Snow White and Red Rose

There was once a poor woman who lived in an old thatched cottage . In front of the cottage grew two rose bushes. One grew flowers as white as snow, the other had flowers as red as wine. The woman had two daughters who resembled these rose bushes: one had a complexion as white as snow, the other lips as red roses. She named her daughters snow white and red rose. They were both good girls, but very different. Snow white, the elder, liked to stay with her mother and help her around the house, while her sister, Red rose, would wander the fields collecting flowers. But they loved each other dearly, and enjoyed each other’s company. This pleased there mother. ‘what one has she must share with the other. ’ The two girls liked to go walking in the woods to pick berries. Although the woods were filled with wild animals they never came to any harm-rather the reverse. The rabbits would come would come to feed from their hands and the deer would walk by their sides. If the girls were far from their home when night fell, they would make themselves a bed on the soft moss and sleep peacefully until morning. Their mother did not worry, as she knew her daughters were perfectly safe in the woods. The cottage itself was spotlessly clean, thanks to the way the two girls helped their mother. Red rose did the work housework during the summer. She would rise early, before anyone else was awake, so that she could bring her fresh flowers to put by her bed. During the winter, it was Snow white who lit the fire and set the cooking pot to boil. It was a copper cauldron, but she cleaned it so well, it shone like gold. One evening, as the snow falling softly outside, Snow white and Rose red sat by the fire as their mother read to them. A small lamb lay beside them, basking in the warmth, and a dove dozed on its perch above them. As the night drew on there came a loud knock at the door. ‘Quickly, Rose red,’ said her mother. ‘Open the door. It must be a lost traveller looking for shelter for the night. ’ Rose red opened the door, but standing there, instead of a traveller, was a enormous bear! She screamed and Snow white ran to hide behind her mother. ‘Do not be afraid,’ said the bear. ’ I mean you no harm. I am dying of cold and I am simply seeking some warmth. ‘The lamb trembled with fear and the dove flew away at the sound of the bear’s voice, but the girls’ mother was not scared. ‘Poor bear,’ she said. ‘Come, and warm yourself by the fire. Come, my daughters, do not be afraid, this bear will not harm you. ‘The girls came closer and were soon felling confident enough to brush the snow from his thick fur and tickle him with a stick. This would make the bear chuckle, but every now and again they would poke him too hard. The bear would growl softly, ‘Snow white, Rose Red, be careful. You almost spread me. ’ When it was time to go to bed, the girl’ mother suggested that the bear stay and sleep close to the fire. The next morning the two sisters woke and saw that the bear had left. Its heavy footprints in the snow led towards the wood. The next night the bear returned, and the next, and the next. All winter, the bear returned to sleep in the thatched cottage. The young girls spent the evenings playing with him, then at daybreak the bear would leave. One morning, when spring had come, the bear to Snow white, ‘I must leave now, and I will not be able to return until after summer. ’ ‘Must you go? ’ asked Snow white. ‘I’m afraid so,’ he replied. ‘I have to protect my treasure from the elves. As long as the ground is cold, the elves cannot find it, but as soon as the sun returns and heats the ground, they try to steal it. Snow white was very sad to see the bear leave, but as he passed the door, the latch caught against his skin and cut him. For a moment Snow white thought she saw a flash of gold shining through his fur, but she glimpsed it so briefly she could not be sure. Seeing snow white’s confused look, bear fled quickly into the woods. Sometime later, Rose red and Snow white were sent by their mother to collect firewood in the forest. As they approached a newly-felled tree, they spotted something hopping around the stump. It was an elf with a long white beard. The end of the beard was caught in the trunk and he pulled and tugged at his beard to try to release it. The elf glared at the girls. ‘What are you, statues? Why don’t you help me? ’ The happened here? ’ asked Red rose nicely. ‘You have a brains of a turkey! ’ the elf snapped back. ‘Can’t you tell that I was trying to chop down this tree here for firewood? It was all doing fine until my beard got caught in this cursed tree. Then you two young turkeys wandered past laughing at me! ’ To two sisters tried to free the elf, but his beard remained held fast on the tree. ‘Let’s go for help,’ suggested Rose red. You idiots! ’ he cried. ‘How dare you cut off the end of my beard? ’ Then he threw the bag on his shoulder and left without even looking at the young girls, let alone thanking them for freeing him. A few days later, Snow white and Rose red decided to go fishing. When they were close to the river, they saw something moving. It was the elf that Snow white had helped a few days earlier. A strong wind had entangled his beard with a fishing line-and at the other end of the line was a big fish. The fish was pulling so hard it threatened to drag the elf into the water. ‘Be careful! shouted Rose red. ‘You’ll fall into the water. ’ ‘I am not doing this on purpose, you fools,’ replied the elf, rudely. ‘It’s this cursed fish which wants me to fall in. ’ The young girls went to help. They hauled the elf into the bank and tried to disentangle the beard from the line. Unfortunately his beard was so twisted that Snow white was forced once again to resort to the scissors. The elf started to howl, ‘Oh, you devils! Why do you feel you have to mutilate the faces of everyone you meet? You disfigured me earlier, cutting off the point off my beard, and now you’ve cut off more! I daren’t show my face now because of you. ’ Snow white and Rose red were astonished. Then the elf added a curse. ‘I wish you only one thing-it is that you have to run without stopping until you have worn out the soles of you shoes. ’ Then he turned his back on the two girls, picked up a bag of pearls he had left on the riverbank, threw it over his shoulder and marched away. A short time afterwards, the girls’ mother sent them to town to buy some needles and thread. The path to the city crossed a moor covered with large rocks. Snow white and Rose red spotted an immense eagle circling in the sky.