Bedtime Tale: Snow White

Jessica reads another timeless classic from the Brothers Grimm in this track designed to guide kids into restful sleep. The story of Snow White has been enjoyed by children for generations, and here, a relaxing piano backdrop is added to Jessica's soothing voice to further the ambient vibe.

Transcript

Hello dear one,

My name is Jessica Amos but you can call me Dressa.

Tonight I will be reading you the story of Snow White.

But first,

Settle down,

Close your eyes and take a deep breath in through your nose,

Out through your mouth.

Relax your body and let your mind draw pictures of this story as I read you these words.

Snow White.

Once upon a time in the middle of winter when the flakes of snow fell like feathers from the sky,

A queen sat at a window set in an ebony frame and sewed.

While she was sewing and watching the snow fall,

The queen pricked her finger with her needle and three drops of blood dropped on the snow.

And because the bright crimson looked so beautiful on the white snow,

She thought,

Oh that I had a child as white as snow,

As red as blood,

And as black as the wood of this ebony frame.

Soon afterward the queen had a little daughter,

Who was as white as snow,

As red as blood,

And had hair as black as ebony,

And she was called Snow White.

But when the child was born,

The queen died.

After a year had gone by,

The king took another wife.

She was a handsome lady,

But she was proud and haughty and could not bear to think that anyone could surpass her in beauty.

This queen had a wonderful mirror and each time she looked into it she would say,

Mirror mirror on the wall,

Who is the fairest of us all?

And the mirror would answer,

Queen,

Thou art the fairest of them all.

And the queen was satisfied,

For she knew the mirror always told the truth.

But Snow White was growing ever taller and prettier and grew to be as beautiful as the day and more beautiful than the queen herself.

So one day,

When the queen asked of the mirror,

Mirror mirror on the wall,

Who is the fairest of us all?

The mirror answered,

Queen,

Thou art the fairest here I hold,

But Snow White is fairer a thousand fold.

The queen was startled and turned yellow and green with envy.

From that hour her heart turned against Snow White and she burned with secret hatred whenever she saw the young girl.

Pride and envy grew like weeds in her heart until she had no rest day or night.

At last the queen called a hunter and said to him,

Take the child out in the forest for I can no longer stand to have her in my sight.

Kill her and then bring me her heart as proof that you have done it.

The hunter obeyed and led the child away,

But when he drew his hunting knife and was about to pierce Snow White's innocent heart,

She began to weep and said,

Ah dear hunter,

Spare my life and I will run deep into the wild forest and never come home again.

The hunter took pity on her because she was so lovely and said,

Run away then poor child.

The wild beasts will soon make an end of her,

He thought to himself,

But it seemed as if a stone had been rolled away from his heart because he had not taken Snow White's life.

As a little bear came by just then,

He killed it and took out its heart and carried it to the castle as proof to the queen.

The poor child was now all alone in the great forest and as she looked at all the leafy trees she felt frightened and did not know what to do.

So she began to run and ran over the sharp stones and through the thorns and the wild animals passed close to her,

But they did not harm her.

She ran as long as her feet could carry her and when evening closed in she came upon a little house and went in to rest.

Everything in the house was very small,

But I cannot tell you how pretty and clean it was.

There stood a little table covered with a white tablecloth on which were seven little plates,

Each plate with its own little spoon and seven little knives and forks and seven little cups.

Next the walls stood seven little beds close together.

Snow White was very hungry and thirsty,

So she ate a little of the vegetables and bread on each plate and drank a drop of water from every cup,

For she did not want to empty one cup entirely.

Then being very tired,

She laid herself down in one of the beds,

But she could not make herself comfortable,

For one was too long and another too short.

The seventh bed,

Luckily,

Was just right,

So there she stayed,

Said her prayers and fell asleep.

When it had grown quite dark,

The masters of the house came home.

They were seven dwarves who dug and mined iron underground among the mountains.

They lit their seven candles and as soon as the house became bright,

They could see that someone had been there,

For everything was not quite as orderly as they had left it.

The first dwarf said,

Who has been sitting on my stool?

The second one said,

Who has been eating off my plate?

The third one said,

Who has been nibbling my bread?

Fourth one said,

Who has been eating my vegetables?

The fifth one said,

Who has been using my fork?

The sixth one said,

Who has been cutting with my knife?

The seventh one said,

Who has been drinking from my cup?

When the first dwarf looked about and saw that there was a slight hollow in his bed,

He said,

Who has been lying in my bed?

Five others came running and each called out,

Someone has been lying in my bed too.

But the seventh,

When he looked in his bed,

Saw Snow White lying there fast asleep.

He called the others,

Who gathered around the bed with cries of surprise,

Then fetched their seven candles and cast the light on Snow White.

Oh,

Good heavens,

They cried,

What a lovely child!

And they were so pleased that they did not wake her,

But let her remain asleep in the little bed.

The seventh dwarf slept with all his companions in turn,

An hour with each,

And so they passed the night.

When it was morning,

Snow White woke up,

And when she first saw the seven dwarfs,

She was frightened,

But they were very friendly and asked her name in a kind way.

Snow White,

She answered,

How have you found your way to our house?

Asked the dwarfs.

So she told them how her stepmother had tried to kill her,

And how the hunter had spared her life,

And how she had run the whole day through until at last she found their little house.

Then the dwarfs said,

If you will keep our house,

Cook,

Make the beds,

Wash,

Sew and knit,

And keep everything neat and clean,

You can stay with us,

And you shall want for nothing.

I will with all my heart,

Said Snow White.

So she stayed with them and kept their house in order.

Every morning they went out among the mountains to seek iron and gold,

And came home ready for supper in the evening.

The young girl was left alone all day long,

So the good dwarfs warned her,

Beware of your wicked stepmother,

Who will soon find out that you are alive.

Be sure not to let anyone into the house.

Now the queen,

Believing that Snow White was dead,

Had no doubt that she was again the first and fairest woman in the world.

So she walked up to the mirror and asked,

Mirror,

Mirror on the wall,

Who is the fairest of us all?

And the mirror replied,

Queen,

Thou art the fairest here I hold,

But Snow White,

Over the Seven Hills,

Who with the seven dwarfs now dwells,

Is fairer still a thousand fold.

The queen trembled.

Knowing the mirror always told the truth,

She felt sure that the hunter had deceived her and that Snow White was still alive.

She thought and thought,

Late and early,

Early and late,

How best to kill Snow White,

For her jealous heart would give her no rest until she again was the fairest lady in all the land.

At last the queen thought of a plan.

She painted her face,

Dressed herself like an old pedlar woman,

And changed her appearance so much that no one could recognize her.

In this disguise she went over the Seven Hills until she came to the house of the Seven Dwarfs.

She knocked at the door and cried,

Fine wares to sell,

Fine wares to sell.

Snow White looked out of the window and said,

Good morning,

Good woman,

What have you to sell?

Good wares,

Fine wares,

Answered the queen,

Ribbons of all colors.

And she drew out one that was woven of brightly colored silk.

I may surely let this honest woman in,

Thought Snow White,

So she unfastened the door and bought herself some pretty ribbons.

Child,

Said the old woman,

What a sight you are!

Let me lace your bodice properly.

Snow White feared no harm,

Stepped in front of the old woman and allowed her to fasten her bodice with the new ribbon.

But the old woman lay so quickly and so tightly that it took Snow White's breath away,

And she fell down as if dead.

Now I am the fairest at last,

Said the wicked queen to herself,

And then she sped away.

The seven dwarfs came home soon after,

And they were struck with horror to find their poor Snow White lying on the ground as if she were dead.

They lifted her up,

And seeing that she was laced too tightly,

They quickly cut the ribbon of her bodice.

Snow White began to breathe faintly,

And slowly she returned to life.

When the dwarfs heard all that had happened,

They said,

The old peddler woman was none other than the wicked queen.

You must be very careful,

Snow White,

And never again open the door if we are not at home.

As soon as the wicked queen returned to the castle,

She went to her mirror and asked,

Mirror,

Mirror,

On the wall,

Who is the fairest of us all?

And the mirror answered as usual,

Queen,

Thou art the fairest here I hold,

But Snow White over the seven hills,

Who with the seven dwarfs now dwells,

Is fair still a thousand-fold.

When the queen heard this,

She was so alarmed that all the blood rushed to her heart,

For she knew at once that Snow White was still alive.

This time,

She said to herself,

I will think of a plan that will make an end to her once and for all.

With the help of witchcraft in which she was very skillful,

The queen made a poisonous comb.

When she changed her face and clothes again,

And took the form of a different sort of old woman,

She again crossed the seven hills to the home of the seven dwarfs,

Knocked at the door and called out,

Fine,

Where's to sell?

Snow White looked out of the window and said,

Go away,

I cannot let anyone into the house.

But surely you are allowed just to look,

Answered the old woman,

And she drew out the poisonous comb and held it up.

The girl was so pleased with the pretty comb that she let herself be tempted and opened the door.

After Snow White purchased the comb,

The old woman said,

Now I will comb your hair properly.

Snow White did not know she was in danger and she let the old woman begin.

But the comb had scarcely touched her hair before the powerful poison began to work and Snow White fell down senseless.

There,

You paragon of beauties of the wicked woman,

This is the end of you,

And she quickly went away.

Luckily,

It was near evening when the seven dwarfs soon returned home.

When they again found Snow White lying lifeless on the ground,

They at once suspected her wicked stepmother.

They searched and found the poisonous comb and as soon as they removed it,

Snow White came to herself and told them what had happened.

Again the dwarfs told her she must be careful and to never open the door to anyone.

When the Queen reached home,

She stood before the mirror and asked,

Mirror,

Mirror on the wall,

Who is the fairest of us all?

The mirror answered,

Queen,

Thou art the fairest here I hold,

But Snow White over the seven hills,

Who with the seven dwarfs now dwells,

Is fairer still a thousand fold.

When the Queen heard the mirror's reply,

She quivered with rage.

Snow White shall die,

She cried,

Even if it costs my own life.

Then she went to a secret and lonely chamber,

Where no one would ever find her,

And there she made a deadly poisonous apple.

Ripe and rosy,

It was so beautiful to look upon that anyone who saw it would long to eat it,

But whoever might eat even a little bit of it was certain to die.

When the apple was ready,

The Queen painted her face,

Disguised herself as a peasant woman,

And again journeyed over the seven hills to the house of the seven dwarfs.

When the old woman knocked at the door,

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

I cannot open the door to anyone,

The seven dwarfs have forbidden it.

Very well,

Replied the peasant woman,

I only want to be rid of my apples,

Here I will give you one of them.

No,

Said Snow White,

I cannot take it.

Are you afraid of being poisoned,

Asked the old woman.

Look here,

I will cut the apple in two,

And you can eat the rosy side,

And I will eat the white.

Now the fruit was so cleverly made that only the rosy side was poisonous.

Snow White longed to bite into the pretty apple,

And when she saw the peasant woman eat her half,

She could resist no longer,

But stretched out her hand and took the poisonous half.

No sooner had she tasted the fruit than she fell lifeless to the ground.

The wicked queen,

Laughing loudly,

Glared at Snow White with a terrible look and cried,

Oh,

You who are white as snow,

Red as blood,

And black as ebony,

The seven dwarfs cannot bring you back to life this time.

When the queen arrived home,

She again asked her mirror,

Mirror,

Mirror on the wall,

Who is the fairest of us all?

The mirror at last answered,

Queen,

Thou art the fairest of them all.

Then her jealous heart had had as much peace as a jealous heart can ever know.

When the dwarfs came home in the evening,

They found Snow White lying breathless and motionless on the ground.

They feared that indeed she was dead.

They lifted her up,

Searched to see whether she had anything poisonous about her,

Loosened her dress ribbons,

Combed her hair,

And washed her with water,

But all was in vain,

For they could not bring the darling girl back to life.

They laid her down and all seven dwarfs sat themselves around her,

And they wept and mourned for three long days.

Then,

They would have buried her,

But she still looked so fresh and alive and had such lovely rosy cheeks.

We cannot lower her into the dark earth,

They said.

So they had a coffin of glass made for her,

So that she could be seen from every side.

They laid her in it,

Writing her name on the outside in letters of gold,

Telling that she was the daughter of a king.

Then they placed the coffin on the mountainside above,

And one of them always stayed by it and guarded it,

But there was little need to guard it at all,

For even the wild animals came and mourned for Snow White.

The birds came too,

First an owl and then a raven,

Last of all a little dove.

Snow White lay in her coffin unchanged for many long,

Long years.

She looked always the same as if she were asleep,

For she was still white as snow,

Red as blood,

And her hair as black as ebony.

Then one day,

The son of a king wandered into the forest,

And he came to the dwarfs' house looking for a night's shelter.

He saw the coffin on the mountainside,

The beautiful Snow White within it,

And he read what was written there in letters of gold.

Then he said to the dwarfs,

Let me have the coffin.

I will give you whatever you ask for it.

But the dwarfs answered,

We would not part with it for all the gold in the world.

I beg you to give it to me,

For I cannot live without seeing Snow White,

And although she is dead,

I will prize and honor her as my dearest treasure.

Then the good dwarfs took pity on him and gave him the coffin,

And the prince asked his servants to carry it away.

As they were going along,

They stumbled over a bush,

And the shaking forced the bit of poisonous apple out of Snow White's mouth.

Immediately she opened her eyes,

Raised the coffin lid,

And sat up,

Alive once more.

Oh heavens,

She cried,

Where am I?

The prince answered joyfully,

You are with me.

And he told her what had happened,

Saying,

I love you more dearly than anything else in the world.

Come with me to my father's castle and be my wife.

Snow White agreed and happily went with him,

And their marriage was celebrated with great splendor.

The wicked stepmother was also invited to the feast.

When she had dressed herself in her most beautiful clothes,

She stood before the mirror and asked,

Mirror,

Mirror,

On the wall,

Who is the fairest of us all?

The mirror answered,

Queen,

Thou art the fairest here I hold,

But the young queen over the mountains old is fair still a thousand fold.

The evil-hearted woman uttered a curse and was beside herself with anger and disappointment.

At first she thought she would not attend the wedding,

But her curiosity would not allow her to rest.

She decided to travel to the wedding to see the young queen,

Who the mirror had said was the most beautiful in all the world.

When the wicked queen got there and found Snow White alive again,

She choked with her rage and fell down dead.

Snow White and the prince lived happily ever after and often visited the seven dwarves who had been so kind to her.

The End.

Okay,

My darling,

It's time to go to sleep.

Remember,

You are so very loved.

Your heart is good and I am glad that you are here.

Sleep tight.

May your dreams be full of love and light.

Reviews

I❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜🩷🖤🩶🤍🤎❤️‍🔥❄️⚪️.(I ❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜🩷🖤🩶🤍🤎❤️‍🔥❄️⚪️means I love Snow White.)

I love your stories they send me dozing off half way thru! 🥰

Amazing job and thank you for letting me listen to your voice.

Amazing thank you soooooo much

🧡💛💚💙🖤🧡💛💚💙🖤🧡💛💚💙🖤

And also what's your favourite Animal mine's a snow leopard

I am your number 1 fan 😆😆😆😆💙💙💙🖤🖤🖤

Thank you so much for the lovely meditation 🧘‍♀️ 💜💙💜💙💜💙💜

𝙰𝚖𝚊𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚒 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚞 𝚎𝚗𝚓𝚘𝚢
㋡♡
𝙹| 𝚓𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚢
𝚎| 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝
𝚜| 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎
𝚜| 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐
𝚒| 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎
𝚌| 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐
𝚊| 𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐
𝙳𝚘 𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝? :)

𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐

𝚍𝚘 𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚊 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ

𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐 ㋡

𝚒'𝚖 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚊 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚏𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

𝙷𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝙳𝚊𝚢/𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄

𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚞𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝙳𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚊 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝙳𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚊 𝚝𝚠𝚘 (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ𝚂𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛

I love all of ur stories. PLEASE DO MORE!!!🙏 They make me feel good inside every night when I go to sleep.🙇🏼‍♀️ Please at least consider it…
I 🫶🏼 your 🗣️📖

Beautiful story and your voice has such a nice tone to it
Mia

A really lovely reading of a classic tale. Many thanks 🙏❤️

I loved this story! Thank you so much for telling the original Snow White! Could you please do Jack and the Beanstalk?

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is fairest of them all??” “Jessa is fairest if them all!!” Thank you for this amazing story, you should do more long fairy tales like this one. Maybe you could find one about a fish? It’s Jonah, the person on profiles son btw.

I enjoy Jessa’s reading of fairy stories. Snow White is a favorite from childhood and I even painted costumes for it in a costume history class.
I have tried to listen to this so many times, but longest I have ever made it is to the time when the dwarves let her stay. I’m going to keep trying though! 😴
Thanks for helping me with my insomnia, Jessica.

Great story before bed with my 3 year old, who loves snow while

Perfect 🤩 just perfect 😍 thanks 😊

Great 😊

Have you looked at Amy & louis

I love your voice and I love your story! Do you know what I love more than your voice and your storys? I’ll tell you!, it’s you! ❤️😄😁

Like it a lot your voice is soo hmmmmm relaxing it is perfect for my little sister and me! Thanks for the story can you maybe make Alice in wonder land

Eric’s daughter Olivia

Thank you! That was amazing! I hope you make more! Maybe you could do Cinderella? Thanks! ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

Amazing!! Great impressions!! That ending was not how I thought it was going to end!! I love ALL of your stories!! Please, please, please make more!!🙏🏽🙏🏽❤️❤️👍🏼👍🏼