9
The old pedlar woman warmed her hands in front of the fire.
“Thank you, my dear!”
Snow White looked at the basket of apples and exclaimed, “What lovely apples you have there!”
“They are delicious, dear. You must take this one. It is the juiciest one.”
“Oh no, I cannot!”
“Why?”
Then Snow White told her about the warning that the dwarfs had given her.
“You see,” she said, “they are afraid that the cruel Queen will try to kill me.”
The old woman cackled and said, “That is all rubbish! How can the Queen come here? You would recognise her, wouldn’t you?”
“But she’s a witch! She can change herself and then I will not recognise her.”
“Say what you will, but I’m certainly not the Queen. Me, an old pedlar woman, a Queen!” exclaimed the woman, and cackled loud and long. “Look, child, I’ll take a bite from this apple, the juiciest one. If nothing happens to me, you can surely eat the rest. You have been so kind to me. I will not harm you.”
So Snow White watched the pedlar woman take a bite of the apple and eat it up. She watched and waited. The woman smiled a toothless smile and said, “See, dear, no harm has come to me, so now you can eat the rest of the apple. It’s really sweet and juicy.”
10
Snow White’s forest friends had been anxiously watching. They did not like the old woman. Was she really a pedlar woman or was she the wicked Queen, they wondered. The birds chirped loudly and fluttered at her face, but she beat them away.
“Off with you, you stupid birds!” she cried at them.
When Snow White stretched out her hand and took the apple, her forest friends were terrified. The birds tried to stop her from eating the apple. They fluttered on her hands and face, but the old woman drove them away. They flew back to the trees. They had failed!
The apple looked so delicious that Snow White ate it. The next moment, before she could even finish eating the apple, she fell down as though dead.
Her forest friends watched in horror. They were very frightened and went off to the mountains. When they found the dwarfs, the birds chirped loudly and fluttered their wings, making a great deal of noise. The animals tried to pull and push the dwarfs.
“Something must have happened to Snow White,” said Bashful.
“It must be the wicked stepmother,” said Sleepy. “She really is a witch. She must have disguised herself and harmed Snow White. I wonder what she has done.”
They picked up their sacks, picks and shovels and hurried back to their cottage.
11
The Queen cackled in glee when she saw that her plan had worked. She picked up her basket of apples and began to leave. Suddenly, she heard loud thunder and saw a flash of lightning light up the sky. Black clouds filled the sky and heavy rain began to fall.
“I must leave before the dwarfs come back,” she said to herself, and set off as fast as she could. But the dwarfs had seen her and screamed, “There she is! Let’s go after her!”
They chased her through the forest for a long distance. The rain was falling heavily, but they did not slow down. They ran on till they came to a rocky place. There were large boulders everywhere, scattered all over a steep slope.
The frightened pedlar woman leaped up the boulders and reached the top. She watched the dwarfs climbing up after her. She was at the top of the hill. Suddenly, she lost her footing and slipped on one of the boulders. She went tumbling down the hillside. The boulders rolled over her and crushed her to death.
12
The dwarfs rushed home. They were horrified to find Snow White on the floor. They gathered around her. Doc got some water and sprinkled it on her face. They all tried to revive her but she lay still, her eyes closed. The dwarfs wept bitterly.
“She’s dead,” Doc told them.
“She looks so beautiful,” said Sneezy, “we will not bury her. We will place her in a glass coffin and carry it to the forest, so that anyone who passes can see her and admire her beautiful face.”
So they placed her in a glass coffin, put many flowers around her and carried the coffin into the forest. They put it under a large tree and kept watch over it by turns, day and night.
One day, a handsome young Prince came riding through the forest. He stopped when he saw the glass coffin and got off his horse to look at the beautiful girl inside. He knelt down and lifted the lid of the coffin. He had never seen such a lovely girl before. He fell in love with her instantly.
“Can I take her to my castle?” he asked the dwarfs.
“No, we cannot allow you to do that,” replied the dwarfs. They loved Snow White dearly and did not want her to be carried away.
“Can I at least kiss her? Please!”
The dwarfs liked the young Prince, so they agreed to let him kiss her.
He bent down and kissed her. At once, Snow White opened her eyes and stretched herself, as if she had merely been sleeping all this while.
“She’s alive! She’s alive!” shouted the dwarfs in joy.
Snow White looked at the Prince and smiled at him. The dwarfs cheered and danced in delight.
The Prince gently lifted her out of the coffin. Snow White was overjoyed to see the seven dwarfs around her. Their faces lit up with happiness. Even Grumpy was smiling!
She told them about the old pedlar woman and the apple. They told her how they had chased the old woman up a slope of boulders. They did not tell her that she was dead.
Snow White kissed each one of the dwarfs on his forehead and said, “Goodbye, my dears. I go with the Prince to his castle, but I shall never forget you.”
The Prince put her on his horse and climbed up after her. Then he galloped away.
The dwarfs returned to their cottage, happy that Snow White was alive and that she had found her Prince and happiness at last.
Questions
1. What did the Queen want to name her daughter? Why?
2. What did the new Queen have in her room? What did she ask it every morning? What did it answer?
3. Why was the Queen jealous of Snow White?
4. What did the magic mirror answer one day?
5. What did the Queen want to do to Snow White?
1. What did the Queen tell the palace guard to do?
2. What did she tell Snow White one morning?
3. Did the guard want to kill Snow White? Explain your answer.
4. What did the guard tell her about the Queen’s orders?
5. What did Snow White say, when the guard told her of the Queen’s orders?
1. What did the guard take back to the palace? Was the Queen happy to see it?
2. What did Snow White see in the distance? Who did she think it belonged to?
3. What did she see inside the cottage.
4. Why was Snow White hungry? What did she do?
5. What did Snow White do when she went upstairs?
1. To whom did the cottage belong?
2. What work did the dwarfs do?
3. What did they do every evening?
4. What did the dwarfs say when they saw Snow White sleeping on their beds?
5. What did they say to Snow White when she woke up?
1. What were the names of the seven dwarfs?
2. Describe Snow White’s life with the dwarfs.
3. Why was Snow White never lonely in the cottage?
4. Why were the dwarfs afraid to leave Snow White alone everyday?
5. What did Snow White promise the dwarfs?
1. What did the mirror answer after the guard returned?
2. What did the Queen decide to do to Snow White?
3. What did she first make?