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THE MAGIC MIRROR. |
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"What!" cried the woman, " are you afraid it is poisoned ? look here now, I will cut the apple in halves; you shall have the rosy-cheek side, and I will eat the other."
The apple was so cleverly made that the red side alone was poisonous. Snow-white longed so much for the beautiful fruit as she saw the farmer's wife eat one half that she could not any longer resist, but stretched out her hand from the window and took the poisoned half. But no sooner had she taken one mouthful than she fell on the ground dead.
Then the wicked queen glanced in at the window with a horrible look in her eyes, and laughed aloud as she exclaimed—
" White as snow, red as blood, and black as ebony; this time the dwarfs will not be able to awake thee."
And as soon as she arrived at home, and asked her mirror who was the most beautiful in the land, it replied—
*' Fair queen, there is none in all the land So beautiful as thee."
Then had her envious heart rest, at least such rest as a heart full of envy and malice ever can have.
The little dwarfs, when they came home in the evening, found poor Snow-white on the ground; but though they lifted her up, there were no signs of breath from her mouth, and they found she was really dead. Yet they tried in every way to restore her; they tried to extract the poison from her lips, they combed her hair, and washed it with wine and water, but all to no purpose: the dear child gave no signs of life, and at last they knew she was dead. Then they laid her on a bier, and the seven dwarfs seated themselves round her, and wept and mourned for three days. They would have buried her then, but there was no change in her appearance; her face was as fresh, and her cheeks and lips had their usual colour. Then said one, " We cannot lay this beautiful child in the dark cold earth."
\ So they agreed to have a coffin made entirely of glass, transparent all over, that they might watch for any signs of decay, and they wrote in letters of gold her name on the lid, and that she was the daughter of a king. The coffin was placed on the side of the mountain, and each of them watched it by turns, so that it was never left alone. And the birds of the air came near ind mourned for Snow-white; first the owl, then the raven, and at |
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