Bedtime stories for littles

Snow White

Once upon a time, a princess named Snow White lived in a castle with her father, the King, and her stepmother, the Queen. Her father had always said to his daughter that she must be fair to everyone at court. Said he, "People come here to the castle when they have a problem. They need the ruler to make a fair decision. Nothing is more important than to be fair."

The Queen, Snow White's stepmother, knew how much this meant to her husband. At the first chance, she went to her magic mirror. "Mirror, mirror, on the wall," said the Queen. "Who is the fairest of them all?"

"Snow White is the fairest of them all!" said the Magic Mirror.

"What?!" yelled the Queen. "No one is more fair than I! The Queen must have the best of everything - everyone knows that. What could be more fair than that?"

"Snow White is the fairest of them all!" repeated the Magic Mirror.

"What do you know – you're a mirror!" roared the Queen. And she stormed off.

Still, the Queen was bothered. So bothered was she that the Queen decided to be rid of the girl, once and for all.

"I cannot wait another day!" she declared. The Queen called for her servant, a huntsman. "Find a reason to take Snow White deep into the woods," she said, pointing her long finger at the servant. "Then kill her."

The huntsman was shocked! But she was the Queen and what could he do? The next day he took Snow White into the woods. As he drew his knife to slay her, Snow White turned around.

"Look," she said, taking something out of her pocket. "You have always been good to me." She held in front of him six perfect arrowheads that she had carefully shaped. "Do you like them?" she said. "They are for you."

"Snow White," said the huntsman. "I cannot do this!"

"You can take these," said Snow White.

"That's not what I mean," said the servant. He dropped to his knees. "How can I say this to you? The Queen, your step-mother, ordered me to kill you," he said. "But I cannot!"

"She did what?" Snow White called out with alarm.

"You must run away!" said the huntsman. "Far into the woods. Now! And never come back to the castle!"

Snow White turned and ran into the woods as fast as she could. Deeper and deeper she ran. It was getting dark, and the wolves were starting to howl. She tripped and her skirt was torn. Tall tree branches seemed to reach down to the very ground to grab her. She was scratched, bleeding and scared. Yet she ran on and on.

Then all of a sudden, far away, there was a light. Who was living so deep in the woods? She stepped up closer. It was a cottage! Yet no sound came from the cottage, only light from the windows.

"Hello?" she said, knocking softly on the door. "Hello?" No answer. The door was a little bit open. She opened it some more and stepped in. "Hello, is anyone home?"

She looked around. What a mess! She had never seen a messier living room.

"This cottage may be the biggest mess I ever saw," she thought. "But it's a roof over my head for tonight. Maybe if I clean up around here, I can earn my sleep."

As she cleaned, she thought of someone she already missed. Before her father had re-married, she and a Prince who lived in the next kingdom were getting to know each other. They would take long walks in the royal garden and tell each other stories, and laugh.After the Queen had moved into the castle, her stepmother had made a new rule – no more visitors. Now the Prince had to slip over the palace gate in secret. He would call out to her from under her window and they could talk a bit that way. It wasn't as good as the long walks but it was the best they could manage.