Bab Bab 150 · Snow-White and Rose-Red

. Snow-White and Rose-Red

There was once a poor widow who lived in a lonely cottage. In front of

the cottage was a garden wherein stood two rose-trees, one of which

bore white and the other red roses. She had two children who were like

the two rose-trees, and one was called Snow-white, and the other

Rose-red. They were as good and happy, as busy and cheerful as ever two

children in the world were, only Snow-white was more quiet and gentle

than Rose-red. Rose-red liked better to run about in the meadows and

fields seeking flowers and catching butterflies; but Snow-white sat at

home with her mother, and helped her with her house-work, or read to

her when there was nothing to do.

The two children were so fond of each another that they always held

each other by the hand when they went out together, and when Snow-white

said, “We will not leave each other,” Rose-red answered, “Never so long

as we live,” and their mother would add, “What one has she must share

with the other.”

They often ran about the forest alone and gathered red berries, and no

beasts did them any harm, but came close to them trustfully. The little

hare would eat a cabbage-leaf out of their hands, the roe grazed by

their side, the stag leapt merrily by them, and the birds sat still

upon the boughs, and sang whatever they knew.

No mishap overtook them; if they had stayed too late in the forest, and

night came on, they laid themselves down near one another upon the

moss, and slept until morning came, and their mother knew this and had

no distress on their account.

Once when they had spent the night in the wood and the dawn had roused

them, they saw a beautiful child in a shining white dress sitting near

their bed. He got up and looked quite kindly at them, but said nothing

and went away into the forest. And when they looked round they found

that they had been sleeping quite close to a precipice, and would

certainly have fallen into it in the darkness if they had gone only a

few paces further. And their mother told them that it must have been

the angel who watches over good children.

Snow-white and Rose-red kept their mother’s little cottage so neat that

it was a pleasure to look inside it. In the summer Rose-red took care

of the house, and every morning laid a wreath of flowers by her

mother’s bed before she awoke, in which was a rose from each tree. In

the winter Snow-white lit the fire and hung the kettle on the wrekin.

The kettle was of copper and shone like gold, so brightly was it

polished. In the evening, when the snowflakes fell, the mother said,

“Go, Snow-white, and bolt the door,” and then they sat round the

hearth, and the mother took her spectacles and read aloud out of a

large book, and the two girls listened as they sat and span. And close

by them lay a lamb upon the floor, and behind them upon a perch sat a

white dove with its head hidden beneath its wings.

One evening, as they were thus sitting comfortably together, some one

knocked at the door as if he wished to be let in. The mother said,

“Quick, Rose-red, open the door, it must be a traveller who is seeking

shelter.” Rose-red went and pushed back the bolt, thinking that it was

a poor man, but it was not; it was a bear that stretched his broad,

black head within the door.

Rose-red screamed and sprang back, the lamb bleated, the dove

fluttered, and Snow-white hid herself behind her mother’s bed. But the

bear began to speak and said, “Do not be afraid, I will do you no harm!

I am half-frozen, and only want to warm myself a little beside you.”

“Poor bear,” said the mother, “lie down by the fire, only take care

that you do not burn your coat.” Then she cried, “Snow-white, Rose-red,

come out, the bear will do you no harm, he means well.” So they both

came out, and by-and-by the lamb and dove came nearer, and were not

afraid of him. The bear said, “Here, children, knock the snow out of my

coat a little;” so they brought the broom and swept the bear’s hide

clean; and he stretched himself by the fire and growled contentedly and

comfortably. It was not long before they grew quite at home, and played

tricks with their clumsy guest. They tugged his hair with their hands,

put their feet upon his back and rolled him about, or they took a

hazel-switch and beat him, and when he growled they laughed. But the

bear took it all in good part, only when they were too rough he called

out, “Leave me alive, children,

“Snowy-white, Rosy-red,

Will you beat your lover dead?”

When it was bed-time, and the others went to bed, the mother said to

the bear, “You can lie there by the hearth, and then you will be safe

from the cold and the bad weather.” As soon as day dawned the two

children let him out, and he trotted across the snow into the forest.

Henceforth the bear came every evening at the same time, laid himself

down by the hearth, and let the children amuse themselves with him as

much as they liked; and they got so used to him that the doors were

never fastened until their black friend had arrived.

When spring had come and all outside was green, the bear said one

morning to Snow-white, “Now I must go away, and cannot come back for

the whole summer.” “Where are you going, then, dear bear?” asked

Snow-white. “I must go into the forest and guard my treasures from the

wicked dwarfs. In the winter, when the earth is frozen hard, they are

obliged to stay below and cannot work their way through; but now, when

the sun has thawed and warmed the earth, they break through it, and

come out to pry and steal; and what once gets into their hands, and in

their caves, does not easily see daylight again.”

Snow-white was quite sorry for his going away, and as she unbolted the

door for him, and the bear was hurrying out, he caught against the bolt

and a piece of his hairy coat was torn off, and it seemed to Snow-white

as if she had seen gold shining through it, but she was not sure about

it. The bear ran away quickly, and was soon out of sight behind the

trees.

A short time afterwards the mother sent her children into the forest to

get fire-wood. There they found a big tree which lay felled on the

ground, and close by the trunk something was jumping backwards and

forwards in the grass, but they could not make out what it was. When

they came nearer they saw a dwarf with an old withered face and a

snow-white beard a yard long. The end of the beard was caught in a

crevice of the tree, and the little fellow was jumping backwards and

forwards like a dog tied to a rope, and did not know what to do.

He glared at the girls with his fiery red eyes and cried, “Why do you

stand there? Can you not come here and help me?” “What are you about

there, little man?” asked Rose-red. “You stupid, prying goose!”

answered the dwarf; “I was going to split the tree to get a little wood

for cooking. The little bit of food that one of us wants gets burnt up

directly with thick logs; we do not swallow so much as you coarse,

greedy folk. I had just driven the wedge safely in, and everything was

going as I wished; but the wretched wood was too smooth and suddenly

sprang asunder, and the tree closed so quickly that I could not pull

out my beautiful white beard; so now it is tight in and I cannot get

away, and the silly, sleek, milk-faced things laugh! Ugh! how odious

you are!”

The children tried very hard, but they could not pull the beard out, it

was caught too fast. “I will run and fetch some one,” said Rose-red.

“You senseless goose!” snarled the dwarf; “why should you fetch some

one? You are already two too many for me; can you not think of

something better?” “Don’t be impatient,” said Snow-white, “I will help

you,” and she pulled her scissors out of her pocket, and cut off the

end of the beard.

As soon as the dwarf felt himself free he laid hold of a bag which lay

amongst the roots of the tree, and which was full of gold, and lifted

it up, grumbling to himself, “Uncouth people, to cut off a piece of my

fine beard. Bad luck to you!” and then he swung the bag upon his back,

and went off without even once looking at the children.

Some time after that Snow-white and Rose-red went to catch a dish of

fish. As they came near the brook they saw something like a large

grasshopper jumping towards the water, as if it were going to leap in.

They ran to it and found it was the dwarf. “Where are you going?” said

Rose-red; “you surely don’t want to go into the water?” “I am not such

a fool!” cried the dwarf; “don’t you see that the accursed fish wants

to pull me in?” The little man had been sitting there fishing, and

unluckily the wind had twisted his beard with the fishing-line; just

then a big fish bit, and the feeble creature had not strength to pull

it out; the fish kept the upper hand and pulled the dwarf towards him.

He held on to all the reeds and rushes, but it was of little good, he

was forced to follow the movements of the fish, and was in urgent

danger of being dragged into the water.

The girls came just in time; they held him fast and tried to free his

beard from the line, but all in vain, beard and line were entangled

fast together. Nothing was left but to bring out the scissors and cut

the beard, whereby a small part of it was lost. When the dwarf saw that

he screamed out, “Is that civil, you toad-stool, to disfigure one’s

face? Was it not enough to clip off the end of my beard? Now you have

cut off the best part of it. I cannot let myself be seen by my people.

I wish you had been made to run the soles off your shoes!” Then he took

out a sack of pearls which lay in the rushes, and without saying a word

more he dragged it away and disappeared behind a stone.

It happened that soon afterwards the mother sent the two children to

the town to buy needles and thread, and laces and ribbons. The road led

them across a heath upon which huge pieces of rock lay strewn here and

there. Now they noticed a large bird hovering in the air, flying slowly

round and round above them; it sank lower and lower, and at last

settled near a rock not far off. Directly afterwards they heard a loud,

piteous cry. They ran up and saw with horror that the eagle had seized

their old acquaintance the dwarf, and was going to carry him off.

The children, full of pity, at once took tight hold of the little man,

and pulled against the eagle so long that at last he let his booty go.

As soon as the dwarf had recovered from his first fright he cried with

his shrill voice, “Could you not have done it more carefully! You

dragged at my brown coat so that it is all torn and full of holes, you

helpless clumsy creatures!” Then he took up a sack full of precious

stones, and slipped away again under the rock into his hole. The girls,

who by this time were used to his thanklessness, went on their way and

did their business in the town.

As they crossed the heath again on their way home they surprised the

dwarf, who had emptied out his bag of precious stones in a clean spot,

and had not thought that anyone would come there so late. The evening

sun shone upon the brilliant stones; they glittered and sparkled with

all colors so beautifully that the children stood still and looked at

them. “Why do you stand gaping there?” cried the dwarf, and his

ashen-gray face became copper-red with rage. He was going on with his

bad words when a loud growling was heard, and a black bear came

trotting towards them out of the forest. The dwarf sprang up in a

fright, but he could not get to his cave, for the bear was already

close. Then in the dread of his heart he cried, “Dear Mr. Bear, spare

me, I will give you all my treasures; look, the beautiful jewels lying

there! Grant me my life; what do you want with such a slender little

fellow as I? you would not feel me between your teeth. Come, take these

two wicked girls, they are tender morsels for you, fat as young quails;

for mercy’s sake eat them!” The bear took no heed of his words, but

gave the wicked creature a single blow with his paw, and he did not

move again.

The girls had run away, but the bear called to them, “Snow-white and

Rose-red, do not be afraid; wait, I will come with you.” Then they knew

his voice and waited, and when he came up to them suddenly his bearskin

fell off, and he stood there, a handsome man, clothed all in gold. “I

am a King’s son,” he said, “and I was bewitched by that wicked dwarf,

who had stolen my treasures; I have had to run about the forest as a

savage bear until I was freed by his death. Now he has got his

well-deserved punishment.”

Snow-white was married to him, and Rose-red to his brother, and they

divided between them the great treasure which the dwarf had gathered

together in his cave. The old mother lived peacefully and happily with

her children for many years. She took the two rose-trees with her, and

they stood before her window, and every year bore the most beautiful

roses, white and red.