Selected Tales of the Brothers Grimm(64)

But the dwarfs replied, “Not for all the gold in the world.”

“Then please give it to me as a gift,” said the prince, “for I cannot live without looking at Snow White. I will honor and adore her as my beloved.”

Hearing these words, the good-hearted dwarfs felt pity on him and gave him the casket. The prince had his servants carry it off on their shoulders. It so happened that the servants stumbled on a shrub and the vibrations made the piece of poisoned apple that Snow White had bitten off fall from her throat. It wasn’t long before she opened her eyes, lifted the casket lid, and sat up, alive again. “Dear God, where am I?” she cried.

Overjoyed, the prince replied, “You are with me.” He told her what had happened and said, “I love you more than anything in this world. Come with me to my father’s castle, and you will be my bride.”

Snow White was favorably inclined and agreed to go with him, and their wedding was planned with great pomp and splendor.

But among the invited guests was her godless stepmother. Once she had decked herself out in all her finery she stood before the mirror and said,

“Little mirror, little mirror, hanging on my wall,

Tell me, won’t you, who in the land is loveliest of all?”

The mirror replied,

“Your majesty, you are the loveliest here, it’s true,

But the young queen is a thousand times lovelier than you.”

In response to which the evil woman hissed a curse and was stricken with fear, so stricken she did not know what to do. At first she did not want to go to the wedding, but vain as she was, she simply had to go see the young queen. And when she entered the hall, Snow White immediately recognized her, and the evil queen was riveted to the spot by fear and trembling. But a pair of iron slippers was already heating on the coals. They were fetched with a pair of tongs and set before the evil queen, who had to put on the red-hot shoes and dance until she fell dead.





LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD





There once was a sweet little girl. Everyone who set eyes on her immediately loved her. But her grandmother loved her the most of all. She showered the girl with gifts. One time she gave her a little hood made of red velvet, and because it suited her so well and she would wear nothing else, people took to calling her Little Red Riding Hood.

One day her mother said to her, “Come, Little Red Riding Hood, here is a piece of cake and a bottle of wine, take it to your grandmother. She is sick and weak, and it will make her feel better. Get ready before it’s too hot out, and once you’re on your way, watch where you’re going and see that you keep to the path, or else you’ll break the bottle and it won’t do Grandmother a bit of good. And when you get to her place, don’t forget to say, Good Morning, Grandma!, before you go poking your nose into every corner.”

“I’ll do everything you say,” Little Red Riding Hood promised her mother with a handshake. But her grandmother lived deep in the woods, half an hour from the village. No sooner did Little Red Riding Hood enter the forest than she ran into the wolf. But she had no idea what kind of evil creature it was and was not afraid of it.

“Hello, how are you, Little Red Riding Hood?” said the wolf.

“Very well, thank you, Mr. Wolf.”

“Where are you off to so early, Little Red Riding Hood?”

“To Grandmother’s house.”

“What do you have there under your apron?”

“Cake and wine – yesterday we baked, and I’m taking it to Grandmother, who’s sick and weak, to make her feel better.”

“Where does your grandmother live, Little Red Riding Hood?”

“Oh, about a quarter of an hour from here in the woods, under the three oak trees, in the house with walnut hedges out front. I’m sure you know the place,” said Little Red Riding Hood.

The wolf thought to himself, The tender young thing, there’s a juicy mouthful, she’ll taste much better than the old biddy. Best be sly about it, and you’ll get the two of them. So he went walking for a while next to the girl, then he said, “Look, Little Red Riding Hood, at the lovely flowers growing over there. Why don’t you look around? It seems to me you don’t even hear the little birds singing sweetly in the treetops. You’re walking so stiffly, like you’re headed for school, and you’re missing all the fun in the woods.”

Little Red Riding Hood opened her eyes wide, and when she saw how the rays of sunlight danced through the trees and how the forest bed was covered with lovely flowers, she thought, If I bring Grandmother a fresh-plucked bouquet of flowers it’ll make her happy. It’s so early, I’ve got plenty of time to get there. And she ran from the path into the woods to pluck flowers. And no sooner had she plucked one than she spotted a prettier one a little farther off and ran to fetch it, and so she wandered ever deeper into the woods.