious Queen tries to sow chaos and attempts to kill her again, but the prince recognizes her as a threat to Snow White when he learns the truth from his bride. As punishment for the attempted murder of Snow White, the prince orders the Queen to wear a pair of red-hot iron slippers and to dance in them until she drops dead. With the Queen finally defeated and dead, Snow White’s wedding to the prince peacefully continues.
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