Snow-white and Rose-red kept their mother's little cottage so neat that
it was a pleasure to look inside it. In the summer Rose-red took care
of the house, and every morning laid a wreath of flowers by her mother's
bed before she awoke, in which was a rose from each tree. In the winter
Snow-white lit the fire and hung the kettle on the wrekin. The kettle
was of copper and shone like gold, so brightly was it polished. In the
evening, when the snowflakes fell, the mother said, "Go, Snow-white,
and bolt the door," and then they sat round the hearth, and the mother
took her spectacles and read aloud out of a large book, and the two
girls listened as they sat and span. And close by them lay a lamb upon
the floor, and behind them upon a perch sat a white dove with its head
hidden beneath its wings.
One evening, as they were thus sitting comfortably together, some one
knocked at the door as if he wished to be let in. The mother said,
"Quick, Rose-red, open the door, it must be a traveller who is seeking
shelter." Rose-red went and pushed back the bolt, thinking that it was
a poor man, but it was not; it was a bear that stretched his broad,
black head within the door.
Pages:
1009
1010
1011
1012
1013
1014
1015
1016
1017
1018
1019
1020
1021
1022
1023
1024
1025
1026
1027
1028
1029
1030
1031
1032
1033