Bedtime Story: Snow White

Tonight, we have the classic tale of 'Snow White' by the Brothers Grimm. This was one of my all-time favorite tales when I was a little girl and I hope you enjoy it too. Please note that this is a 'vintage fairytale' and may contain imagery and language that may be considered offensive in our modern day. This story is not recommended for anyone who has a sensitive nature. Parents should always listen to the whole story first to decide whether the story is appropriate for their young listeners.

I hope you enjoy this classic tale! May it bring you restful sleep. Sweet dreams...

Music in this episode 'Near Dawn' by S. A. Kari via epidemicsound
Snow White by the Brothers Grimm (story resides in the public domain)

Transcript

Tonight's bedtime reading is the classic fairy tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by the Brothers Grimm,

A vintage fairy tale about a beautiful young princess called Snow White who lives in a castle with her evil stepmother,

The Queen.

The Queen has a magical mirror that speaks and tells her that Snow White is the most fairest of them all.

In anger and jealousy,

The evil Queen orders her huntsman to take Snow White into the forest and take away her life.

The little princess escapes into the forest and meets seven little dwarfs who take her in and give her shelter.

Will the evil stepmother find out that Snow White still lives?

Let's find out.

And so as always,

My friend,

Take a moment to settle in comfortably into your bed.

Enjoy the softness of the pillows and blankets,

Feeling all comfy and cozy as the day comes to an end.

Then take a full,

Comfortable breath,

And as you exhale,

Relax and let go.

Allow any tension to just melt away,

Sinking deeper and deeper down into the surface below.

There is nothing else to do,

And nowhere else to be.

So just lie back,

Relax,

And enjoy the story.

It was in the middle of winter,

When the broad flakes of snow were falling around,

That a certain Queen sat working at her window,

The frame of which was made of fine black ebony And as she was looking out upon the snow,

She pricked her finger and three drops of blood fell upon it.

Then she gazed thoughtfully down on the red drops,

Which sprinkled the white snow and said,

Would that my little daughter may be as white as that snow,

As red as the blood,

And as black as the ebony window frame.

And so the little girl grew up.

Her skin was white as snow,

Her cheeks as rosy as blood,

And her hair as black as ebony,

And she was called Snow White.

Sadly this Queen died,

And the King soon married another wife who was very beautiful,

But so proud that she could not bear to think that anyone could surpass her.

She had a magical looking glass,

To which she used to go and gaze upon herself in it and say,

Tell me glass,

Tell me true,

Of all the ladies in the land,

Who is fairest,

Tell me who.

Then the glass answered,

Thou,

Queen,

Art fairest in the land.

Day by day,

Year by year,

Snow White grew more and more beautiful,

And when she was seventeen years old,

She was as bright as the day and fairer than the Queen herself.

Then the glass one day answered Queen,

When she went to consult it as usual,

Thou,

Queen,

Mayst fair and beautiful be,

But Snow White is lovelier far than thee.

When the Queen heard this,

She turned pale with rage and envy,

And calling to one of her servants said,

Take Snow White away into the wide wood,

That I may never see her more.

Then the servant led the little girl away,

But his heart melted when she begged him to spare her life,

And he said,

I will not hurt thee,

Thou pretty child.

So he left her there alone,

And though he thought it most likely that the wild beasts would tear her to pieces,

He felt as if a great weight were taken off his heart when he made up his mind not to kill her,

But leave her to her fate.

Poor Snow White wandered along through the wood in great fear,

And the wild beasts roared around,

But none did her any harm.

In the evening she came to a little cottage,

And went in there to rest,

For her weary feet would carry her no further.

Everything was spruce and neat in the cottage.

On the table was spread a white cloth,

And there were seven little plates,

With seven little loaves,

And seven little glasses with wine in them,

And knives and forks laid in order,

And by the wall stood seven little beds.

Then,

As she was exceedingly hungry,

She picked a little piece off each loaf,

And drank a very little wine of each glass,

And after that,

She thought she would lie down and rest.

So she tried all the little beds,

And one was too long,

And another was too short,

Till at last the seventh suited her,

And there she laid herself down and went to sleep.

Presently,

In came the masters of the cottage,

Who were seven little dwarfs that lived among the mountains,

And dug and searched about for gold.

They lighted up their seven lamps,

And saw directly that all was not right.

The first said,

Who's been sitting on my stool?

The second,

Who's been eating off my plate?

The third,

Who has been picking at my bread?

The fourth,

Who's been meddling with my spoon?

The fifth,

Who's been handling my fork?

The sixth,

Who has been cutting with my knife?

The seventh,

Who has been drinking my wine?

Then the first looked around and said,

Who's been lying on my bed?

And the rest came running to him,

And every one cried out that somebody had been upon his bed.

But the seventh saw Snow White,

And called upon them to come and look at her,

And they cried out with wonder and astonishment,

And brought their lamps,

And gazing upon her they said,

Good heavens,

How lovely she is!

And they were delighted to see her,

And took care not to waken her.

Then the seventh drawer slept an hour with each of the other dwarfs in turn,

Till the night was gone.

In the morning,

Snow White told them all her story,

And they pitied her,

And said if she would keep all things in order,

And cook and wash,

And knit and spin for them,

She might stay where she was,

And they would take good care of her.

Then they went out all day long to their work,

Seeking for gold and silver in the mountains,

And Snow White remained at home,

And they warned her,

Saying,

The Queen will soon find out where you are,

So take care and let no one in.

But the Queen,

Now that she thought Snow White was dead,

Believed that she was certainly the handsomest lady in the land,

So she went to her glass and said,

Tell me,

Glass,

Tell me true,

Who is fairest?

Tell me who?

And the glass answered,

Thou,

Queen,

Thou art fairest in all this land,

But over the hills,

In the greenwood shade,

Where the seven dwarfs their dwelling have made,

There Snow White is hiding,

And she is far lovelier,

O Queen,

Than thee.

The Queen was very much alarmed,

For she knew that the glass always spoke the truth,

And she was sure that the servant had betrayed her,

And as she could not bear to think that anyone lived who was more beautiful than she was,

She disguised herself as an old peddler woman and went her way over the hills to the place where the dwarfs dwelt.

Then she knocked at the door and cried,

Fine wares to sell?

Snow White looked out of the window and said,

Good day,

Good day,

Woman,

What have you to sell?

Good wares,

Fine wares,

Replied she,

Lacings and bobbins of all colors.

I will let the old lady in.

She seems to be a very good sort of a body,

Thought Snow White,

So she ran down and unbolted the door.

Bless me,

Said the woman,

How badly your stays are laced.

Let me lace them up with one of my nice new laces.

Snow White did not dream of any mischief,

So she stood up before the old woman,

Who set to work so nimbly and pulled the lace so tightly that Snow White lost her breath and fell down as if she were dead.

There's an end of all thy beauty,

Said the spiteful queen,

And went away home.

In the evening,

The seven dwarfs returned,

And I need not say how grieved they were to see their faithful Snow White stretched upon the ground motionless as if she were quite dead.

However,

They lifted her up,

And when they found what was the matter,

They cut the lace,

And in a little time she began to breathe and soon came to herself again.

And then they said,

The old woman was the queen,

Take care another time,

And let no one in when we are away.

When the queen got home,

She went to her glass and spoke to it,

But to her surprise,

It replied in the same words as before.

Then the blood ran cold in her heart with spite and malice to hear that Snow White still lived,

And she dressed herself up again in a disguise,

But very different from the one she wore before,

And took with her a poisoned comb.

When she reached the dwarfs' cottage,

She knocked at the door and cried,

Find wheres to sell?

But Snow White said,

I dare not let anyone in.

Then the queen said,

Only look at my beautiful combs,

And gave her the poisoned one,

And it looked so pretty,

That the girl took it up and put it into her hair to try it,

But the moment it touched her head,

The poison was so powerful that she fell down senseless.

There you may lie,

Said the queen,

And went her way,

But by good luck,

The dwarfs returned very early that evening,

And when they saw Snow White lying on the ground,

They thought what had happened,

And soon found the poisoned comb,

And when they took it away,

She recovered,

And told them all that had passed,

And they warned her once more not to open the door to anyone.

Meantime,

The queen went home to her glass,

And trembled with rage when she received exactly the same answer as before,

And she said,

Snow White shall die if it costs me my life.

So she went secretly into a chamber,

And prepared a poisoned apple.

The outside looked very rosy and tempting,

But whoever tasted it was sure to die.

Then she dressed herself up as a peasant's wife,

And traveled over the hills to the dwarfs' cottage,

And knocked at the door,

But Snow White put her head out of the window and said,

I dare not let anyone in,

For the dwarfs have told me not to.

Do as you please,

Said the old woman,

But at any rate,

Take this pretty apple,

I will make you a present of it.

No,

Said Snow White,

I dare not take it.

You silly girl,

Answered the other,

What are you afraid of?

Do you think it is poisoned?

Come,

Do you eat one part,

And I will eat the other.

Now the apple was prepared that one side was good,

Though the other side was poisoned.

Then Snow White was very much tempted to taste,

For the apple looked exceedingly nice,

And when she saw the old woman eat,

She could refrain no longer,

But she had scarcely put the piece into her mouth,

When she fell down dead upon the ground.

This time nothing will save thee,

Said the queen,

And she went home to her glass,

And at last it said,

Thou,

Queen,

Art the fairest of all the fair,

And then her envious heart was glad,

As glad as a heart could be.

When evening came,

And the dwarfs returned home,

They found Snow White lying on the ground,

With no breath past her lips,

And they were afraid that she was quite dead.

They lifted her up,

And combed her hair,

And washed her face with wine and water,

But all was in vain.

So they laid her down upon a bier,

And all seven watched and bewailed her three whole days,

And then they proposed to bury her,

But her cheeks were still rosy,

And her face looked just as it did while she was alive,

So they said,

We will never bury her in the cold ground,

And they made a coffin of glass,

So that they might still look at her,

And wrote her name upon it in golden letters,

And that she was a king's daughter.

Then the coffin was placed upon the hill,

And one of the dwarfs always sat by it and watched.

And the birds of the air came too,

And bemoaned Snow White.

First of all came an owl,

And then a raven,

But at last came a dove.

Thus Snow White lay for a long,

Long time,

And still only looked as though she were asleep,

For she was even now as white as snow,

And as red as blood,

And as black as ebony.

At last,

A prince came,

And called at the dwarf's house,

And he saw Snow White,

And read what was written in golden letters.

Then he offered the dwarfs money,

And earnestly prayed them to let him take her away,

But they said,

We will not part with her for all the gold in the world.

At last,

However,

They had pity on him,

And gave him the coffin,

But the moment he lifted it up to carry it home with him,

The piece of apple fell from between her lips,

And Snow White awoke,

And exclaimed,

Where am I?

And the prince answered,

Thou art safe with me.

Then he told her all that had happened,

And said,

I love you better than all the world.

Come with me to my father's palace,

And you shall be my wife.

Snow White,

Of course,

Consented,

And went home with the prince,

And everything was prepared with great pomp and splendor for their wedding.

To the feast was invited,

Among the rest,

Snow White's old enemy,

The queen,

And as she was dressing herself in fine,

Rich clothes,

She looked in the glass and said,

Tell me,

Glass,

Tell me true,

Of all the ladies in the land,

Who is fairest?

Tell me who?

And the glass answered,

Thou,

Lady,

Art the loveliest here I wean,

But lovelier far is the new-made queen.

When she heard this,

The queen started with rage,

But her envy and curiosity were so great that she could not help setting out to see the bride.

And when she arrived,

And saw that it was no other than Snow White,

Whom she thought had been dead a long while,

She choked with passion and fell ill and died.

But Snow White and their prince lived and reigned happily over that land for many,

Many years.

And as the story now comes to an end,

Your journey towards restful sleep now begins.

And you can enjoy this moment of peace and calm before drifting off into the realm of dreams.

And just resting here now,

While enjoying this pleasant feeling of sleepy relaxation,

Let it wrap around you like a cozy blanket,

And it feels so good to let go.

And drifting down deeper and deeper.

And so,

My friend,

In your own time,

And in your own way,

You can drift off into a restful sleep.

And you will awaken,

Feeling refreshed and wonderful in every way.

And so,

Sweet dreams,

My friend.

Sleep well.

Reviews

How I love fairy tales.🤎
They remind me of the days I was little and my mother told them to me.
Thank you so much , Joanne. 🙏💐Your sweet, soothing voice is so perfect for meditations.
Blessed Be;
Morgaine 🧚‍♀️
PS: the beautiful photos are such a treat.🦄

What an amazing, soothing story. I still haven’t listened to the end yet cause I keep falling asleep. But, how can a bed be too long?