orange fairy book

Chapter 35 Snowflakes
In a winter long, long ago, snowflakes fell on the ground like feathers. The queen sat in front of the ebony window and sewed. While sewing, she looked at the vast whiteness outside, and accidentally poked her finger with a needle, and three drops of blood dripped on the snow.She thought, "If only I could have a child with skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as ebony."

Her wish came true.Not long after, she gave birth to a little daughter, whose skin was as white as snow, her lips and cheeks were as red as blood, and her hair as black as ebony, and the child was named Snowflake, and not long after she was born, the queen died .

A year later, the king remarried.His new wife is a beautiful woman who is proud of her looks and would not like anyone else to be more beautiful than her.She has a magic mirror, she likes to stand in front of the mirror, stare at herself in the mirror and ask: "Mirror, mirror, who is the most beautiful in the world?"

The mirror always answered: "My queen, you are the most beautiful. There is no one more beautiful than you."

She was happy now, because she knew that the mirror always told the truth.

However, Snow Flower became more and more beautiful every day, and she was already more beautiful than the queen when she was seven years old.One day, the queen stood in front of the mirror and asked, "Mirror, mirror, who is the most beautiful in the world?"

The mirror answered, "My queen, you are beautiful. But the snowflakes are more beautiful than you."

The queen became angry, and her face turned green.From then on, she hated Snowflakes to the core. Resentment and jealousy fell into her heart like seeds, growing every day.

At last, when she could bear it no longer, she called a hunter and said, "Take this child into the forest, and I shall not see her again. Kill her, and bring me her lungs and liver, and I will Just knew she was dead."

The hunter took Snowflake to the forest, but just as he drew his knife to kill her, she cried and said, "My dear hunter, don't kill me, I promise to go to the forest and never come home again."

She was so young and beautiful that the hunter took pity on her and said, "Go away, poor child." He thought to himself, "She will be eaten by wild beasts."

He felt a lot easier because he didn't have to kill her with his own hands.As soon as he turned, he saw a wild boar running past him, shot it dead, and took its lungs and liver back to the queen, and told her that Snowflake was really dead.

The wicked woman salted the lungs and liver and ate them, thinking that the snowflakes would never exist again.

The poor child was walking alone in the great forest, where every tree looked so hideous and strange, and she was so frightened that she did not know what to do.

Then she ran over the sharp stones and through the briers, and the beasts passed her, but they did her no harm.She ran and ran, and at night, she saw a hut, and went in to rest.

Everything in the house is small but clean.In the middle of the room was a small table, covered with a white tablecloth, on which were placed seven sets of cutlery.In the corner, there are seven small beds covered with snow-white sheets.

Snow Flower was hungry and thirsty, and she drank a little porridge from each plate, ate a little bread, and drank wine from each glass.

Then she got tired and lay down on a bed.But it was not very comfortable, so she tried every bed, but it was either too long or too short, and it was only when she slept on the seventh bed that she felt it was just right.She lay down, said her prayers like a good child, and fell asleep.

It was dark, and the owners of the hut came back.They were seven dwarfs who worked in the mines in the mountains.They lit seven small lamps, and just when they got used to the light, they saw that there were people in the room, and the room was not the same as when they left.

The first person said, "Who has sat in my chair?"

The second said, "Who ate my bun?"

The third person said: "Who drank my porridge?"

A fourth said, "Who moved my plate?"

The fifth said, "Who used my fork?"

The sixth said, "Who used my knife?"

The seventh said, "Who has ever drank from my glass?"

The first dwarf looked around and saw a sag in the bed, and asked again, "Who has slept in my bed?"

The other dwarves gathered around, looked at their own bed, and said together: "There are people who have been lying on my bed."

The Seventh Dwarf went to the bed and stepped back in surprise.There was snowflakes lying on the bed, and he called others to come over, and they shone the lights on the bed, and when they saw the snowflakes, they were so surprised that they almost fell down.

"God!" they cried, "what a beautiful boy!"

Fascinated by her face, they didn't have the heart to wake her up, so they let her sleep in the cot.The seventh dwarf had to sleep an hour in each bed, and so the night passed.

In the morning, Snow Flower woke up and was startled when she saw the seven dwarfs.But they were friendly and asked her name, and she replied, "My name is Snow Flower."

"How did you come here?" asked the Dwarfs.

She told them that her stepmother wanted to kill her, and the hunter set her free, and she walked all day to find the hut.When the dwarf had heard her story, he asked, "Why don't you stay here and help us clean up the room, cook, make the bed, wash, and sew? If we are satisfied, you don't have to worry about anything."

"Okay." Snow Flower said, "I will do whatever you tell me to do."

In this way, she lived here.The next morning the dwarves went up to the hill to dig for gold, and in the evening when they came back Snowflake had supper ready.

But she was alone in the house during the day, and the dwarves warned her, "Be careful with your stepmother. She will find you here soon, and don't let anyone in the house anyway."

The queen thought she had eaten Snowflake's liver and lungs, but she never dreamed that when she went to the mirror and asked who was the most beautiful person in the world, the mirror replied, "My queen, you are beautiful. But Snowflake Prettier than you. Snowflake, who lives with the seven dwarfs, is prettier than you."

When the queen heard these words, she was like five thunderbolts.She knew that the hunter had lied to her and Snow Flower was still alive.She thought about how to kill Snowflake day and night, and her heart would never be at peace when she thought that there was someone more beautiful than her in the world.

Finally, she thought of a way.She got her face dirty, dressed like an old peddler, and went over the seven hills to the house of the seven dwarfs.She knocked on the door and called, "Shopping?"

Snow Flower looked out of the window: "Hello, grandma, what do you sell?"

"All kinds of things. Pretty things," she answered, "very pretty." She showed Snowflake a pretty lace.

"I should let this honest woman in." Snow Flower thought, opened the door, and bought this beautiful lace.

"Good boy," said the old woman, "good eyes. Come, and I will put them on for you."

Snow Flower didn't doubt at all, stood in front of her and asked her to wear lace for her.The old woman strangled her so quickly that she could not breathe, and fell dead on the ground.

"Now you are not the prettiest," said the wicked old woman, and ran away immediately.

In the evening, the seven dwarfs went home.You can imagine how terrified they were when they opened the door to see their beloved Snowflake lying lifeless and dead on the ground!
They took her tenderly, and when they saw the tight lace, they cut it off.She began to breathe and slowly regained consciousness.

When the little man heard her say this, he said, "Remember, this peddler is the queen. You will know later. We are not here, so don't let anyone in."

As soon as the wicked queen got home, she ran to the mirror and asked, "Mirror, mirror, who is the most beautiful in the world?"

The Mirror answered as before, saying, "My Queen, you are beautiful. But Snowflake is more beautiful than you. Snowflake, who lives with the Seven Dwarfs, is more beautiful than you."

When she heard this answer, her face was as pale as death, and she knew at once that Snow Flower was still alive.

"This time," she said to herself, "I've got to find a way to get rid of her."

The queen knew magic. She made a poisonous comb, dressed up as an old woman, climbed seven mountains, and arrived at the dwarf's house.Knock on the door and say, "Sell something."

Snowflake looked out of the window and said, "Go away, I won't let anyone in."

"Then you can at least look from the inside out." The old woman said, holding up the poisonous comb for her to see.

The little girl liked this comb, she opened the door and bought this comb.The old woman said, "Let me help you comb your hair."

Poor Snow Flower didn't expect to be cheated, and when the comb touched her hair, she fainted.

"Now, pretty lady, it's all over for you," said the wicked woman, and slipped away.

Towards evening the seven dwarfs came home.When they saw Xuehua lying dead on the ground, they immediately suspected that her stepmother had come again. They searched everywhere and found the poisonous comb.

No sooner had the comb been taken off her hair than Snowflake woke up and told them about it.They warned her to be careful and not to open the door again.

As soon as the queen came home, she ran to the mirror and asked, "Mirror, mirror, who is the most beautiful in the world?"

The Mirror answered as before, saying, "My Queen, you are beautiful. But Snowflake is more beautiful than you. Snowflake, who lives with the Seven Dwarfs, is more beautiful than you."

When she heard this, she flew into a rage and trembled all over.

"Snow Flower must die!" she cried, "even if I die, I will not hesitate."

She ran to a secret room that no one knew about but herself.There, she made a poisonous apple, which was so beautiful, red and white, that she couldn't help but want to eat it, and of course, if she ate it, she would die.

When she finished the apples, she blackened her face, dressed like a peasant woman, and climbed over the seven hills to the dwarfs.She knocked on the door, and Snowflake said from the window, "I won't let anyone in, and the dwarves won't let me in."

"Are you afraid of being poisoned?" said the old woman. "I will divide the apple in half. I will eat the white half, and you will eat the red one."

She is very cunning, only the red half of the apple is poisonous.Xuehua wanted to eat this attractive fruit so much, she saw that the peasant woman was eating it herself, so she stopped insisting.But as soon as she took a bite, she fell to the ground dead.The queen looked at her happily, and said with a smile, "As white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as ebony, the dwarves will not be able to save you this time."

As soon as she got home, she asked the mirror: "Mirror, mirror, who is the most beautiful in the world?"

The mirror replied, "My queen, you are the most beautiful. There is no one more beautiful than you in the world."

Now, her heart is finally at peace.

At night, when the dwarf came home, he found Snowflake lying on the ground, completely out of breath.They picked her up and searched everywhere, but they searched the cabin and found nothing poisonous.They loosened her corset, combed her hair, washed her face with water and wine, but it was no use.Snowflake died.

They had no choice but to put her in a coffin, and the seven dwarfs sat around the coffin and wept for three days.Finally, he made up his mind to bury her.She was still as fresh as a flower, and her cheeks were still red. They said: "We can't bury her in the dark underground!"

So they made a transparent glass coffin, put her in it, and wrote on the lid in gold letters that she was a princess.They then placed the coffin on top of the hill, and the dwarves took turns guarding her.Birds came to mourn her, first an owl, then crows, and then a flock of doves.

Snowflake lay in the coffin for a long time without changing, as if she had fallen asleep.Her skin was as white as snow, her lips as red as blood, and her hair as black as ebony.

One day, a prince came to the forest and passed by the dwarf's house.He saw the coffin and the beautiful snowflakes on the mountain. When he saw the words on the coffin, he said to the dwarf, "Give me the coffin. I will give you whatever you like."

But the dwarf replied, "No, not even if you give us all the gold in the world."

"Then," he said, "give it to me. I can't live without Snowflakes. I will cherish her."

He spoke so sadly that the Dwarf took pity on him, and gave him the coffin.The prince asked the servant to carry it on his shoulders.When they went down the mountain, they tripped over the grass, the coffin shook violently, fell out, and a piece of poisoned apple fell out of Snowflake's throat.She gradually opened her eyes, lifted the lid of the coffin, and sat up.

"Why, where am I?" she asked.

The prince answered happily, "You are with me." He told her what had happened, and said, "I love you most in this world. Come with me to my father's palace, and marry me."

Snowflake agreed and went with him.The wedding was grand and spectacular.

Snow Flower's evil stepmother is also a guest. When she stood in front of the mirror dressed up beautifully, she asked, "Mirror, mirror, who is the most beautiful in the world?"

The mirror answered, "My queen, you are beautiful. But the snowflakes are more beautiful than you."

When the wicked woman heard these words, she began to curse and abuse, for she no longer wanted to go to the wedding, but she felt that she would have no peace without seeing the young Queen.

However, as soon as she entered the door, Xue Hua recognized her, and was so frightened that she almost fainted.But the hot iron shoes were ready for the Queen, and she put them on and danced and danced until she died.

(End of this chapter)