Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Based on the Grimm brothers. Watercolor illustrations by Isabelle Beaussant – de Pas.

Once upon a time, there was a king and a queen of a beautiful country who lived in a big castle.

One day, they had a daughter whom they called Snow White, because her skin was white as snow.

But soon after the queen died, and the king remarried a very beautiful, but very proud and wicked woman.

She had a magic mirror, which she asked:
– Mirror, little mirror, which is the most beautiful in the land?

And the mirror always answered:

– Majesty, you are the most beautiful!

And it always said the same thing because it was true.

But years later, as Snow White grew into a young woman, she asked him as she always did:

– Mirror, little mirror, which is the most beautiful in the land?

The mirror answered her:

– Snow White is the most beautiful!

And it was true. Snow White had become a beautiful woman, yet she cultivated a wonderful simplicity. She spent long hours in nature, a friend of flowers and animals.

Realizing this through her mirror, the queen went into a rage beyond measure and asked a hunter to take Snow White into the forest and not to return until he had killed her and brought back her heart.

The huntsman was overcome with pity and was unable to kill the girl. He told her to run as far away as possible and killed an old boar to make the queen think he was bringing back Snow White’s heart.

Snow White took his advice and ran for hours and hours through the deep forest.

She stopped when she saw a small house in a clearing and knocked on the door. Receiving no answer, she pushed open the door and entered.

She saw seven small chairs around the table and sat down on the first one.

Then she saw seven plates already prepared and tasted a spoonful of each one because she was very hungry.

Then she drank from one of the seven glasses because she was very thirsty.

And as she was very tired she collapsed on the seven little beds and fell asleep.

When night came, the masters of the hut arrived; they were dwarves who were looking for gold in the mountains. They lit their little lamps, and when the house was lighted, they soon saw that someone had passed by, for everything was no longer in the same order in which they had left it.

The first said:

“Who sat on my chair?”

The second:

“Who ate off my plate?”

The third:

“Who took from my bread?”

The fourth:

“Who touched my vegetables?”

The fifth:

“Who poked with my fork?”

The sixth:

“Who cut with my knife?”

And the seventh:

“Who drank from my cup?”

Then the first one turned around and saw that his bed was unmade.

“Who has been lying in my bed?” he said.

And the others ran up and said:

“In mine too, there was someone.”

Then they saw Snow White lying across the seven little beds and sleeping. They shouted with astonishment, and each one went to get his lamp to have a better look at Snow White.

Oh, my God, oh, my God,” said the dwarfs, “how beautiful this girl is!

After they had recovered from their emotions and listened to Snow White’s story, the dwarves offered to let her stay in their home under cover as long as she wanted.

The next day they went to work on the mountain and told her not to open the door to anyone.

They lived happily for a few days. Snow White took care of the house and prepared delicious food to the delight of her guests.

In the meantime, the evil queen asked her mirror again:

– Mirror, mirror, who is the most beautiful in the land?

The mirror answered her:

– Snow White is the most beautiful!

She lost her breath:

– How? Snow White is not dead?

– No,” said the mirror, “she lives with the dwarves on the mountain.

She realized that the hunter had deceived her and went into a rage. She quickly developed a witch’s trick, because that’s what she was. She disguised herself as an old woman, took a basket of apples, and went to the forest to pick some poisonous herbs. She smeared one of the apples with her murderous mixture and left.

She headed for the dwarves’ cabin.

When she arrived, Snow White was alone because the dwarves had gone to work in the mountains.

– Who is it? Snow White asked when she knocked on the door.

– An apple seller, open the door for me, child.

– I can’t, my good lady. The dwarves have forbidden me. Said Snow White

– Look at my beautiful apples,” said the witch, pointing to a beautiful red apple through the window. They are delicious. Try one. I’ll give it to you.

And to support her gesture she bit into one of the apples that was not poisoned.
Snow White let herself be convinced and tasted the apple that the woman offered her. As soon as she took a bite, she fell to the ground.

The queen ran away, giggling madly. She got lost in the mountains and fell into a precipice. She was never heard from again.

When the dwarves arrived home from work, they discovered Snow White collapsed and thought she was dead because she wasn’t breathing.

They cried for a long time and finally decided to put her body under a glass bell that they built so they could continue to admire her.

She remained as beautiful as ever, day after day, and they stood around her to watch over her.

A few days later a Prince saw the scene and approached out of curiosity, he immediately fell madly in love with Snow White’s beauty.

He asked the dwarf for permission to remove the bell and approached the young woman and whispered a secret in her ear.

A few seconds later, Snow White opened her eyes and smiled at her miraculous Prince. She was alive!

Then they both left together with the dwarves to ask for the young woman’s hand in marriage to her father, the King, and celebrate a beautiful wedding.