Snow White and Rose Red

  Snow White and Rose Red

  This book is a re-telling of the classic book ‘Snow White and Rose Red’ by the Brothers Grimm. The original book was actually a German fairy tale called ‘Schneeweißchen und Rosenrot’ by Charles Perrault, written in the seventeenth century. Charles may have been the first person to actually write the tale down, but the story of ‘Snow White and Rose Red’ or ‘The Ungrateful Dwarf’ was told by mothers and fathers to their children as an old folk story long before it was written down.

  The best known version of this story is the one by the Brothers Grimm, but that version has a great many gaping holes in it, and it does not flow very well. This could be because the brothers needed to keep the story short to fit within their collection. This re-telling of the story is based on the Brothers Grimm version and even though it has been completely re-written, it endeavours to keep true to the original as much as possible. The re-writing of the story has given it more of a flow, filled in some gaps and brings the characters to life a little more. I hope you enjoy this fairy tale, bless you and yours.

  All rights reserved

  Copyright 2012

  N Zaine

  Editor: A Lewis

  Snow White and Rose Red

  Once upon a time there lived a poor widow in a little cottage. The widow loved roses, and she tended to the roses in her garden quite lovingly, she had many roses of all sorts but her prized possessions, the ones she loved most of all, were her two tall rose trees. Each one so very delicate and beautiful, she tended them each day and carefully trimmed the rose trees into the shape of giant balls. The smell from the roses was so sweet it took your breath away. One of the trees was covered in white roses and the other was covered in red roses. The trees stood side by side in the garden, with a carpet of pink and lilac flowers surrounding their bases.

  The widow also had two children, both girls. She named her girls Snow White and Rose Red. Snow White was fair and pale, her hair was white as driven snow and her personality was calm and collective, she loved to spend time with her mother reading books to her, or helping her with the baking, cooking and cleaning. Rose Red was dark and of an olive complexion, her hair was black as coal and her personality was robust and wild, she loved to run about in the meadows in the rain, to jump in puddles and to chase butterflies.

  The two girls loved each other so much that they always held hands wherever they went. They would make secret pacts together. Snow White would say, “’We will not ever leave each other,” and Rose Red would answer “Never, so long as we both shall live.” The girls shared everything, and loved their mother dearly.

  Snow White and Rose Red were so pure and enchanting. They often went in to the forest to pick berries for their mother so she could make pies for dinner. None of the forest animals ever harmed them and neither were they afraid of the many forest animals. Rabbits and baby deer would eat cabbage leaves out of their hands, while the birds sang their merry songs in the trees and the stags leapt by them. Sometimes nightfall would come and the girls would still find themselves deep inside the forest, they would decide to sleep there overnight, on the soft grassy moss. The forest was like a second home to them.

  Once when they had spent the night in the forest and the dawn had awoken them, they saw a beautiful male child clothed in shining white, sitting next to them. Upon seeing them awake he stood up and looked kindly at them, but he said nothing. He then disappeared into the forest. When Snow White and Rose Red looked about they found that they had been sleeping quite close to the edge of a cliff, and would certainly have fallen off it in the darkness if they had gone only a few steps further. They went home and told their mother all about the boy and what had happened and she said that it must have been the angel who watches over all good children.

  One evening, as the family were sitting around the fire together talking, there was a loud knock at the door. The knocking was quite urgent, as if the knocker wished to be let in. Mother said “Quick, Rose Red, open the door, it must be a traveller who is seeking shelter.” Rose Red went to the door and pushed back the big metal bolt, she thought to herself ‘this must be a poor man frozen half to death.’ Rose Red was shocked and stunned by what she saw. It was a bear, a very big black bear that stretched his broad, black head within the door.

  Rose Red screamed and sprang backwards, Snow White having heard the commotion ran to their mother’s room and hid herself behind bed, this made their pets scatter. Mother ran to the door. The bear began to speak, “ Please do not be afraid,” he said, “ I will do you no harm. I am half-frozen, and only want to warm myself a little beside your fire.”

  “Oh, you poor, poor bear,” said mother, “lie down here by the fire, only take care that you do not burn your coat.” Then she shouted out to Snow White and Rose Red, “Girls come out, the bear will do you no harm, he means well.” So they both came out of hiding, and after a little while even their pets came near him, the dove flew over him and the lamb came and sat beside him.

  The girls noticed that the bears coat was full of snow so they brought the broom and swept the bear’s coat clean. The bear stretched himself by the fire and growled contentedly. It was not long before the girls grew quite fond of the bear, and so started playing tricks on him. They tugged his hair with their hands, put their feet on his back and rolled him about, they growled at him and poked him with a stick, and when he growled they laughed. The bear took it all in good fun, only when they were too rough would he call out “Leave me alive, please children.”

  When it became time for bed, mother let the bear stay by the fire for the night. In the morning the girls woke up and instantly ran to the bear to play, but the bear was ready to leave and so the girls showed him to the front door and they made him promise to come back every night from this day onwards. The bear swore to the girls that he would keep the promise and then he made his way across the snow and into the forest.

  From that day on, the bear came every evening at the same time to see the girls, he laid himself down by the fire, and let the children annoy him as much as they liked. The girls got so used to him that the door bolt was never fastened until bear had arrived.

  Springtime came along and outside all was smelling fresh and green, and the sky was as blue as cobalt. One morning bear said to Snow White “ Now dear, I must go away, and I cannot come back for the whole of spring and summer.” Saddened, Snow White asked “Where will you go bear?” Bear replied “I must go into the forest and guard my treasures from the wicked dwarf. In the winter when the earth is frozen hard, the wicked dwarf must stay below the ground, he cannot come out into the cold. But now, the sun has thawed the snow and warmed the earth, he will come out to steal and he’ll take everything in his sight and once in his hands the items will never be seen again.

  Snow White and Rose Red were so very sad that their dear friend had to leave them. And as they unbolted the door for bear they both felt they may never see their friend again, this brought tears to both their eyes. As bear shuffled out the door into the sun, a small bit of his fur caught on the bolt, Snow White took a close look as she was sure she could see very fine amounts of gold shining through it, maybe it was the sunlight, she didn’t know she would inspect it again later, she headed to her bedroom and put the hair into a little ribbon bag.

  Not long afterwards mother sent the girls into the forest to get firewood. There they found a big tree which had fallen to the ground, and close by the trunk something was jumping backwards and forwards in the grass, making funny sounds, grunting and groaning and generally sounding very angry. The girls could not make out what it was. When they came nearer they saw it was a dwarf with an old withered face and a very long white beard. The beard was the problem, the cause of the dwarf’s distress
. The end of the beard was tangled in a hole within the tree, and the little dwarf was jumping around, up and down trying to get it loose.

  The girls came closer and the dwarf glared at them with his fiery red eyes and he cried, “Why do you stand there? Can’t you see what has happened to me, come here at once and help me.” Rose Red replied “ Well what have you been up to little man?” This made the dwarf angry and he shouted at her “You nosey goose, if you must know I was trying to get wood for cooking”. “Now, will you help me or are you both just very silly, senseless girls.” The girls turned and looked at each other in surprise, never had they come across any person so rude and so mean in their lives. They tried to help the dwarf, even though they were unsure of him, but they couldn’t free his beard. “I will run and fetch someone,” said Rose Red. “You senseless good for nothing!” snarled the dwarf, “Why should you fetch someone? You are already two, and that’s one too many for me. Can you not think of something better?’ Snow White stopped and thought, she then remembered she had a pair of scissors inside her pocket, “I will help you” she said as she quickly pulled the scissors out of her pocket and cut off the end of the dwarfs beard.

  As soon as the dwarf was free he looked around as if searching for something, the girls watched as he found the bag he was looking for in the undergrowth. As he lifted it on his shoulder the girls heard the clanging of metals and clinking of precious gems. The dwarf never looked at the girls again and neither did he thank them for their help. As he left he shouted at them “Bad luck to you two.” Then he turned his back and walked off mumbling about brainless girls and his very fine beard.

  Weeks went by and one day Mother asked Snow White and Rose Red to go to the brook to catch a fish for dinner. As they came upon the brook they saw something that looked like a large grasshopper jumping near the water, as if it were going to leap in. They ran towards it and the closer they got they were surprise to find that it was the dwarf. “What are you doing, you surely don’t want to go into the water?” said Rose Red. The dwarf glared at her with scorn all over his face, then he shouted at her “Am I such a fool, don’t you see that the evil fish is trying to pull me in?” The strange little man had been sitting there fishing, and unluckily the wind had tangled the fishing line within his beard, a moment later a big fish bit his hook and the weak, strange, little man did not have the strength to pull the fish in. Because of all the tugging on his beard he was in a lot of pain and was doing his best to hold his beard tight so it would not hurt so much. The dwarf was now in urgent need of help as the big fish had started to pull him very close to the waters edge, he had to let go of his beard and quickly grab the rushes and the reeds to keep from falling into the water and being dragged away forever. The dwarf could not swim and the girls could see the fear in his eyes.

  The girls went straight over to him and Rose Red held him still while Snow White tried to untangle the line from his beard. It was not working, so in a split second Snow White made the decision to use her scissors again. She whipped them out of her pocket and chopped the beard. Before the dwarf could even notice what was going on, he was quite hairless, just a little stumpy, stump of hair remained on his chin. When the dwarf saw the glistening of the scissors, he screamed, but it was too late. “Oh, no you didn’t.” he shouted, stamping his feet and wagging his finger in the air. “You have disfigured my face forever you toadstools, you have ruined me, how will I ever face my people looking like this. You should be punished for this, you should be made to run until the soles of your shoes wear out.” He then turned, bent down and grabbed a sack of pearls which lay in the rushes, and without another word he disappeared into the forest.

  The girl’s birthdays were coming soon and mother was making them new dresses for their birthdays, she needed a new needle, more thread, and some pretty ribbons. So she sent the girls into town to buy the things she needed. The road to town took them across a field which had very huge pieces of rock laying around it. There they noticed a gigantic bird hovering in the air, flying slowly around above them, it sank lower and lower, and at last it settled near a rock not far away. Immediately they heard a loud, piercing screech. They ran toward the noise and saw with horror that the eagle had seized their nasty little acquaintance the dwarf, and was going to carry him off.

  The girls were both full of pity at the sight of the struggling little man and they grabbed at him and held him down. The eagle soon got tired of the struggle and realised it was never going to win so it let the dwarf go and soared into the sky. As soon as the dwarf had recovered from his fright he cried with his shrill voice, “Could you not have done it more carefully, you dragged at my brown coat and now it is all torn and full of holes, you clumsy creatures!” Then he took up a sack of precious stones, and slipped away under the rock and into a hole. The girls, who by this time were used to his bad attitude just ignored him, and went on their way to town.

  Later that same day as Snow White and Rose Red crossed the field on their way back home, they came across the dwarf again. This time they caught him by surprise. The dwarf, who had emptied out his bag of precious stones in a clearing, had not thought that anyone would come along so late. The evening sun, so yellow at its lowest point, shone upon the brilliant jewels laying there, they glittered and they glistened and they sparkled with all the colours of the rainbow. They were so beautiful that both girls stood as still as statues, fixed to the spot, just staring at them. “Why do you stand there gaping?” shrilled the dwarf, his grey face was starting to become red with rage and his eyes looked to be on fire as he glared at the girls. Snow White and Rose Red became very afraid of him, they realised that they were in a field and still quite far from home, it was approaching nightfall and the dwarf was so very, very angry that they had caught him with his stolen stash, there was just no telling what he would do. He was shouting loudly at them and gesturing with his fists, he stamped like a bull and his face looked like it was about to explode with fury as he started to head towards them, the girls screamed. All of a sudden a loud growling was heard and a bear came pouncing towards them from out of the darkest part of the nearby forest. The dwarf sprang up in fright, but he had no time to run, for the bear was already too close. The bear leapt on top of him and pinned him down. The dwarf screamed in terror.

  The dwarf was now full of dread, he was frightened, and in a voice that was nervous and shaky he said “Dear Mr Bear, please spare me, spare me and I will give you all my treasures. Look here at all the beautiful jewels I have. Grant me my life, for I am so skinny and little there is not enough of me for you to eat, take those wicked girls over there, eat them, they are much bigger and fatter than I am, they will give you a proper meal, a meal fit for a king and while you are feasting on them you can wear the jewelled crown I have inside my bag, come now Mr. Bear what do you say?” The bear said nothing, he swiped the nasty little dwarf with his right paw and then again with his left paw. The dwarf promised to leave the area as soon as he possibly could, then he fell unconscious.

  The girls did not see any of it, they were so scared they ran away, so bear went after them. “Snow White and Rose Red,” he called “Do not be afraid, it is only me. Wait, I will come with you.” The girls were so relieved that it was their friend bear. They recognized his voice and so waited for him. When bear came face to face with them, they thanked him and hugged him and Snow White buried her face into his fur and kissed him, all of a sudden his bearskin started to fall away, patches of fur were floating in the air like clumps of black wispy clouds. The girls stood there looking on in amazement, as more and more of the bears fur fell off. Snow White was sure she could see a shimmering shine coming from within the bear’s coat. It looked like a shiny man’s suit. Finally the fur had disappeared and all was revealed. Before them now stood a man, a very handsome man, all clothed in gold. “I am the king’s son, a prince,” he said “I have been bewitched by that wicked dwarf for years, he stole my treasures and cast a spell on me that turned me into a savage bear, the only way I
could get free of him was by his death. They all just stared at each other, each one realising what had just been said.

  The prince returned to the castle, and was welcomed by the king and queen and his brother and all of their servants. Everyone was overjoyed that he had come back home safe. The prince talked to his brother about Snow White and Rose Red and he agreed to meet them. The first time the girls were invited to the palace they all got on like a house on fire, they enjoyed each others company so much that they agreed the visits should be weekly. Snow White and Rose Red loved to go to the palace to see both princes and on one of these special visits the prince took Snow Whites hand in his own and he knelt down on one knee before her, and he ask her to marry him. With no hesitation at all she accepted his proposal, she loved the prince so very much. Her joy was cut short when she remembered her promise to her sister that she would never leave her alone. She told the prince of this and he said “Never fear my dear, my brother is asking for her hand in marriage this very same moment.”

  All four were married at the palace the very next spring and they divided all their riches evenly. They had two matching palaces built next door to each other, and the gardens had animals of every kind roaming them.

  Mother was so happy for both of her daughters and she was really looking forward to starting her new life with them. It had been arranged that she would spend six months with Snow White and the remaining six months of each year with Rose Red. She uprooted the two rose trees from her garden and planted them again in each of her daughter’s palace gardens. The White rose tree she planted in Rose Red’s garden and the red rose tree she planted in Snow White’s garden. She gathered the girl’s about her and said “This is so when you look out of your windows upon your heavenly gardens and you see your lone rose tree, you never forget where you have come from or the love you both have for each other, and also never forget that, that love starts with me.” She smiled at both of her daughters as they fell into her outstretched arms, they both embraced her tightly, and even as the rose trees outside were starting to drop their leaves and petals, they knew that theirs was the kind of love that would last forever.