J. F. Campbell Collection > Household stories

164 grimm's household stories.
it replied, —
" Thou wert the fairest, lady Queen ;
Snow-White is fairest now, I ween."
This answer so frightened the Queen that she became quite yellow with
envy. From that hour, whenever she perceived Snow-White, her heart
was hardened against hei', and she hated the maiden. Her envy and
jealousy increased so that she had no rest day nor night, and she said
to a Huntsman, " Take the child away into the forest, I will never look
upon her again. You must kill her, and bring me her heart and tongue
for a token."
The Huntsman listened and took the Maiden away, but when he
drew out his knife to kill her, she began to cry, saying, "Ah, dear
Huntsman, give me my life ! I will run into the wild foi'est, and never
come home again."
This speech softened the Hunter's heart, and her beauty so touched
him that he had pity on her and said, " Well, run away then, poor
child ; " but he thought to himself, " The wild beasts will soon devour
you." Still he felt as if a stone had been taken from his heart, because
her death was not by his hand. Just at that moment a young boar
came roaring along to the spot, and as soon as he clapt eyes upon it the
Huntsman caught it, and, killing it, took its tongue and heart, and
carried them to the Queen for a token of his deed.
But now the poor little Snow-White was left mothei'less and alone,
and overcome with grief, she was bewildered at the sight of so many
trees, and knew not which way to turn. Presently she set off running,
and ran over stones and through thorns, and wild beasts sprang up as
she passed them, but they did her no harm. She ran on till her feet
refused to go farther, and as it was getting dark, and she saw a little
house near, she entered in to rest. In this cottage everything was
very small, but more neat and elegant than I can tell you. In the
middle stood a little table with a white cloth over it, and seven little
plates upon it, each plate having a spoon and a knife and a fork, and
there were also seven little mugs. Against the wall were seven little
beds ranged in a row, each covered with snow-white sheets. Little
Snow-White, being both hungry and thirsty, ate a little morsel of
porridge out of each plate, and drank a di-op or two of wine out of each
glass, for she did not wish to take away the whole share of any one.
After that, because she was so tired, she laid herself down on one bed,
but it did not suit ; she tried another, but that was too long ; a fourth
was too short, a fifth too hard, but the seventh was just the thing, and
tucking herself up in it she went to sleep, first commending herself
to God.
When it became quite dark the lords of the cottage came home,
seven Dwarfs, who dug and delved for ore in the mountains. They
first lighted seven little lamps, and perceived at once — for they illumined
the whole apartment — that somebody had been in, for everything was
not in the order in which they had left it. The first asked, " Who has
been sitting on my chair ?" The second, "Who has been eating off