Snow-White and Rose-Red

Once upon a time there was a poor widow who lived alone in a small cottage. In front of the cottage was a garden with two rosebushes: one had white roses and the other had red roses. She had two daughters who were like the two rosebushes.

One was called Snow-white, and the other Rose-red. They were as good and happy, as busy and cheerful as any children in the world could be. But Snow-white was quieter and gentler than Rose-red. Rose-red loved to run about in the meadows and fields, picking flowers and catching butterflies.

Snow-white stayed at home with her mother, helping with the housework or reading to her when there was nothing to do.

The two sisters loved each other very much. Whenever they went out together, they held hands. Snow-white would say, "We will never leave each other." Rose-red would answer, "Not as long as we live." Their mother would add, "What one has, she must share with the other."

They often played in the forest alone and picked red berries. No wild animal ever hurt them; instead, the animals came close to them without fear. The little hare would eat a cabbage leaf from their hands. The deer would graze beside them. The stag would leap past them joyfully. The birds sat still on the branches and sang all the songs they knew.

No misfortune ever happened to them. If they stayed too long in the forest and night fell, they would lie down together on the moss and sleep until morning. Their mother knew this and was not worried about them.

One time, after they had slept in the forest, the morning sun woke them. They saw a beautiful child in a shining white dress sitting near them. The child got up, looked at them kindly, said nothing, and walked into the forest. When the girls looked around, they realized they had been sleeping right at the edge of a steep cliff. If they had taken just a few more steps in the dark, they would have fallen down. Their mother told them it must have been an angel watching over good children.

Snow-white and Rose-red kept their mother's little cottage so tidy that it was a joy to see. In summer, Rose-red took care of the house. Every morning, before her mother woke up, she would put a wreath of flowers on her bed—one rose from each bush.

In winter, Snow-white would light the fire and hang the kettle over it. The kettle was made of copper and shone like gold because it was so well polished. In the evening, when the snow fell, the mother would say, "Snow-white, go and bolt the door." Then they would all sit around the fireplace.

The mother would put on her spectacles and read aloud from a big book. The two girls would listen as they sat and spun wool. Beside them lay a lamb on the floor, and behind them, on a perch, sat a white dove with its head tucked under its wing.

One evening, as they sat comfortably together, someone knocked at the door as if they wanted to come in. The mother said, "Quick, Rose-red, open the door. It must be a traveler looking for shelter." Rose-red went and unbolted the door, thinking it would be a poor man. But it was not. It was a bear that stuck its big black head through the door.

Rose-red screamed and jumped back. The lamb bleated, the dove fluttered, and Snow-white hid behind her mother's bed. But the bear began to speak. "Don't be afraid," he said. "I won't hurt you. I am half frozen and just want to warm myself by your fire."

"Poor bear," said the mother. "Lie down by the fire, but be careful not to burn your coat." Then she called, "Snow-white, Rose-red, come out. The bear won't hurt you. He means well." So both girls came out. Soon the lamb and the dove also came closer and were not afraid.

The bear said, "Children, knock the snow out of my coat a little." So they got the broom and brushed the bear's fur clean. Then the bear lay down by the fire and growled happily. It did not take long before the girls felt quite at home with him.

They played tricks on their clumsy guest. They pulled his fur with their hands, put their feet on his back and rolled him around, or they took a hazel switch and beat him. When he growled, they laughed. But the bear took it all in good fun.

Only when they got too rough, he would call out,

"Snow-white, Rose-red, Will you beat your lover dead?"

When it was bedtime, the mother said to the bear, "You can lie here by the hearth. Then you will be safe from the cold and bad weather." At daybreak, the children let him out, and he trotted across the snow into the forest.

After that, the bear came every evening at the same time. He lay down by the hearth and let the children play with him as much as they liked. They got so used to him that they never bolted the door until their black friend had arrived.

When spring came and everything outside turned green, the bear said one morning to Snow-white, "Now I must go away. I cannot come back for the whole summer." "Where are you going, dear bear?" asked Snow-white. "I must go into the forest and guard my treasures from the wicked dwarfs. In winter, when the ground is frozen hard, they have to stay underground and cannot get out. But now that the sun has thawed the earth, they break through and come out to spy and steal. Whatever falls into their hands and into their caves does not see daylight again easily."

Snow-white was sad that he was leaving. As she unbolted the door for him, the bear hurried out. He caught against the bolt, and a piece of his furry coat tore off. It seemed to Snow-white that she saw something gold shining underneath, but she was not sure. The bear ran away quickly and soon disappeared behind the trees.

Not long after that, the mother sent her daughters into the forest to gather firewood. There they found a big tree that had fallen on the ground. Close to the trunk, something was jumping back and forth in the grass, but they could not tell what it was. When they came closer, they saw a dwarf with an old, wrinkled face and a snow-white beard that was a yard long. The end of the beard was caught in a crack in the tree, and the little fellow was jumping back and forth like a dog tied to a rope, not knowing what to do.

He glared at the girls with his fiery red eyes and cried, "Why are you standing there? Can't you come here and help me?" "What are you doing there, little man?" asked Rose-red. "You stupid, nosey goose!" answered the dwarf.

"I was going to split the tree to get some wood for cooking. The little food we eat gets burned up right away with thick logs. We don't eat as much as you coarse, greedy people. I had just driven the wedge in safely, and everything was going as I wished.

But the wretched wood was too smooth and suddenly split, and the tree closed so quickly that I couldn't pull out my beautiful white beard. Now it's stuck fast, and I can't get away. And you silly, smooth-faced girls laugh! Ugh! How horrible you are!"

The children tried hard, but they could not pull the beard out; it was caught too tight. "I'll go and get someone," said Rose-red. "You senseless goose!" snarled the dwarf. "Why should you fetch someone? You are already two too many for me. Can't you think of something better?" "Don't be impatient," said Snow-white. "I will help you." She pulled out her scissors from her pocket and cut off the end of the beard.

As soon as the dwarf felt free, he grabbed a bag that lay among the roots of the tree. It was full of gold. He lifted it up, grumbling, "Rude people! Cutting off a piece of my fine beard! Bad luck to you!" Then he swung the bag onto his back and went off without even looking at the children.

Some time later, Snow-white and Rose-red went fishing. As they came near the brook, they saw something like a large grasshopper jumping toward the water, as if it were going to leap in. They ran over and found it was the dwarf. "Where are you going?" said Rose-red.

"Surely you don't want to go into the water?" "I am not such a fool!" cried the dwarf. "Don't you see that the accursed fish wants to pull me in?" The little man had been sitting there fishing. Unluckily, the wind had tangled his beard with the fishing line.

Just then a big fish bit, and the feeble creature did not have the strength to pull it out. The fish was stronger and pulled the dwarf toward him. He grabbed at all the reeds and rushes, but it was no use.

He had to follow the fish and was in great danger of being dragged into the water.

The girls came just in time. They held him fast and tried to free his beard from the line, but in vain. The beard and line were tangled together tightly. There was nothing to do but take out the scissors and cut the beard, losing a small part of it.

When the dwarf saw that, he screamed, "Is that polite, you toadstool, to ruin my face? Was it not enough to cut off the end of my beard? Now you have cut off the best part! I cannot let myself be seen by my people.

I wish you had to run until the soles fell off your shoes!" Then he took a sack of pearls that lay in the rushes, and without another word, he dragged it away and disappeared behind a stone.

Soon after that, the mother sent the two children to town to buy needles, thread, laces, and ribbons. The road took them across a heath where large rocks lay scattered here and there. They noticed a big bird flying slowly in circles above them. It sank lower and lower and finally landed near a rock not far off. Directly after, they heard a loud, pitiful cry. They ran up and saw, to their horror, that the eagle had seized their old acquaintance, the dwarf, and was about to carry him off.

The children felt sorry for him and quickly grabbed hold of the little man. They pulled against the eagle for so long that at last the eagle let go of his prey. As soon as the dwarf got over his first fright, he cried in his shrill voice, "Couldn't you have been more careful?

You pulled at my brown coat so that it is all torn and full of holes, you clumsy, useless creatures!" Then he picked up a sack full of precious stones and slipped away under the rock into his hole.

The girls, who were used to his ingratitude by now, went on their way and did their shopping in town.

As they crossed the heath again on the way home, they surprised the dwarf. He had emptied his bag of precious stones onto a clean spot, never thinking that anyone would come there so late. The evening sun shone on the brilliant stones. They glittered and sparkled with all colors so beautifully that the children stopped and stared. "Why are you standing there gaping?" cried the dwarf. His ashen-gray face turned copper-red with rage. He was about to say more bad words when a loud growling was heard. A black bear came trotting toward them out of the forest.

The dwarf jumped up in fright. But he could not get to his cave, for the bear was already close. In terror, he cried, "Dear Mr. Bear, spare me! I will give you all my treasures. Look at the beautiful jewels lying there! Spare my life!

What would you want with such a slender little fellow as me? You would not feel me between your teeth. Come, take these two wicked girls instead. They are tender morsels for you, fat as young quail. For mercy's sake, eat them!" The bear paid no attention to his words.

He gave the wicked creature a single blow with his paw, and the dwarf did not move again.

The girls had run away, but the bear called after them, "Snow-white and Rose-red, don't be afraid! Wait, I will come with you." They recognized his voice and waited. When he came up to them, suddenly his bearskin fell off, and he stood there, a handsome man dressed all in gold. "I am a king's son," he said. "That wicked dwarf put a spell on me and stole my treasures. I had to run around the forest as a savage bear until his death set me free. Now he has gotten what he deserved."

Snow-white married him, and Rose-red married his brother. They divided the great treasure that the dwarf had gathered in his cave. The old mother lived peacefully and happily with her children for many years. She brought the two rosebushes with her, and they stood in front of her window. Every year they bore the most beautiful roses, white and red.