Snow White
© Franz Jüttner/ Public DomainA 1910 illustration of Schneewittchen (Snow White)
One of the most famous fables of all, variations of Snow White appear in more than 400 versions of fairy tales around the world. The most well-known version is actually called "Snowdrop" and comes from Grimms' Children's and Household Tales. It was later tweaked into a more familiar format by the folklorist Andrew Lang and eventually adapted by Walt Disney.

The Fairest Woman

In this version, the queen wished for a child and a baby girl was born; her hair was as dark as ebony and her skin was so fair and pure that her mother named her Snow White. After the queen died, her father married a woman who was vain and wicked, who would stand in front of a magic mirror asking who was the fairest woman in the land. The mirror always replied "My Queen, you are the fairest one of all", until one day an answer came that threw her into a rage - Snow White was now the fairest woman in all the land.

Snow White's step-mother, furious at what the mirror had told her, ordered a huntsman to take her into the forest and kill her, taking the girl's heart as a proof. But the huntsman felt sympathy for Snow White and let her free, bringing the Evil Queen a deer's heart instead. Snow White came upon a small cottage and, feeling exhausted, collapsed into one of the beds and fell into a deep sleep. When she awoke, seven dwarfs were looking down upon her. They told Snow White she could stay with them as long as she cleaned and cooked.

Snow White and the dwarfs lived in contentment, until one day when the magic mirror told the Queen that Snow White was alive and was still the fairest of them all. The Queen disguised herself as an old woman and presented Snow White with a poisoned apple. After taking a bite of the apple, Snow White fell unconscious. The dwarfs, assuming she was dead, built a glass coffin and placed her inside.

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