Comparing: Schneewittchen

Once upon a time in the middle of winter, when the flakes of snow were falling like feathers from the sky, a queen sat at a window sewing, and the frame of the window was made of black ebony. As she sewed she pricked her finger, and three drops of blood fell upon the snow. She thought to herself, 'If only I had a child as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as the wood of the window frame.' Soon afterward she had a little daughter who was as white as snow, as red as blood, and whose hair was as black as ebony. She was called Snow White. When the child was born, the queen died. The king took another wife, a beautiful woman but proud and arrogant, and she could not bear anyone else to be more beautiful than she. She had a magic mirror, and whenever she looked into it she asked, 'Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?' And the mirror always answered, 'You, my queen, are the fairest of all.' Snow White grew up and became more beautiful with each passing year. When she was seven years old, she was as beautiful as the bright day, even more beautiful than the queen herself. One day when the queen asked her mirror, it answered, 'Queen, you are full fair, 'tis true, but Snow White is fairer than you.' The queen was shocked and turned yellow and green with envy. From that hour on, she hated Snow White. Envy and pride grew like weeds in her heart until she had no peace day or night. At last she sent for a huntsman and said, 'Take Snow White away into the forest. I never want to see her again. Kill her and bring me her heart as proof.' The huntsman took Snow White into the forest, but when he drew his hunting knife, she began to weep and said, 'Dear huntsman, please let me live. I will run into the wild forest and never come back.' Because she was so beautiful, the huntsman had pity on her and said, 'Run away then, you poor child.' He thought, 'The wild beasts will soon devour you anyway.' But he felt as if a weight had been lifted from his heart, for he would not have to kill her. Just then a young boar came running by. The huntsman killed it, took out its heart, and brought it to the queen as proof that Snow White was dead. Poor Snow White was all alone in the great forest. She was so frightened that she looked at every leaf on every tree and did not know what to do. She began to run, and she ran over sharp stones and through thorns. Wild beasts ran past her, but they did her no harm. She ran as far as her feet would go until evening, when she saw a little house and went inside to rest. Everything in the house was tiny, but neater and cleaner than can be described. There was a little table with a white tablecloth set, and seven little plates, seven little spoons, seven little knives and forks, and seven little cups. Against the wall stood seven little beds side by side, covered with snow-white sheets. Snow White was so hungry and thirsty that she ate a little from each plate and drank a drop from each cup, for she did not want to take everything from one of them. Then she lay down in one of the beds, but none felt right until she tried the seventh, and that was so comfortable that she fell fast asleep. When it was quite dark, the owners of the house returned. They were seven dwarfs who dug for gold and ore in the mountains. They lit their seven little lamps and saw that someone had been there, for not everything was in the same order as they had left it. The first one said, 'Who has been sitting in my little chair?' The second, 'Who has been eating from my little plate?' The third, 'Who has been eating my little bread?' The fourth, 'Who has been eating my little vegetables?' The fifth, 'Who has been using my little fork?' The sixth, 'Who has been cutting with my little knife?' The seventh, 'Who has been drinking from my little cup?' Then the first one looked around and saw a little lump in his bed. He called the others, and they were all amazed to find Snow White lying there asleep. The seven dwarfs all liked her so much that they let her sleep on, and the seventh dwarf spent the night with his comrades, each one sleeping for an hour in turn. In the morning Snow White woke up, and when she saw the seven dwarfs she was frightened. But they were friendly and asked, 'What is your name?' 'My name is Snow White,' she answered. 'How did you find your way to our house?' the dwarfs asked. Then she told them how her stepmother had tried to have her killed, but the huntsman had spared her life, and she had run until she found their little house. The dwarfs said, 'If you will keep house for us, cook, make the beds, wash, sew, and knit, and keep everything clean and tidy, you may stay with us, and we will take good care of you.' Snow White gladly agreed, and so she stayed. Every morning the dwarfs went into the mountains to dig for gold, and in the evening when they returned, Snow White had their meal ready. By day she was alone, so the good dwarfs warned her, 'Be careful. Your stepmother will soon know you are here. Do not let anyone in.' The queen, believing Snow White was dead, asked her mirror, 'Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?' The mirror answered, 'Queen, you are full fair, 'tis true, but Snow White, beyond the mountains with the seven dwarfs, is still a thousand times fairer than you.' The queen was horrified to learn that Snow White was still alive, for she knew that the mirror did not lie. She realized that the huntsman had deceived her and that Snow White was still alive. 'I must think of something that will destroy her,' she said, and the more she thought about it, the more envy and hatred filled her heart. Finally she came up with a plan. She painted her face and dressed as an old peddler woman, so that no one could recognize her. In this disguise she went over the seven mountains to the house of the seven dwarfs. She knocked at the door and called out, 'Beautiful things for sale, cheap! Cheap!' Snow White peeped out the window and said, 'Good day, good woman. What do you have for sale?' 'Good things, beautiful things,' she answered. 'Laces of every color,' and she held up one made of colored silk. 'I can let this honest woman in,' thought Snow White, unlatched the door, and bought the pretty lace. 'Child, come here,' said the old woman, 'let me lace you properly.' Snow White had no suspicion, so she stood before her and let her lace her up. But the old woman laced her so quickly and so tightly that Snow White could not breathe and fell down as if dead. 'Now I am the most beautiful,' said the queen, and hurried away. Not long afterward, when it was evening, the seven dwarfs returned. How horrified they were to find their dear Snow White lying on the ground as if dead. They lifted her up and saw that she was laced too tightly. They quickly cut the lace, and she began to breathe a little and gradually came back to life. When the dwarfs heard what had happened, they said, 'The old peddler woman was surely the queen. Take care and let no one in when we are away.' When the queen returned home, she asked her mirror, 'Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?' The mirror answered as before, and the queen realized that Snow White was still alive. She was more furious than ever, for she knew that the mirror never lied. 'Snow White shall die,' she cried, 'even if it costs my own life!' She went into her secret chamber, made a poisoned apple, and disguised herself as a peasant woman. She went over the mountains to the dwarfs' house and knocked at the door. Snow White put her head out the window and said, 'I dare not let anyone in. The seven dwarfs forbade me.' 'It is all the same to me,' answered the woman, 'but I will give you this apple. Look, I will cut it in two. The red side you will eat, and the white side I will eat.' Snow White longed for the beautiful apple, and when she saw that the peasant woman was eating half of it, she could no longer resist. She took the poisoned half into her mouth and swallowed it. As soon as she took a bite, she fell down dead. When the dwarfs returned that evening, they found Snow White lying on the ground. They tried everything to revive her, but she did not stir or breathe. She was dead. They unbound her, combed her hair, washed her with water and wine, but nothing helped. They laid her on a bier, and all seven sat around it and wept for three days. They were so grief-stricken that they could not bury her. But she still looked as fresh as a living person, and her cheeks still had their beautiful color. So they said, 'We cannot bury her in the black earth.' They made a glass coffin that they could see her from all sides, laid her inside, and wrote on it in gold letters that she was a princess. They set the coffin on the mountain, and one of them always stayed by it to guard it. Animals came to mourn too: an owl, a raven, and a dove. And so Snow White lay for a long, long time in the coffin, without changing at all. She looked as if she were asleep, for she was still as white as snow, as red as blood, and her hair as black as ebony. It happened that a prince came into the forest and saw the coffin with Snow White inside. He read what was written on it in gold letters, and said to the dwarfs, 'Give me the coffin. I will give you anything you want for it.' But the dwarfs said, 'We will not part with it for all the gold in the world.' Then the prince said, 'Let me have it, for I cannot live without being able to see Snow White. I will honor and cherish her as my most precious possession.' The good dwarfs felt sorry for him and gave him the coffin. The prince had his servants carry the coffin away on their shoulders. As they were going, one of them stumbled on a bush, and the jolt dislodged the piece of poisoned apple from Snow White's throat. Her eyes opened, she pushed the lid of the coffin aside, sat up, and was alive again. 'Good heavens! Where am I?' she cried. The prince said joyfully, 'You are with me.' He told her what had happened and said, 'I love you more than anything in the world. Come with me to my father's castle. You shall be my wife.' Snow White loved him, and she went with him to his castle, where their wedding was celebrated with great splendor.

Il etait une fois, au coeur de l'hiver, alors que les flocons de neige tombaient du ciel comme des plumes, une reine etait assise a une fenetre dont le cadre etait d'ebene noir. Pendant qu'elle cousait, elle se piqua le doigt, et trois gouttes de sang tomberent sur la neige. Elle pensa : "Si seulement j'avais un enfant aussi blanc que la neige, aussi rouge que le sang, et aussi noir que le bois de cette fenetre." Peu apres, elle donna naissance a une fille qui avait la peau blanche comme la neige, les levres rouges comme le sang, et les cheveux noirs comme l'ebene. On l'appela Blanche-Neige. Mais la reine mourut en la mettant au monde. Le roi prit une nouvelle epouse, belle mais orgueilleuse, qui ne supportait pas que quiconque fut plus belle qu'elle. Elle possedait un miroir magique et demandait : "Miroir, miroir, dis-moi, qui est la plus belle du royaume ?" Le miroir repondait toujours : "C'est vous, Madame la Reine." Mais un jour, le miroir declara que Blanche-Neige etait mille fois plus belle. Folle de jalousie, la reine ordonna a un chasseur de tuer la princesse. Celui-ci eut pitie et la laissa s'enfuir. Perdue dans la foret, Blanche-Neige trouva une petite maison ou tout etait minuscule et soigneusement range : sept assiettes, sept cuilleres, sept lits. Les sept nains qui y vivaient la decouvrirent et l'accepterent chez elle, a condition qu'elle tienne la maison. La mechante reine apprit par son miroir que Blanche-Neige vivait encore. Elle se deguisa en vieille marchande et tenta trois fois de tuer la princesse : d'abord avec un lacet serre, puis avec un peigne empoisonne, et enfin avec une pomme empoisonnee. Blanche-Neige mordit dans la pomme et tomba comme morte. Les nains, desesperes, la placerent dans un cercueil de verre. Un prince qui passait par la vit Blanche-Neige et en tomba amoureux. Ses serviteurs porterent le cercueil, mais l'un d'eux trébucha, et le morceau de pomme poisonneuse se decrocha de la gorge de Blanche-Neige. Elle s'eveilla, et le prince lui demanda sa main. La mechante reine fut condamnee a danser dans des chaussures de fer chauffees au rouge jusqu'a ce que mort s'ensuive.