Читать книгу Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs / Белоснежка и семь гномов - Братья Гримм - Страница 4

Snow White began to run away from the guard, deeper and deeper into the forest. The guard killed a small animal and took its heart back to the Queen. She was very happy to see it, because she thought it was Snow White’s heart.

Alone in the forest, Snow White began to feel very frightened, and drew the creatures of the forest around her. The birds chirped to cheer her up.

It was now getting dark, so she began to run again. She did not know where she was. She had never come to this part of the forest before. There were tall trees and dark shadows around her. Her forest friends followed her, all very frightened. In the distance she saw a small cottage and ran towards it.

“I wonder who lives in that cottage? It must be a wood-man’s cottage,” she said.

She knocked at the door. No one answered. But the door was open, so she pushed it and went inside. It was dark inside. She found some candles and matchsticks. She lit a candle, raised it high above her head and looked around.

“What a beautiful cottage!” she exclaimed. “Everything is so neat and clean.”

She saw a long table laid for seven people. There were seven plates, seven bowls, seven forks and knives and seven drinking cups. There were seven chairs around the table. There was food and drinks in the plates and cups.

“Whoever lives here is very short!” she observed. “Everything is so small – chairs, plates, bowls, forks, knives and the drinking cups!”

Snow White was very hungry. She had been walking and running the whole day without food. She had eaten some nuts and berries that she had found in the forest. Now she ate a piece of bread from each plate and drank some milk from each cup. She sliced and ate the cheese that she found in the centre of the table.

“Now, let me see what there is upstairs,” she said, and climbed the steps. Upstairs, she found seven beds neatly made up. She sat on one and found it very comfortable. She was tired, so she put the candle on the table, lay down across the seven beds and soon fell asleep.