Snow-White and Rose-Red

“Snow-white and Rose-red,

Don’t beat your lover dead.”

When it was time to retire for the night, and the others went to bed,

the mother said to the bear: “You can lie there on the hearth, in

heaven’s name; it will be shelter for you from the cold and wet.” As

soon as day dawned the children led him out, and he trotted over the

snow into the wood. From this time on the bear came every evening at

the same hour, and lay down by the hearth and let the children play what

pranks they liked with him; and they got so accustomed to him that the

door was never shut till their black friend had made his appearance.

When spring came, and all outside was green, the bear said one morning

to Snow-white: “Now I must go away, and not return again the whole

summer.” “Where are you going to, dear bear?” asked Snow-white. “I

must go to the wood and protect my treasure from the wicked dwarfs.

In winter, when the earth is frozen hard, they are obliged to remain

underground, for they can’t work their way through; but now, when the

sun has thawed and warmed the ground, they break through and come up

above to spy the land and steal what they can; what once falls into

their hands and into their caves is not easily brought back to light.”

Snow-white was quite sad over their friend’s departure, and when she

unbarred the door for him, the bear, stepping out, caught a piece of

his fur in the door-knocker, and Snow-white thought she caught sight of

glittering gold beneath it, but she couldn’t be certain of it; and the

bear ran hastily away, and soon disappeared behind the trees.

A short time after this the mother sent the children into the wood to

collect fagots. They came in their wanderings upon a big tree which lay

felled on the ground, and on the trunk among the long grass they

noticed something jumping up and down, but what it was they couldn’t

distinguish. When they approached nearer they perceived a dwarf with a

wizened face and a beard a yard long. The end of the beard was jammed

into a cleft of the tree, and the little man sprang about like a dog

on a chain, and didn’t seem to know what he was to do. He glared at the

girls with his fiery red eyes, and screamed out: “What are you standing

there for? Can’t you come and help me?” “What were you doing, little

man?” asked Rose-red. “You stupid, inquisitive goose!” replied the

dwarf; “I wanted to split the tree, in order to get little chips of

wood for our kitchen fire; those thick logs that serve to make fires for

coarse, greedy people like yourselves quite burn up all the little food

we need. I had successfully driven in the wedge, and all was going well,

but the cursed wood was so slippery that it suddenly sprang out, and the

tree closed up so rapidly that I had no time to take my beautiful white

beard out, so here I am stuck fast, and I can’t get away; and you silly,

smooth-faced, milk-and-water girls just stand and laugh! Ugh! what

wretches you are!”

The children did all in their power, but they couldn’t get the beard

out; it was wedged in far too firmly. “I will run and fetch somebody,”

said Rose-red. “Crazy blockheads!” snapped the dwarf; “what’s the good

of calling anyone else? You’re already two too many for me. Does

nothing better occur to you than that?” “Don’t be so impatient,” said

Snow-white, “I’ll see you get help,” and taking her scissors out of

her pocket she cut off the end of his beard. As soon as the dwarf felt

himself free he seized a bag full of gold which was hidden among the

roots of the tree, lifted it up, and muttered aloud: “Curse these rude

wretches, cutting off a piece of my splendid beard!” With these words he

swung the bag over his back, and disappeared without as much as looking

at the children again.

Shortly after this Snow-white and Rose-red went out to get a dish of

fish. As they approached the stream they saw something which looked like

an enormous grasshopper springing toward the water as if it were going

to jump in. They ran forward and recognized their old friend the dwarf.

“Where are you going to?” asked Rose-red; “you’re surely not going to

jump into the water?” “I’m not such a fool,” screamed the dwarf. “Don’t

you see that cursed fish is trying to drag me in?” The little man

had been sitting on the bank fishing, when unfortunately the wind had

entangled his beard in the line; and when immediately afterward a big

fish bit, the feeble little creature had no strength to pull it out; the

fish had the upper fin, and dragged the dwarf toward him. He clung on

with all his might to every rush and blade of grass, but it didn’t help

him much; he had to follow every movement of the fish, and was in great

danger of being drawn into the water. The girls came up just at the

right moment, held him firm, and did all they could to disentangle his

beard from the line; but in vain, beard and line were in a hopeless

muddle. Nothing remained but to produce the scissors and cut the beard,

by which a small part of it was sacrificed.

When the dwarf perceived what they were about he yelled to them: “Do

you call that manners, you toad-stools! to disfigure a fellow’s face? It

wasn’t enough that you shortened my beard before, but you must now

needs cut off the best bit of it. I can’t appear like this before my own

people. I wish you’d been in Jericho first.” Then he fetched a sack of

pearls that lay among the rushes, and without saying another word he

dragged it away and disappeared behind a stone.

It happened that soon after this the mother sent the two girls to the

town to buy needles, thread, laces, and ribbons. Their road led over a

heath where huge boulders of rock lay scattered here and there. While

trudging along they saw a big bird hovering in the air, circling slowly

above them, but always descending lower, till at last it settled on

a rock not far from them. Immediately afterward they heard a sharp,

piercing cry. They ran forward, and saw with horror that the eagle had

pounced on their old friend the dwarf, and was about to carry him off.

The tender-hearted children seized hold of the little man, and struggled

so long with the bird that at last he let go his prey. When the dwarf

had recovered from the first shock he screamed in his screeching voice:

“Couldn’t you have treated me more carefully? You have torn my thin

little coat all to shreds, useless, awkward hussies that you are!” Then

he took a bag of precious stones and vanished under the rocks into his

cave. The girls were accustomed to his ingratitude, and went on their

way and did their business in town. On their way home, as they were

again passing the heath, they surprised the dwarf pouring out his

precious stones on an open space, for he had thought no one would pass

by at so late an hour. The evening sun shone on the glittering stones,

and they glanced and gleamed so beautifully that the children stood

still and gazed on them. “What are you standing there gaping for?”

screamed the dwarf, and his ashen-gray face became scarlet with rage.

He was about to go off with these angry words when a sudden growl was

heard, and a black bear trotted out of the wood. The dwarf jumped up in

great fright, but he hadn’t time to reach his place of retreat, for the

bear was already close to him. Then he cried in terror: “Dear Mr.

Bear, spare me! I’ll give you all my treasure. Look at those beautiful

precious stones lying there. Spare my life! what pleasure would you get

from a poor feeble little fellow like me? You won’t feel me between your

teeth. There, lay hold of these two wicked girls, they will be a tender

morsel for you, as fat as young quails; eat them up, for heaven’s sake.”

But the bear, paying no attention to his words, gave the evil little

creature one blow with his paw, and he never moved again.

The girls had run away, but the bear called after them: “Snow-white

and Rose-red, don’t be afraid; wait, and I’ll come with you.” Then they

recognized his voice and stood still, and when the bear was quite close

to them his skin suddenly fell off, and a beautiful man stood beside

them, all dressed in gold. “I am a king’s son,” he said, “and have been

doomed by that unholy little dwarf, who had stolen my treasure, to roam

about the woods as a wild bear till his death should set me free. Now he

has got his well-merited punishment.”

Snow-white married him, and Rose-red his brother, and they divided the

great treasure the dwarf had collected in his cave between them. The

old mother lived for many years peacefully with her children; and she

carried the two rose trees with her, and they stood in front of her

window, and every year they bore the finest red and white roses.(1)

(1) Grimm.