Once upon a time, a Queen sat by her window, gazing at a world blanketed in white. Snow covered the garden, the hills, the lane, and the trees.
The Queen was sewing a coat for a child. "I wish my child to be as white as this cloth, as white as the snow," she said. "I shall call her Snow-white."
Soon after, the Queen gave birth to a daughter, white as snow, and named her Snow-white. Sadly, the Queen fell ill and died. Snow-white grew into a happy and beautiful child.
A year later, the King married a new Queen. She was beautiful but cruel. A wizard had given her a magic mirror that could speak, hanging on her wall. Each day, she would ask, "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" And the mirror would reply, "You, my Queen, are the fairest of them all."
Years passed. Snow-white grew into a lovely girl. One day, when the Queen asked her question, the mirror answered, "Snow-white is the fairest of them all."
Furious, the Queen cried, "Snow-white is not more beautiful than I! No one is!" After weeping, she summoned a servant. "Take Snow-white into the forest and kill her," she commanded.
The servant took Snow-white to the forest but could not harm her. "I will not kill you," he said. "But do not return to the castle, for the Queen is angry and will have you killed. Wait here; friends will help you." Then he left.
Poor Snow-white sat under a tree and cried. As night fell, she decided to find shelter. "I must not cry. I need to find a house for the night. I cannot stay here; bears might eat me."
She ventured deep into the forest and found a tiny hut. Inside, she saw seven little beds, a table with seven little loaves of bread, and seven little glasses. Hungry and thirsty, she ate one loaf and drank from one glass, then fell asleep on one of the beds.
The hut belonged to seven Little Men. Returning home at night, each with a big beard and a little blue coat, they lit their lamps and sat down to eat.
"Someone has eaten my little loaf!" cried one.
"Someone has drunk from my little glass!" said another.
They went to their beds, and one exclaimed, "Someone is sleeping in my little bed!"
All seven gathered to look at the sleeping girl. "She is very beautiful," they whispered.