白雪公主（英语原著）精彩摘抄

　　So she kept house for them. Every morning they went into the mountains looking for ore and gold, and in the evening when they came back home their meal had to be ready. During the day the girl was alone.

　　the good dwarfs warned her, saying, Be careful about your stepmother. She will soon know that you are here. Do not let anyone in.

　　Now the queen, believing that she had eaten Snow-White's lungs and liver, could only think that she was again the first and the most beautiful woman of all. She stepped before her mirror and said:

　　Mirror, mirror, on the wall, Who in this land is fairest of all?

　　It answered:

　　You, my queen, are fair; it is true. But Snow-White, beyond the mountains With the seven dwarfs, Is still a thousand times fairer than you.

　　This startled the queen, for she knew that the mirror did not lie, and she realized that the huntsman had deceived her, and that Snow-White was still alive. Then she thought, and thought again, how she could kill Snow-White, for as long as long as she was not the most beautiful woman in the entire land her envy would give her no rest.

　　At last she thought of something. Coloring her face, she disguised herself as an old peddler woman, so that no one would recognize her. In this disguise she went to the house of the seven dwarfs. Knocking on the door she called out, Beautiful wares for sale, for sale!

　　Snow-White peered out the window and said, Good day, dear woman, what do you have for sale?

　　Good wares, beautiful wares, she answered. Bodice laces in all colors. And she took out one that was braided from colorful silk. Would you like this one?

　　I can let that honest woman in, thought Snow-White, then unbolted the door and bought the pretty bodice lace.

　　Child, said the old woman, how you look! Come, let me lace you up properly.

　　the unsuspecting Snow-White stood before her and let her do up the new lace, but the old woman pulled so quickly and so hard that Snow-White could not breathe.

　　You used to be the most beautiful one, said the old woman, and hurried away.

　　Not long afterward, in the evening time, the seven dwarfs came home. How terrified they were when they saw their dear Snow-White lying on the ground, not moving at all, as though she were dead. They lifted her up, and, seeing that she was too tightly laced, they cut the lace in two. Then she began to breathe a little, and little by little she came back to life.

　　When the dwarfs heard what had happened they said, The old peddler woman was no one else but the godless queen. Take care and let no one in when we are not with you.

　　When the wicked woman returned home she went to her mirror and asked:

　　Mirror, mirror, on the wall, Who in this land is fairest of all?

　　the mirror answered once again:

　　You, my queen, are fair; it is true. But Snow-White, beyond the mountains With the seven dwarfs, Is still a thousand times fairer than you.

　　When she heard that, all her blood ran to her heart because she knew that Snow-White had come back to life.

　　This time, she said, I shall think of something that will destroy you.

　　then with the art of witchcraft, which she understood, she made a poisoned comb. Then she disguised herself, taking the form of a different old woman. Thus she went across the seven mountains to the seven dwarfs, knocked on the door, and called out, Good wares for sale, for sale!

　　Snow-White looked out and said, Go on your way. I am not allowed to let anyone in.

　　You surely may take a look, said the old woman, pulling out the poisoned comb and holding it up. The child liked it so much that she let herself be deceived, and she opened the door.

　　After they had aGREed on the purchase, the old woman said, Now let me comb your hair properly.

　　She had barely stuck the comb into Snow-White's hair when the poison took effect, and the girl fell down unconscious.

　　You specimen of beauty, said the wicked woman, now you are finished. And she walked away.

　　Fortunately it was almost evening, and the seven dwarfs came home. When they saw Snow-White lying on the ground as if she were dead, they immediately suspected her stepmother. They examined her and found the poisoned comb. They had scarcely pulled it out when Snow-White came to herself again and told them what had happened. Once again they warned her to be on guard and not to open the door for anyone.

　　Back at home the queen stepped before her mirror and said:

　　Mirror, mirror, on the wall, Who in this land is fairest of all?

　　the mirror answered:

　　You, my queen, are fair; it is true. But Snow-White, beyond the mountains With the seven dwarfs, Is still a thousand times fairer than you.

　　When the queen heard the mirror saying this, she shook and trembled with anger, Snow-White shall die, she shouted, if it costs me my life!

then she went into her most secret room —— no one else was allowed inside —— and she made a poisoned, poisoned apple. From the outside it was beautiful, white with red cheeks, and anyone who saw it would want it. But anyone who might eat a little piece of it would died. Then, coloring her face, she disguised herself as a peasant woman, and thus went across the seven mountains to the seven dwarfs. She knocked on the door.

　　Snow-White stuck her head out the window and said, I am not allowed to let anyone in. The dwarfs have forbidden me to do so.

　　That is all right with me, answered the peasant woman. I'll easily get rid of my apples. Here, I'll give you one of them.

　　No, said Snow-White, I cannot accept anything.

　　Are you afraid of poison? asked the old woman. Look, I'll cut the apple in two. You eat the red half, and I shall eat the white half.

　　Now the apple had been so artfully made that only the red half was poisoned. Snow-White longed for the beautiful apple, and when she saw that the peasant woman was eating part of it she could no longer resist, and she stuck her hand out and took the poisoned half. She barely had a bite in her mouth when she fell to the ground dead.

　　the queen looked at her with a gruesome stare, laughed loudly, and said, White as snow, red as blood, black as ebony wood! This time the dwarfs cannot awaken you.

　　Back at home she asked her mirror:

　　Mirror, mirror, on the wall, Who in this land is fairest of all?

　　It finally answered:

　　You, my queen, are fairest of all.

　　then her envious heart was at rest, as well as an envious heart can be at rest.

　　When the dwarfs came home that evening they found Snow-White lying on the ground. She was not breathing at all. She was dead. They lifted her up and looked for something poisonous. They undid her laces. They combed her hair. They washed her with water and wine. But nothing helped. The dear child was dead, and she remained dead. They laid her on a bier, and all seven sat next to her and mourned for her and cried for three days. They were going to bury her, but she still looked as fresh as a living person, and still had her beautiful red cheeks.

　　they said, We cannot bury her in the black earth, and they had a transparent glass coffin made, so she could be seen from all sides. They laid her inside, and with golden letters wrote on it her name, and that she was a princess. Then they put the coffin outside on a mountain, and one of them always stayed with it and watched over her. The animals too came and mourned for Snow-white, first an owl, then a raven, and finally a dove.

　　Snow-White lay there in the coffin a long, long time, and she did not decay, but looked like she was asleep, for she was still as white as snow and as red as blood, and as black-haired as ebony wood.

　　Now it came to pass that a prince entered these woods and happened onto the dwarfs' house, where he sought shelter for the night. He saw the coffin on the mountain with beautiful Snow-White in it, and he read what was written on it with golden letters.

　　then he said to the dwarfs, Let me have the coffin. I will give you anything you want for it.

　　But the dwarfs answered, We will not sell it for all the gold in the world.

　　then he said, Then give it to me, for I cannot live without being able to see Snow-White. I will honor her and respect her as my most cherished one.

　　As he thus spoke, the good dwarfs felt pity for him and gave him the coffin. The prince had his servants carry it away on their shoulders. But then it happened that one of them stumbled on some brush, and this dislodged from Snow-White's throat the piece of poisoned apple that she had bitten off. Not long afterward she opened her eyes, lifted the lid from her coffin, sat up, and was alive again.

　　Good heavens, where am I? she cried out.

　　the prince said joyfully, You are with me. He told her what had happened, and then said, I love you more than anything else in the world. Come with me to my father's castle. You shall become my wife. Snow-White loved him, and she went with him. Their wedding was planned with GREat splendor and majesty.

　　Snow-White's godless stepmother was also invited to the feast. After putting on her beautiful clothes she stepped before her mirror and said:

　　Mirror, mirror, on the wall, Who in this land is fairest of all?

　　the mirror answered:

　　You, my queen, are fair; it is true. But the young queen is a thousand times fairer than you.

　　the wicked woman uttered a curse, and she became so frightened, so frightened, that she did not know what to do. At first she did not want to go to the wedding, but she found no peace. She had to go and see the young queen. When she arrived she recognized Snow-White, and terrorized, she could only stand there without moving.

　　then they put a pair of iron shoes into burning coals. They were brought forth with tongs and placed before her. She was forced to step into the red-hot shoes and dance until she fell down dead.