Читать книгу Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs / Белоснежка и семь гномов. Уровень 1 - Братья Гримм - Страница 3

1

It was a cold winter’s day. Snow lay all over the place. The Queen sat by the window, humming to herself as she sewed a little dress. Suddenly she saw a black raven, and as she looked, she pricked her finger with the needle. a drop of blood fell on her gown. It was so red!

“I wish I had a daughter with skin as white as snow, hair as black as a raven, and lips as red as this drop of blood on my gown,” thought the Queen.

The Queen’s wish came true. After a few months, a baby girl was born. The baby’s skin was really as white as snow, her curly hair as black as the raven and her lips were red as blood.

She was a lovely baby.

“I shall name this beautiful child of mine Snow White,” said the Queen to her husband.

So the Princess was named Snow White. Each day she grew more and more beautiful. She was very kind to everyone in the palace, and everybody loved her.

Sadly for Snow White, in a few years her mother died and after some time her father married again. The new Queen was a very beautiful lady and she was very proud of her beauty. She wished to be the most beautiful woman in the world.

She had a magic mirror in her chambers. She would look into it every morning and ask:

And the mirror would reply:

The Queen would smile widely because she knew that her magic mirror never lied. It also made her vainer. Nobody in the palace loved her; on the contrary, they were afraid of her.

Many years have passed as the Queen watched Snow White grow into a beautiful girl. She was not happy about it. As Snow White grew older, she became more and more beautiful. The Queen was very jealous, because she feared that the Princess would become prettier than her.

One day, when she asked her mirror:

The mirror answered:

The Queen was mad with jealousy. She had to do something to remain the most beautiful woman of all. And there was only one solution. Snow White had to die. She could not allow Snow White to become more beautiful than herself!

She decided to get rid of her. She would have Snow White killed!

2

The Queen summoned a hunter and said to him, “I want you to take Snow White deep into the forest and kill her. Bring back her heart to prove that you really killed her. You are to tell no one about this.”

The hunter was shocked and sad to hear such cruel orders. He, like everyone in the royal household, loved the little princess. He did not want her to die, and he did not want to be the one to kill her. He would have to figure out how to save her. However, he bowed before the Queen and promised to complete the task.

There was a very large forest not far from the palace. Usually Snow White was allowed visit a certain parts of it, where there were many birds, rabbits and deer.

One morning, the Queen called Snow White and said “Snow White, go to the forest with the hunter. I know that you love it there, and you usually play with the birds and animals. Today is such a wonderful day! Go and enjoy yourself.”

“Oh, thank you, Mother!” said Snow White happily, because she really loved the forest. She loved the birds singing the rabbits with their fluffy tails hopping in and out of holes and the gentle deer with their beautiful eyes frolicking about. They loved her too, and always came to play with her whenever she visited them.

So Snow White went with the hunter, singing and skipping as she went along. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and white clouds were drifting about. It was a wonderful day. The forest creatures welcomed her and ran along with her. She played with them for many hours. They were having a wonderful time.

Suddenly Snow White realised that they had gone very deep into the forest.

They walked for a long time. And still the hunter walked on, taking her deeper and deeper into the forest.

“Why are we going so deep into the forest?” Snow White turned and asked the hunter anxiously. “It’s time to go back. We are already late. The Queen will be furious.”

The guard was very sad. He did not want to kill Snow White. She was such a good and kind girl, and also very beautiful, too. Everybody loved her. He decided to explain why the Queen had sent them to the forest. He had been ordered, he said, to kill her and carry back her heart as proof that he had really killed her.

“The Queen does not trust,” he said.

Snow White was shocked.

“How can the Queen be so cruel? Have I done something wrong?” she sobbed.

“Dear Princess, do not cry. You haven’t done anything. The Queen is jealous of your beauty, that’s why she wants you dead.”

“Oh! Please don’t kill me. I will never return to the palace. I will go far away. The Queen will never see me again.”

“Run, little Princess, run. I will not kill you,” remarked the hunter sympathetically.

3

Snow White ran away from the hunter, deeper and deeper into the forest. The hunter killed a small animal and took its heart back to the Queen. She was very happy to see it. She was sure that it was Snow White’s heart.

Alone in the forest, Snow White was terrfied, and drew the creatures of the forest around her. The birds chirped to cheer her up.

Night was coming and it was getting dark, so she began to run again. Snow White had no idea where she was. She had never seen this part of the forest before. There were tall trees and dark shadows around her. Her forest friends followed her, all very scared. 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 very dark. She found some candles and matchsticks. She lit a candle, raised it 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 filled with food, seven bowls filled with milk, seven forks and knives and seven drinking cups. There were also seven chairs around the table.

“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. 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’s upstairs,” she said, and climbed the steps. There, she found seven beds neatly made up. She sat on one and found it very comfortable. She was exhausted, so she put the candle on the table, lay down across the seven beds and soon fell asleep.

4

This cottage was the home of seven dwarfs. They were miners, who were digging for diamonds and gems in the mountains nearby. Every morning they took their sacks, picks and shovels and set off for the mountains. There they were trying to find diamonds and gems that they filled into their sacks. In the evenings, they lit their lanterns and returned to their cottage, singing on the way home.

Their singing stopped that evening, when they saw a light in the windows. They were amazed and looked at one another.

“Someone is in our cottage!” they exclaimed in chorus.

They walked slowly and carefully back to their cottage. Who could it be? They were frightened but still they crept in, making as little noise as possible.

“Someone has eaten our food!” said one of the dwarfs.

“Some of our food,” corrected the other.

Then they crept upstairs, scared that they might find a robber hiding there. When they saw Snow White asleep on their beds, they exclaimed, “It’s a girl!” and raised their lanterns high to get a better look. “She’s so beautiful!” they said.

Snow White was fast asleep, her curly head on one of their pillows. They all sat around her, wondering who she was.

Suddenly Snow White opened her eyes. When she saw the seven dwarfs she jumped up.

“Oh, please don’t be afraid,” they said hastily. “We will not harm you. We are miners. And this is our cottage. Please tell us who you are and how you got here.”

Snow White told them her story and explained that now she had no home. Tears rolled down her eyes. “Will you please let me stay here? Please! The Queen wants me dead. She will kill me if I return to the palace.”

“Of course you can stay here as long as you wish.”

“Oh, thank you! I’ll keep house clean for you, cook your meals and wash your clothes. I’ll do everything for you, in return for your kindness.”

5

One of the dwarfs cleared his throat and said, “Let me introduce you to our group. As you can see, we are seven dwarfs. My name is Happy, then there is Sneezy, Dopey, Bashful, Doc, Grumpy and Sleepy.”

Snow White shook hands with each one.

Snow White and the seven dwarfs began to live happily together. She had never been so happy. She sang while she worked and kept the cottage clear and tidy.

The dwarfs relished the hot meals she served them every evening. Later there was a lot of fun, as they sang and danced before the fireplace. When it was time to sleep, Snow White would tuck them into their beds and tell them bedtime stories. Afterwards, she would kiss everyone goodnight, take the candle and go down to bed herself.