Little Snow White
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ONCE upon a time in the middle of winter2, 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. And whilst she was sewing and looking out of the window at the snow, she pricked her finger with the needle,3 and three drops of blood fell upon the snow. And the red looked pretty upon the white snow, and she thought to herself, "Would that I had a child as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as the wood4 of the window-frame."
After a year had passed the King took to himself another wife6. She was a beautiful woman, but proud and haughty, and she could not bear that anyone else should surpass her in beauty. She had a wonderful looking-glass7, and when she stood in front of it and looked at herself in it, and said -- "Looking-glass, Looking-glass, on the wall,
"Thou, O Queen, art the fairest of all!"
"Looking-glass, Looking-glass, on the wall,
"Thou art fairer than all who are here, Lady Queen."
And as she was so beautiful the huntsman had pity on her and said, "Run away, then, you poor child." "The wild beasts will soon have devoured you," thought he, and yet it seemed as if a stone had been rolled from his heart since it was no longer needful for him to kill her. And as a young boar11 just then came running by he stabbed it, and cut out its heart and took it to the Queen as proof that the child was dead. The cook had to salt this, and the wicked Queen ate it12, and thought she had eaten the heart of Snow-white. But now the poor child was all alone in the great forest13, and so terrified that she looked at every leaf of every tree, and did not know what to do. Then she began to run, and ran over sharp stones and through thorns, and the wild beasts ran past her, but did her no harm. She ran as long as her feet would go until it was almost evening; then she saw a little cottage and went into it to rest herself. Everything in the cottage was small, but neater and cleaner than can be told. There was a table on which was a white cover, and seven14 little plates, and on each plate a little spoon; moreover, there were seven little knives and forks, and seven little mugs. Against the wall stood seven little beds side by side, and covered with snow-white counterpanes. Little Snow-white was so hungry and thirsty that she ate some vegetables and bread from each plate and drank a drop of wine out of each mug, for she did not wish to take all from one only. Then, as she was so tired, she laid herself down on one of the little beds, but none of them suited her;15 one was too long, another too short, but at last she found that the seventh one was right, and so she remained in it, said a prayer and went to sleep. When it was quite dark the owners of the cottage came back; they were seven dwarfs16 who dug and delved in the mountains for ore. They lit their seven candles, and as it was now light within the cottage they saw that someone had been there, for everything was not in the same order in which they had left it. The first said, "Who has been sitting on my chair?" The second, "Who has been eating off my plate?" The third, "Who has been taking some of my bread?" The fourth, "Who has been eating my vegetables?" The fifth, "Who has been using my fork?" The sixth, "Who has been cutting with my knife?" The seventh, "Who has been drinking out of my mug?" Then the first looked round and saw that there was a little hole on his bed, and he said, "Who has been getting into my bed?" The others came up and each called out, "Somebody has been lying in my bed too." But the seventh when he looked at his bed saw little Snow-white, who was lying asleep therein. And he called the others, who came running up, and they cried out with astonishment, and brought their seven little candles and let the light fall on little Snow-white. "Oh, heavens! oh, heavens!" cried they, "what a lovely child!" and they were so glad that they did not wake her up, but let her sleep on in the bed. And the seventh dwarf slept with his companions, one hour with each, and so got through the night. When it was morning little Snow-white awoke, and was frightened when she saw the seven dwarfs. But they were friendly and asked her what her name was. "My name is Snow-white," she answered. "How have you come to our house?" said the dwarfs. Then she told them that her step-mother had wished to have her killed, but that the huntsman had spared her life, and that she had run for the whole day, until at last she had found their dwelling. The dwarfs said, "If you will take care of our house, cook, make the beds, wash, sew, and knit, and if you will keep everything neat and clean, you can stay with us and you shall want for nothing." "Yes," said Snow-white, "with all my heart," and she stayed with them17. She kept the house in order for them; in the mornings they went to the mountains and looked for copper and gold, in the evenings they came back, and then their supper had to be ready. The girl was alone the whole day, so the good dwarfs warned her and said, "Beware of your step-mother, she will soon know that you are here; be sure to let no one come in." But the Queen, believing that she had eaten Snow-white's heart, could not but think that she was again the first and most beautiful of all; and she went to her looking-glass and said -- "Looking-glass, Looking-glass, on the wall,
"Oh, Queen, thou art fairest of all I see,
Not long afterwards, in the evening, the seven dwarfs came home, but how shocked they were when they saw their dear little Snow-white lying on the ground, and that she neither stirred nor moved, and seemed to be dead. They lifted her up, and, as they saw that she was laced too tightly, they cut the laces; then she began to breathe a little, and after a while came to life again. When the dwarfs heard what had happened they said, "The old pedler-woman was no one else than the wicked Queen; take care and let no one come in when we are not with you." But the wicked woman when she had reached home went in front of the glass and asked -- "Looking-glass, Looking-glass, on the wall,
When she heard that, all her blood rushed to her heart with fear, for she saw plainly that little Snow-white was again alive. "But now," she said, "I will think of something that shall put an end to you," and by the help of witchcraft, which she understood, she made a poisonous comb22. Then she disguised herself and took the shape of another old woman. So she went over the seven mountains to the seven dwarfs, knocked at the door, and cried, "Good things to sell, cheap, cheap!" Little Snow-white looked out and said, "Go away; I cannot let any one come in." "I suppose you can look," said the old woman, and pulled the poisonous comb out and held it up. It pleased the girl so well that she let herself be beguiled, and opened the door. When they had made a bargain the old woman said, "Now I will comb you properly for once." Poor little Snow-white had no suspicion, and let the old woman do as she pleased, but hardly had she put the comb in her hair than the poison in it took effect, and the girl fell down senseless. "You paragon of beauty," said the wicked woman, "you are done for now," and she went away.
The Queen, at home, went in front of the glass and said -- "Looking-glass, Looking-glass, on the wall,
When the apple was ready she painted her face, and dressed herself up as a country-woman, and so she went over the seven mountains to the seven dwarfs. She knocked at the door. Snow-white put her head out of the window and said, "I cannot let any one in; the seven dwarfs have forbidden me." "It is all the same to me," answered the woman, "I shall soon get rid of my apples. There, I will give you one." "No," said Snow-white, "I dare not take anything." "Are you afraid of poison?" said the old woman; "look, I will cut the apple in two pieces; you eat the red cheek, and I will eat the white." The apple was so cunningly made that only the red cheek was poisoned. Snow-white longed for the fine apple, and when she saw that the woman ate part of it she could resist no longer, and stretched out her hand and took the poisonous half. But hardly had she a bit of it in her mouth than she fell down dead24. Then the Queen looked at her with a dreadful look, and laughed aloud and said, "White as snow, red as blood, black as ebony-wood! this time the dwarfs cannot wake you up again." And when she asked of the Looking-glass at home -- "Looking-glass, Looking-glass, on the wall,
"Oh, Queen, in this land thou art fairest of all."
Then they were going to bury her, but she still looked as if she were living, and still had her pretty red cheeks. They said, "We could not bury her in the dark ground," and they had a transparent coffin of glass26 made, so that she could be seen from all sides, and they laid her in it, and wrote her name upon it in golden letters, and that she was a king's daughter. Then they put the coffin out upon the mountain, and one of them always stayed by it and watched it. And birds came too, and wept for Snow-white; first an owl, then a raven, and last a dove. And now Snow-white lay a long, long time in the coffin, and she did not change, but looked as if she were asleep; for she was as white as snow, as red as blood, and her hair was as black as ebony. It happened, however, that a king's son27 came into the forest, and went to the dwarfs' house to spend the night. He saw the coffin on the mountain, and the beautiful Snow-white within it, and read what was written upon it in golden letters. Then he said to the dwarfs, "Let me have the coffin, I will give you whatever you want for it." But the dwarfs answered, "We will not part with it for all the gold in the world." Then he said, "Let me have it as a gift, for I cannot live without seeing Snow-white. I will honour and prize her as my dearest possession." As he spoke in this way the good dwarfs took pity upon him, and gave him the coffin.#p#副标题#e# And now the King's son had it carried away by his servants on their shoulders. And it happened that they stumbled over a tree-stump28, and with the shock the poisonous piece of apple which Snow-white had bitten off came out of her throat. And before long she opened her eyes, lifted up the lid of the coffin, sat up, and was once more alive. "Oh, heavens, where am I?" she cried. The King's son, full of joy, said, "You are with me," and told her what had happened, and said, "I love you more than everything in the world; come with me to my father's palace, you shall be my wife." And Snow-white was willing, and went with him, and their wedding was held with great show and splendour. But Snow-white's wicked step-mother was also bidden to the feast. When she had arrayed herself in beautiful clothes she went before the Looking-glass, and said -- "Looking-glass, Looking-glass, on the wall,
SurLaLune's Annotations 1. "Sneewittchen": "Both elements of this compound word are in Low German, although the tale itself is recorded in High German. The High German form of the heroine's name would be Schneeweißchen." The literal translation is "Little Snow White" (Ashliman 2002). IR & HAH
2. Middle of winter: Midwinter is the turning point of the seasons, the beginning of the Sun's ascendant phase. IR
3. Pricked her finger with the needle: The accidental pricking of a finger also occurs in Briar Rose/Sleeping Beauty. IR
4. White as snow, as red as blood, and as black as the wood: The three colours, white, red and black represent the three aspects of the Triple Goddess: maiden/mother/crone. IR
5. Called Little Snow-white: Although she is as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as ebony wood, she is named after only one of these aspects of the feminine. IR -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. The King took to himself another wife: In the first edition, the version closest to its oral sources, Snow-White's jealous antagonist is her own mother. In the edition of 1819, the Grimms here added the statement that Snow-White's mother died during childbirth, and that her father remarried, so the jealous Queen was made her stepmother (Ashliman 2002). IR
7. She had a wonderful looking-glass: The first 'mirrors' were pools of water. In Greek myth, the youth Narcissus caught sight of his own reflection in a pool and fell in love with it. He gave his name to the modern psychological term narcissism which indicates an excessive preoccupation with oneself and one's own appearance and concerns. IR
8. The looking-glass answered: The clairvoyant speaking mirror is a common motif in Asian & European folk tales. In some cultures it was believed that the reflection in a mirror represented the Soul, which is why it is bad luck to break a mirror. IR
9. Seven years old: Seven is the age of transition from child to maiden. IR While seven was often considered the age of transition from child to adult in past centuries, the stated age is often ignored in illustrated or film versions of the story and made to appear much older. Since the story does not mark a significant amount of time, the image of a seven-year-old child marrying the prince at the end of the story fails to appear romantic, but rather abusive. In some versions of the story, the child continues to grow into a young woman as she sleeps, proof that she is not quite dead although not quite alive either, but nonetheless justifying the dwarfs coffin-side vigilance. HAH
10. Heart: The earliet versions of the tale used the lungs and liver instead of the heart. HAH Lungs represent the breathe or the spirit (Gr. psyche, L. spiritus) & in medieval times the liver was thought to be the seat of love and erotic desire. IR
11. Boar: The boar represents courage and lust. In Norse mythology the boar was sacred to the divine twins Frey and Freyja who were the deities of sexual desire & fertility. IR
12.The wicked Queen ate it: Some believed that by eating certain organs one acquires the characteristics and the power of the person one eats. IR In this instance, the queen is trying to make Snow White's beauty her own by ingesting a part of the young girl. HAH
13. Great forest: The dark and mysterious forest is often a place of exile where psychological growth occurs. It symbolizes the unconscious, the realm of the psyche. It is often a threshold through which the soul encounters the perils of the unknown and survives as a wiser person. IR
14. Seven: The number seven is the number of completeness and totality - it is the sum of three (the number of the heavens - the triple goddess, the trinity) and four (the number of the earth which has four corners, four elements, four winds, four seasons, etc). Seven is a manifestatin of the cosmic order, a symbol of perfection and fullness, and also of introspection, meditation and understanding. Thus we have for example:
Return to place in story.
15. None of them suited her: Snow White's eating of the food, testing of the beds, and discovery by the dwarfs is similar to Goldilocks' trespassing upon the Three Bears, albeit with different results. HAH
16. Dwarfs: Dwarfs in symbology represent the underdeveloped and the unformed. They are pre-adolescent and not developed sexually. They live an immature and pre-individualistic form of existence that Snow White must transcend. (In the original story they are not individualised and Walt Disney by giving them names and personalities has destroyed their meaning in the story.) The dwarfs are also close to the earth (they mine for gold which is the incorruptible metal) and they represent the unconscious and amoral forces of nature. IR
17. She stayed with them: The period of time Snow White spends with the dwarfs is a period of latency and repressed desire. Snow white learns about the work ethic and is socialised into woman's domestic role, but the question of her womanhood, her sexual desirability as a woman, which was raised by her mother's mirror, has been put aside for a time. IR
18. She had at last thought of something to do: The three temptations of Snow White are symbols of life beyond the cottage and they appeal to Snow White's vanity and narcissism, her need to look sexually desirable, her awareness of how she looks in a mirror. Three is sacred to the Goddess of Love and Desire, Aphrodite who is Queen of the Three Worlds. IR
19. Yellow, red, and blue silk: Yellow (gold) represents the soul, red (the colour of blood) represents the body and blue represents the intellect. IR
20. I may let the worthy old woman in: Many fairy tales involve the breaking of a command or a taboo. There can be no psychological growth until the old rules are broken and the new order can flourish. IR
21. Lost her breath and fell down as if dead: The first temptation relates to Snow White's body, but the bodice laces bind her too tight and she cannot breath - breath is a symbol of the spirit. IR
22. Poisonous comb: The second temptation relates to Snow White's head and her hair. Combs were an attribute of Aphrodite, the Sirens and mermaids all symbols of female desirability. Hair is a symbol of fertility and virility, but the comb tames its wildness and its poison nearly kills her. IR
23. Apple: The apple was sacred to Aphrodite and represented knowledge, especially sexual knowledge, fertility and love. IR
24. Hardly had she a bit of it in her mouth than she fell down dead: The apple is lodged in Snow White's throat - her organ of speech is blocked and she cannot articulate her needs or her individuality. IR
25. She breathed no longer and was dead: Snow White must die to the pre-pubescent world of the dwarfs in order to be eventually reborn into the adult world as a sexually active women. IR
26. Coffin of glass: Snow White in the glass coffin is like a butterfly in the chrysalis stage, awaiting to emerge as an adult. The coffin is glass so her body is on display and continues to be an object of male desire. IR
27. King's son: In many fairy stories the sleeping heroine is woken by the kiss of a man (eg 'Briar Rose'/'Sleeping Beauty'). In this case it is his love and devotion that (indirectly) cause her awakening. In either case this symbolises the fact that a girl must be awakened to womanhood by a man. IR
28. Stumbled over a tree-stump: "Beginning with the edition of 1819, the poisoned apple is dislodged when a servant accidentally stumbles while carrying the coffin to the prince's castle" (Ashliman 2002). IR
29. Iron: Iron was the only metal not sacred to the goddess so it is used to punish the evil mother who represents vengeful female energy. IR
30. Slippers: Shoes are a symbol of female sexuality (cf 'Cinderella'), hence the custom of tying shoes to the back of a wedding car. IR Footwear is important in many popular fairy tales, such as Cinderella's slipper, the boots in Puss in Boots, and the worn-out shoes in The Twelve Dancing Princesses. HAH
31. Dance until she dropped down: The theme of footwear that makes you dance until you die was later used by Hans Christian Anderson in 'The Red Shoes'. IR
32. Dead: Bruno Bettelheim interprets the story as a classic mother/daughter conflict in which children receive cathartic pleasure in seeing the mother/stepmother endure a horrible punishment for her crimes against innocent youth (Bettelheim 1975). HAH |
