Page:Grimm-Rackham.djvu/230

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
Grimm’s Fairy Tales
Mirror, Mirror on the wall,
Who is fairest of us all?’

it answered—

Queen, thou art fairest here, I hold,
But Snowdrop is fairer a thousandfold.’

Then the Queen was horror-struck, and turned green and yellow with jealousy. From the hour that she saw Snowdrop
‘Mirror, Mirror on the wall,
Who is fairest of us all?’
her heart sank, and she hated the little girl.

The pride and envy of her heart grew like-a weed, so that she had no rest day nor night. At last she called a Huntsman, and said: ‘Take the child out into the wood; I will not set eyes on her again; you must kill her and bring me her lungs and liver as tokens.’

The Huntsman obeyed, and took Snowdrop out into the forest, but when he drew his hunting-knife and was preparing to plunge it into her innocent heart, she began to cry:

‘Alas! dear Huntsman, spare my life, and I will run away into the wild forest and never come back again.’

And because of her beauty the Huntsman had pity on her and said, ‘Well, run away, poor child.’ Wild beasts will soon devour you, he thought, but still he felt as though a weight were lifted from his heart because he had
162