Snow-White and Rose-Red 雪白与玫瑰红

there was once a poor widow who lived in a lonely cottage. in
front of the cottage was a garden wherein stood two rose-trees,
one of which bore white and the other red roses. she had two
children who were like the two rose-trees, and one was called
snow-white, and the other rose-red. they were as good and
happy, as busy and cheerful as ever two children in the world
were, only snow-white was more quiet and gentle than rose-
red. rose-red liked better to run about in the meadows and fields
seeking flowers and catching butterflies; but snow-white sat at
home with her mother, and helped her with her house-work, or
read to her when there was nothing to do.
the two children were so fond of each another that they always
held each other by the hand when they went out together, and
when snow-white said, "we will not leave each other," rose-red
answered, "never so long as we live," and their mother would add,
"what one has she must share with the other."
they often ran about the forest alone and gathered red berries, and
no beasts did them any harm, but came close to them trustfully. the
little hare would eat a cabbage-leaf out of their hands, the roe grazed
by their side, the stag leapt merrily by them, and the birds sat still upon
the boughs, and sang whatever they knew.

no mishap overtook them; if they had stayed too late in the forest, and
night came on, they laid themselves down near one another upon the
moss, and slept until morning came, and their mother knew this and
had no distress on their account.


once when they had spent the night in the wood and the dawn had
roused them, they saw a beautiful child in a shining white dress sitting
near their bed. he got up and looked quite kindly at them, but said
nothing and went away into the forest. and when they looked round
they found that they had been sleeping quite close to a precipice, and
would certainly have fallen into it in the darkness if they had gone only
a few paces further. and their mother told them that it must have been
the angel who watches over good children.
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.

rose-red screamed and sprang back, the lamb bleated, the dove
fluttered, and snow-white hid herself behind her mother's bed. but
the bear began to speak and said, "do not be afraid, i will do you no
harm! i am half-frozen, and only want to warm myself a little beside
you."
"poor bear," said the mother, "lie down by the fire, only take care
that you do not burn your coat." then she cried, "snow-white,
rose-red, come out, the bear will do you no harm, he means well."
so they both came out, and by-and-by the lamb and dove came nearer,
and were not afraid of him. the bear said, "here, children, knock
the snow out of my coat a little;" so they brought the broom and
swept the bear's hide clean; and he stretched himself by the fire and
growled contentedly and comfortably. it was not long before they
grew quite at home, and played tricks with their clumsy guest. they
tugged his hair with their hands, put their feet upon his back and rolled
him about, or they took a hazel-switch and beat him, and when he
growled they laughed. but the bear took it all in good part, only
when they were too rough he called out, "leave me alive, children,
"snowy-white, rosy-red,
will you beat your lover dead?"

when it was bed-time, and the others went to bed, the mother said
to the bear, "you can lie there by the hearth, and then you will be
safe from the cold and the bad weather." as soon as day dawned
the two children let him out, and he trotted across the snow into
the forest.

henceforth the bear came every evening at the same time, laid
himself down by the hearth, and let the children amuse themselves
with him as much as they liked; and they got so used to him that
the doors were never fastened until their black friend had arrived.
when spring had come and all outside was green, the bear said
one morning to snow-white, "now i must go away, and cannot
come back for the whole summer." "where are you going, then,
dear bear?" asked snow-white. "i must go into the forest and guard
my treasures from the wicked dwarfs. in the winter, when the earth
is frozen hard, they are obliged to stay below and cannot work their
way through; but now, when the sun has thawed and warmed the
earth, they break through it, and come out to pry and steal; and
what once gets into their hands, and in their caves, does not easily
see daylight again."
snow-white was quite sorry for his going away, and as she unbolted
the door for him, and the bear was hurrying out, he caught against
the bolt and a piece of his hairy coat was torn off, and it seemed to
snow-white as if she had seen gold shining through it, but she was
not sure about it. the bear ran away quickly, and was soon out of
sight behind the trees.

a short time afterwards the mother sent her children into the forest
to get fire-wood. there they found a big tree which lay felled on the
ground, and close by the trunk something was jumping backwards and
forwards in the grass, but they could not make out what it was. when
they came nearer they saw a dwarf with an old withered face and a
snow-white beard a yard long. the end of the beard was caught in a
crevice of the tree, and the little fellow was jumping backwards and
forwards like a dog tied to a rope, and did not know what to do.
he glared at the girls with his fiery red eyes and cried, "why do
you stand there? can you not come here and help me?" "what
are you about there, little man?" asked rose-red. "you stupid,
prying goose!" answered the dwarf; "i was going to split the tree
to get a little wood for cooking. the little bit of food that one of us
wants gets burnt up directly with thick logs; we do not swallow so
much as you coarse, greedy folk. i had just driven the wedge safely
in, and everything was going as i wished; but the wretched wood
was too smooth and suddenly sprang asunder, and the tree closed so
quickly that i could not pull out my beautiful white beard; so now it
is tight in and i cannot get away, and the silly, sleek, milk-faced things
laugh! ugh! how odious you are!"
the children tried very hard, but they could not pull the beard out, it
was caught too fast. "i will run and fetch some one," said rose-red.
"you senseless goose!" snarled the dwarf; why should you fetch some
one? you are already two too many for me; can you not think of
something better?" "don't be impatient," said snow-white, "i will help
you," and she pulled her scissors out of her pocket, and cut off the end
of the beard.

as soon as the dwarf felt himself free he laid hold of a bag which
lay amongst the roots of the tree, and which was full of gold, and
lifted it up, grumbling to himself, "uncouth people, to cut off a
piece of my fine beard. bad luck to you!" and then he swung the
bag upon his back, and went off without even once looking at
the children.
some time after that snow-white and rose-red went to catch a
dish of fish. as they came near the brook they saw something
like a large grasshopper jumping towards the water, as if it were
going to leap in. they ran to it and found it was the dwarf.
"where are you going?" said rose-red; "you surely don't want to
go into the water?" "i am not such a fool!" cried the dwarf; don't
you see that the accursed fish wants to pull me in?" the little man
had been sitting there fishing, and unluckily the wind had twisted
his beard with the fishing-line; just then a big fish bit, and the feeble
creature had not strength to pull it out; the fish kept the upper hand
and pulled the dwarf towards him. he held on to all the reeds and
rushes, but it was of little good, he was forced to follow the
movements of the fish, and was in urgent danger of being
dragged into the water.

the girls came just in time; they held him fast and tried to
free his beard from the line, but all in vain, beard and line
were entangled fast together. nothing was left but to bring
out the scissors and cut the beard, whereby a small part of it
was lost. when the dwarf saw that he screamed out, "is that
civil, you toad-stool, to disfigure one's face? was it not enough
to clip off the end of my beard? now you have cut off the best part
of it. i cannot let myself be seen by my people. i wish you had
been made to run the soles off your shoes!" then he took out a
sack of pearls which lay in the rushes, and without saying a word
more he dragged it away and disappeared behind a stone.

it happened that soon afterwards the mother sent the two children
to the town to buy needles and thread, and laces and ribbons. the
road led them across a heath upon which huge pieces of rock lay
strewn here and there. now they noticed a large bird hovering in the
air, flying slowly round and round above them; it sank lower and
lower, and at last settled near a rock not far off. directly afterwards
they heard a loud, piteous cry. they ran up and saw with horror that
the eagle had seized their old acquaintance the dwarf, and was going
to carry him off.
the children, full of pity, at once took tight hold of the little
man, and pulled against the eagle so long that at last he let
his booty go. as soon as the dwarf had recovered from his
first fright he cried with his shrill voice, "could you not have
done it more carefully! you dragged at my brown coat so that
it is all torn and full of holes, you helpless clumsy creatures!"
then he took up a sack full of precious stones, and slipped
away again under the rock into his hole. the girls, who by
this time were used to his thanklessness, went on their way
and did their business in the town.
as they crossed the heath again on their way home they surprised
the dwarf, who had emptied out his bag of precious stones in a
clean spot, and had not thought that anyone would come there
so late. the evening sun shone upon the brilliant stones; they
glittered and sparkled with all colors so beautifully that the
children stood still and looked at them. "why do you stand
gaping there?" cried the dwarf, and his ashen-gray face became
copper-red with rage. he was going on with his bad words when
a loud growling was heard, and a black bear came trotting towards
them out of the forest. the dwarf sprang up in a fright, but he
could not get to his cave, for the bear was already close. then
in the dread of his heart he cried, "dear mr. bear, spare me, i
will give you all my treasures; look, the beautiful jewels lying there!
grant me my life; what do you want with such a slender little fellow
as i? you would not feel me between your teeth. come, take these two
wicked girls, they are tender morsels for you, fat as young quails; for
mercy's sake eat them!" the bear took no heed of his words, but gave
the wicked creature a single blow with his paw, and he did not move
again.

the girls had run away, but the bear called to them, "snow-white and
rose-red, do not be afraid; wait, i will come with you." then they
knew his voice and waited, and when he came up to them suddenly
his bearskin fell off, and he stood there, a handsome man, clothed
all in gold. "i am a king's son," he said, "and i was bewitched by that
wicked dwarf, who had stolen my treasures; i have had to run about
the forest as a savage bear until i was freed by his death. now he has
got his well-deserved punishment."
snow-white was married to him, and rose-red to his brother, and
they divided between them the great treasure which the dwarf had
gathered together in his cave. the old mother lived peacefully and
happily with her children for many years. she took the two rose-trees
with her, and they stood before her window, and every year bore the
most beautiful roses, white and red.