Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs
For
use after Lesson 26.
Sight
Words to Know
one,
once, of, from, done, come, to, who, into
upon,
away, became, over, after, cannot
little,
every, never, ready, other
the,
was, been
said,
again, against
as,
is, has
very,
where
all
they
have
don't
were
when,
why, what
knew
could,
would
king,
along
didn't
Sight
or Common Words Child Should Be Becoming Familiar With
castle,
listen
which,
while
about
year
thing
another
beautiful
everything,
anyone, somebody
woman
any
Words
above Instructional Level (From Context, Parent)
fairest,
began, until, porridge, second, before, poison, agree
herself,
huntsman
later,
owner, silver, letter, rather
alone,
awoke
alive,
asleep
window,
yellow
even,
open, happen
scared,
frightened
feather,
finger, daughter, mother, stepmother
married,
covered
sewing,
mirror, yesterday, mountain, envious, golden
child,
wild, gold, told, wall, called, full
bread,
dead
heart,
heard
dwarf,
world, here
front,
blood, piece
white,
bring, knife, knock, wrote, long
envy,
happy, barely, bury, body
middle,
table, grumble, apple
seven
morning,
sitting, nibbling, lying, using, cutting, drinking, looking, raising
sure,
half, laugh
Once upon a time the snow fell like
feathers from the clouds. A queen sat at her castle window, which had a dark
black frame. She was sewing. While she looked away to see the snow she pricked
her finger. Three drops of blood fell upon the snow.
Now the red looked so nice on the
white that she said to herself, “Oh, that I had a child as white as this snow,
as red as this blood, and as black as the wood of this frame!” Soon a little
daughter came to her. She was as white as snow, and had cheeks as red as blood,
and hair as black as the wood. Her mother named her “Snow White.” And at the
same time the queen died.
About a year later the king got
another wife. She was very beautiful, but very proud. Every day she stepped in
front of her mirror and said:
“Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the
fairest of us all?”
And
it said back:
“The queen is the
fairest of the day.”
But Snow White grew up. She was as
fair as the day, and more beautiful than the queen herself. The queen now asked
her mirror:
“Mirror, mirror
on the wall,
Who is the
fairest of us all?”
But
it said:
“The queen was
fairest yesterday;
Snow White is
the fairest, now, they say.”
Then the queen became yellow with
envy. From then on, she hated the little girl. Her envy grew so that she did
not sleep. At last she said to a huntsman, “Take the child away into the woods.
I will never look at her again. You must kill her. Bring me her heart to show
me you have done it.”
The huntsman listened and took the
girl away. But when he drew out his knife to kill her, she began to cry. She
said, “Don’t kill me! I will run into the trees, and never come home again.”
The huntsman said, “Well, run away
then, poor child.” Just then a wild pig came along. The huntsman killed it. He
took its heart to the queen.
But now poor little Snow White was
left alone, lost in the woods. She ran and ran until it was dark. Then she saw
a little house near, so she went in to rest. In this house everything was very
small, but very neat. In the middle stood a little table with a white cloth
over it, and seven little plates on it. Each plate had a spoon and a knife and
a fork, and there were also seven little mugs. Against the wall were seven
little beds in a row. Each was covered with snow-white sheets.
Snow White ate a little bit of
porridge out of each plate, and drank a drop or two of wine out of each mug.
She did not want to eat all of anyone’s food. After that she lay down on one
bed, but it was too soft. She tried another, but that was too long. Another was
too short, and another too hard. But the last one was just the thing. She fell
asleep in it.
Later the owners of the house came
home. They were seven dwarfs, who dug for gold and silver in the mountains.
They first lit seven little lamps. They saw at once that somebody had been in.
Everything was not the way they had left it.
The first asked, “Who has been sitting
on my chair?”
The second, “Who has been eating off
my plate?”
The third said, “Who has been
nibbling at my bread?”
The fourth, “Who has been at my
porridge?”
The fifth, “Who has been using my
fork?”
The sixth grumbled out, “Who has
been cutting with my knife?”
The last said, “Who has been
drinking out of my mug?”
Then the first, looking round, said:
“Who has been lying on my bed?” And they found Snow White, but they felt bad
for her, and let her sleep.
As soon as morning came Snow-White
awoke. She was frightened when she saw the seven little men, but they were very
nice. They asked her what she was called.
“My name is Snow White,” she said.
“Why have you come into our house?”
they asked.
So she told them what had happened.
When her tale was done the dwarfs
said, “Will you look after our house? If so, we will keep you here, and you
will have everything you need.” And so she stayed with them, and kept their house
neat. In the morning the dwarfs went into the mountains and looked for silver
and gold, and at night they came home and found their meals ready for them.
The queen was happy when the
huntsman gave her the pig’s heart. She was sure that she was now the most
beautiful woman in the world. One day she stepped before her mirror, and said:
“Mirror, mirror
on the wall,
Who is the
fairest of us all?”
But
it said:
“The queen was
fairest yesterday;
Snow White is
fairest now, they say.”
Then the queen knew that the
huntsman had tricked her, and that Snow White was still alive. So she dressed
like a poor woman. Then over the seven mountains to the house of the seven
dwarfs she made her way.
She knocked at the door. But Snow White
said, “I cannot let anyone in. The seven dwarfs have told me not to.”
“That is hard on me,” said the old
woman, “for I must take back my apples, but there is one which I will give
you.”
“No,” said Snow White, “no, I must
not take it.”
“Are you scared of it?” cried the
old woman. “See—I will cut the apple in half. You eat the red cheeks, and I
will eat the core.” When Snow White saw the woman eat the core she stretched
out her hand, and took the other part. She had barely put a piece in her mouth
when she fell down dead upon the ground, for the cheeks had poison in them.
Then the queen looked at her and laughed. “White as snow, red as blood, black
as wood! You will not wake up.”
When she reached home she spoke to
her mirror:
“Mirror, mirror
on the wall,
Who is the
fairest of us all?”
It
said:
“The queen is
fairest of the day.”
Then her envious heart was at rest,
if an envious heart can rest.
When the little dwarfs came home
they found Snow White lying on the ground, and they laid her on a table. All
seven stood by it. They wept and wept for three days. Then they got ready to
bury her. But she still looked alive. Even her cheeks were still red. They said
to one another, “We cannot bury her in the black ground.” Then they had a case
made of glass. In this they could see the body on all sides. The dwarfs wrote
her name with golden letters upon the glass.
For a long time Snow White lay in
her case. She didn’t change. She looked like she were just asleep. She was
still white as snow, red as blood, and black as wood. One day a king’s son was
in the woods. He saw Snow White, and she was so beautiful that he kissed her.
Then she opened her eyes, and, raising the lid of the glass case, she rose up
and asked, “Where am I?”
Full of joy, the prince said, “You
are safe with me.” And he told to her what had happened, and how he would
rather have her than any other for his wife. He asked her to go with him to his
castle. Snow White agreed. When they got there they were married.
But Snow White’s stepmother had
stepped in front of her mirror and asked:
“Mirror,
mirror on the wall,
Who
is the fairest of us all?”
And it had said:
“The
queen was fairest yesterday;
Snow
White is now, they say.”
Then the queen left the castle, and
was never seen or heard of again.
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