Saturday, October 11, 2014
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Once upon a
time . . . in a great castle, a Prince's daughter grew up happy and
contented , in spite of a jealous stepmother. She was very pretty, with blue
eyes and long black hair. Her skin was delicate and fair, and so she was called
Snow White. Everyone was quite sure she would become very beautiful. Though her
stepmother was a wicked woman, she too was very beautiful, and the magic mirror
told her this every day, whenever she asked it.
"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the loveliest lady in the
land?" The reply was always; "You are, your Majesty," until the
dreadful day when she heard it say, "Snow White is the loveliest in the
land." The stepmother was furious and, wild with jealousy, began plotting
to get rid of her rival. Calling one of her trusty servants, she bribed him
with a rich reward to take Snow White intc the forest, far away from the
Castle. Then, unseen, he was to put her to death. The greedy servant, attracted
to the reward, agreed to do this deed, and he led the innocent little girl
away. However, when they came to the fatal spot, the man's courage failed him and, leaving Snow
White sitting beside a tree, he mumbled an excuse and ran off. Snow White was
all alone in the forest.
Night came, but the servant did not return. Snow White, alone in the dark
forest, began to cry bitterly. She thought she could feel terrible eyes spying on her, and she heard strange sounds and rustlings that made her
heart thump. At last, overcome by tiredness, she fell asleep curled under a tree.
Snow White slept fitfully, wakening from time to time with a start and
staring into the darkness round her. Several times, she thought she felt something, or somebody touch her as she slept.
At last, dawn woke the forest to the song of the birds, and Snow White too,
awoke. A whole world was stirring to life and the little girl was glad to see how
silly her fears had been. However, the thick trees were like a wall round her,
and as she tried to find out where she was, she came upon a path. She walked
along it, hopefully. On she walked till she came to a clearing. There stood a
strange cottage, with a tiny door, tiny windows and a tiny chimney pot.
Everything about the cottage was much tinier than it ought to be. Snow White
pushed the door open.
"l wonder who lives here?" she said to herself, peeping round the
kitchen. "What tiny plates! And spoons! There must be seven of them, the
table's laid for seven people." Upstairs was a bedroom with seven neat
little beds. Going back to the kitchen, Snow White had an idea.
"I'll make them something to eat. When they come home, they'll be glad
to find a meal ready." Towards dusk, seven tiny men marched homewards
singing. But when they opened the door, to their surprise they found a bowl of hot steaming soup on the
table, and the whole house spick and span. Upstairs was Snow White, fast asleep
on one of the beds. The chief dwarf prodded her gently.
"Who are you?" he asked. Snow White told them her sad story, and
tears sprang to the dwarfs' eyes. Then one of them said as he noisily blew his nose:
"Stay here with us!"
"Hooray! Hooray!" they cheered, dancing joyfully round the little
girl. The dwarfs said to Snow White:
"You can live here and tend to the house while we're down the mine.
Don't worry about your stepmother leaving you in the forest. We love you and we'll take care of
you!" Snow White gratefully accepted their hospitality, and next morning
the dwarfs set off for work. But they warned Snow White not to open the door to
strangers.
Meanwhile, the servant had returned to the castle, with the heart of a roe
deer. He gave it to the cruel stepmother, telling her it belonged to Snow
White, so that he could claim the reward. Highly pleased, the stepmother turned
again to the magic mirror. But her hopes were dashed, for the mirror replied:
"The loveliest in the land is still Snow White, who lives in the seven
dwarfs' cottage, down in the forest." The stepmother was beside herself
with rage.
"She must die! She must die!" she screamed. Disguising herself as
an old peasant woman, she put a poisoned apple with the others in her basket.
Then, taking the quickest way into the forest, she crossed the swamp at the
edge of the trees. She reached the bank unseen, just as Snow White stood waving
goodbye to the seven dwarfs on their way to the mine.
Snow White was in the kitchen when she heard the sound at the door: KNOCK!
KNOCK!
"Who's there?" she called suspiciously, remembering the dwarfs
advice.
"I'm an old peasant woman selling apples," came the reply.
"I don't need any apples, thank you," she replied.
"But they are beautiful apples and ever so juicy!" said the velvety voice from
outside the door.
"I'm not supposed to open the door to anyone," said the little
girl, who was reluctant to disobey her friends.
"And quite right too! Good girl! If you promised not to open up to
strangers, then of course you can't buy. You are a good girl indeed!" Then
the old woman went on.
"And as a reward for being good, I'm going to make you a gift of one
of my apples!" Without a further thought, Snow White opened the door just
a tiny crack, to take the apple.
"There! Now isn't that a nice apple?" Snow White bit into the
fruit, and as she did, fell to the ground in a faint: the effect of the
terrible poison left her lifeless instantaneously.
Now chuckling evilly, the wicked stepmother hurried off. But as she ran
back across the swamp, she tripped and fell into the quicksand. No one heard
her cries for help, and she disappeared without a trace.
Meanwhile, the dwarfs came out of the mine to find the sky had grown dark
and stormy. Loud thunder echoed through the valleys and streaks of lightning
ripped the sky. Worried about Snow White
they ran as quickly as they could down the mountain to the cottage.
There they found Snow White, lying still and lifeless, the poisoned apple
by her side. They did their best to bring her around, but it was no use.
They wept and wept for a long time. Then they laid her on a bed of rose
petals, carried her into the forest and put her in a crystal coffin.
Each day they laid a flower there.
Then one evening, they discovered a strange young man admiring Snow White's
lovely face through the glass. After listening to the story, the Prince (for he
was a prince!) made a suggestion.
"If you allow me to take her to the Castle, I'll call in famous
doctors to waken her from this peculiar sleep. She's so lovely . . . I'd love to kiss her. . . !" He did, and as though
by magic, the Prince's kiss broke the spell. To everyone's astonishment, Snow
White opened her eyes. She had amazingly come back to life! Now in love, the
Prince asked Snow White to marry him, and the dwarfs reluctantly had to say
good bye to Snow White.
From that day on, Snow White lived happily in a great castle. But from time
to time, she was drawn back to visit the little cottage down in the forest.
Summary
Orientation
Once upon a time . . . in a great castle, a Prince's daughter grew up happy
and contented , in spite of a jealous stepmother. She was very pretty so
she was called Snow White.
Complication
when night come snow white, alone in dark forest ,began to cry bitterly. She
thought she could feel terrible eyes
spying on her and she heard strange sounds and rustlings that made her
heart thump At last, overcome by tiredness Snow White slept fitfully, Several
times, she thought she felt something,
or somebody touch her as she slept. At last, Snow White awoke. the thick trees
were like a wall round her, and as she tried to find out where she was, she
came upon a path. She walked along it, hopefully. . On she walked There stood a
strange cottage, with a tiny door, tiny windows and a tiny chimney pot. Snow
White pushed the door open. She wonder who live there.about view minute she had
an idea.she will make them something to eat.when they come home,they will glad
to find a meal. One day, The stepmother Disguising herself as an old peasant
woman, she put a poisoned apple with the others in her basket. Then, taking the
quickest way into the forest, she crossed the swamp at the edge of the trees.
She reached the bank unseen, just as Snow White stood waving goodbye to the
seven dwarfs on their way to the mine. But as she ran back across the swamp,
she tripped and fell into the quicksand. No one heard her cries for help, and
she disappeared without a trace. Meanwhile, the dwarfs came out of
the mine they go to home. There they found Snow White, lying still and lifeless,
the poisoned apple by her side. They did their best to bring her around, but it
was no use.
Resolution
Then one evening, they discovered a strange young man admiring Snow White's
lovely face through the glass. After listening to the story, the Prince (for he
was a prince!) made a suggestion.
"If you allow me to take her to the Castle, I'll call in famous
doctors to waken her from this peculiar sleep. She's so lovely . . . I'd love to kiss her. . . !" He did, and as
though by magic, the Prince's kiss broke the spell. To everyone's astonishment,
Snow White opened her eyes. She had amazingly come back to life! Now in love,
the Prince asked Snow White to marry him, and the dwarfs reluctantly had to say
good bye to Snow White.
From that day on, Snow White lived happily in a great castle. But from time
to time, she was drawn back to visit the little cottage down in the forest.
