The Land of Stories Page 4

“Oh, but I’m not a stranger,” the wolf said with a grin. “I’ve been watching you from the minute you stepped into the woods. I watched you pick flowers in the field, and I watched you eat all the blueberries off the bush. So you see, we’re very well acquainted.”

  Little Red smiled. “Oh, that’s a relief,” she said. “I was afraid I had broken my word.”

  “What brings you into the woods, little girl?” the wolf asked.

  “I’m on my way to my granny’s house,” Little Red said. “She’s come down with a terrible cold, so I’m bringing her a basket of goodies to cheer her up.”

  “What a wonderful granddaughter you are,” the wolf said. “Whereabouts does your granny live?”

  “Just down this path a little farther into the woods,” Little Red said. “In fact, I better get going if I want to get back home in time for supper.”

  Little Red said good-bye to the wolf and continued her journey down the path. Unbeknownst to her, the wolf had darted through the trees beside the path and arrived at her granny’s house before her. Thanks to Little Red’s directions, the wolf was going to enjoy two meals today!

  He found the old woman asleep in bed and gobbled her up in one bite. By the time Little Red arrived, the wolf was dressed in Granny’s clothes and lying in her bed.

  “Granny, it’s Little Red,” she said and knocked on the door. “I’ve brought you a basket of goodies!”

  “Come in, my child,” the wolf said, pretending to be Little Red’s granny.

  Little Red figured her granny must be sicker than she thought, because her voice was almost unrecognizable. She went to the side of Granny’s bed and had a good look at her. The old woman didn’t look like herself either.

  “Oh my, what big ears you have,” Little Red said.

  “The better to hear you with, my dear,” the wolf said.

  “Oh my, what a big nose you have,” Little Red said.

  “The better to smell you with, my dear.”

  “Oh my, what sharp teeth you have.”

  “THE BETTER TO EAT YOU WITH, MY DEAR!”

  The wolf leaped out from under the covers and Little Red screamed. He gobbled the little girl up in one bite, and she joined her granny in the creature’s stomach. After having two meals back-to-back, the wolf was so full that he could barely move. He lay back in bed and waited for the little girl and old woman to digest.

  Luckily for Little Red and her granny, a local axe man had been working in the woods nearby and heard Little Red’s scream. He found Granny’s house and saw that the front door was still open, so he let himself inside.

  The axe man saw the wolf lying in bed with the fullest belly he had ever seen on a beast. It didn’t take him long to realize what had happened. With one slice of his axe, he slew the wolf and saved Little Red and her granny from the wolf’s stomach.

  “Thank you so much, Mr. Axe Man,” Granny said. “Little Red, what do you say to the nice man?”

  Little Red didn’t say a word; she had learned her lesson about talking to strangers. She ran out the door and down the path until she was safe and sound at home. Little Red never disobeyed her mother again, and because of this, she lived happily ever after.

  The End

  SNOW WHITE

  ADAPTED FROM THE BROTHERS GRIMM

  Once upon a time, in a cold, wintry kingdom, there lived a beautiful young queen who was pregnant with her first child. She was filled with the excitement, anguish, and fear every mother-to-be faces just before her child arrives. So, every night before bed, the queen knitted by her window to calm her nerves.

  One night as she looked out to admire the snowy land around the castle, the queen accidentally pricked her finger with her knitting needle. Three drops of blood fell on the snow beneath her window. While looking down at the blood, the queen was overwhelmed by a grim premonition. She knew her child would be born in three days’ time but that she would die giving birth.

  Sure enough, three days later the young queen went into labor and gave birth to a daughter. With her little remaining strength, the queen named the infant princess Snow White and then died, just as she had predicted.

  Rather than dealing with his grief, the king quickly remarried to distract himself. His new wife was a vain and guarded woman. Her most prized possession was a mysterious Magic Mirror. Every day, the new queen would stand before it and say:

  “Mirror, Mirror, on the wall,

  Who is the fairest of them all?”

  The silhouette of a man would appear in the mirror and reply:

  “My lady’s beauty is fair and true,

  No one in the land is fairer than you.”

  This exchange gave the new queen her greatest pleasure, for she knew the Magic Mirror only spoke the truth.

  The king’s previous wife had been so beloved that the new queen didn’t receive a warm welcome to the kingdom. Word of her vanity quickly spread through the castle and eventually reached the people of the kingdom. As time went on, the new queen’s dissatisfaction with everything unrelated to her appearance became more and more evident, and the people began referring to her as the Evil Queen.

  To the kingdom’s dismay, the king’s health began to decline rapidly. After years of suppressing his sadness for his late wife, the king’s heart was poisoned with grief, and he died.

  Snow White grew up an orphan princess. She became a beautiful young woman with skin pale as snow, lips red as blood, and hair black as ebony. The young princess resembled her late mother, and she was beloved by all in the kingdom. They looked forward to the day when she would take the throne from her stepmother.

  Her stepdaughter’s growing beauty started to worry the Evil Queen. Her resentment reached new heights when she stood before her Magic Mirror one day and asked it:

  “Mirror, Mirror, on the wall,

  Who is the fairest of them all?”

  The man inside the mirror appeared and said:

  “My lady’s beauty is fair and true,

  But Snow White is far fairer than you.”

  The Evil Queen never thought it was possible for her beauty to be surpassed. Enraged with jealousy, she summoned her most faithful Huntsman to the castle at once.

  “I want you to take the princess into the woods and kill her,” the Evil Queen ordered.

  “But, Your Majesty, I cannot do such a thing,” the Huntsman said. Even he had been taken by Snow White’s charm.

  “You shall do what I say or you shall be killed too,” the Evil Queen said. “And when you’re finished, I want you to bring me her heart on a plate so I know it’s done.”

  Fearing his execution, the Huntsman was forced to oblige. The following morning, he took the young princess deep into the forest to kill her as the Queen had commanded. When he raised his knife, the young princess fell to her knees.

  “Please, Huntsman, don’t kill me,” she begged.

  “’Tis not I that wish you harm, Princess, but the queen,” the Huntsman said. “She’s horribly jealous of you. She won’t stop until she has your heart on a plate!”

  “If you let me live, I’ll run into the woods and never come back!” Snow White said.

  The Huntsman figured Snow White was as good as dead if she entered the woods alone, so he let her go. The princess ran into the trees and never looked back.

  The Huntsman slaughtered a hog and delivered its heart to the Evil Queen on a plate. Fooled by the false heart, the Evil Queen was overjoyed, thinking her stepdaughter was dead. She had her servants cook the heart, and she ate it for dinner. Afterward, she stood before her Magic Mirror and asked it:

  “Mirror, Mirror, on the wall,

  Who is the fairest of them all?”

  By then, Snow White had traveled well beyond the Magic Mirror’s dominion, so it did not see her running through the woods. For the first time in a long while, the mirror replied:

  “My lady’s beauty is fair and true,

  No one in the land is fairer than you.”

  The Evil Queen cackled w
ith satisfaction.

  Snow White ran and ran through the woods until her feet bled and blistered and couldn’t carry her anymore. She collapsed on the ground and sobbed, fearing a wild creature would attack her.

  “Oh, Father, wherever you are, please guide me to safety,” Snow White prayed.

  When the princess looked up, she spotted a quaint cottage in the middle of the woods. It was small with short doors and windows, as if it were meant for children. Snow White went inside and discovered that all the furniture was miniature as well.

  “How peculiar,” she said.

  Snow White explored the tiny home and found a bedroom with seven small beds. The princess was so exhausted, she lay across them without hesitation and instantly fell asleep.

  Unbeknownst to the princess, the cottage was not home to seven children but to seven dwarfs who worked in the local mines. They returned home that night to find the princess snuggled up in their beds. But the princess was so beautiful as she slept that none of the dwarfs was alarmed by her presence.

  “What a lovely young maiden,” the oldest dwarf said.

  Snow White suddenly woke up and jumped out of bed in fright when she saw the seven dwarfs surrounding her.

  “Please forgive me for intruding,” Snow White apologized. “I didn’t have anywhere else to go and I was afraid to be alone in the forest.”

  “It’s all right, child,” the youngest dwarf said. “What are you doing so far in the woods by yourself?”

  Snow White told the dwarfs that she was a princess and lived in her father’s castle on the other side of the forest. She told them how her stepmother was jealous of her and had ordered the Huntsman to kill her. After hearing her tale, the dwarfs grew very protective of the young princess.

  “You must live with us, where it’s safe,” the oldest said, and all six of his brothers agreed. “You’re in dwarf territory, and we rarely get visits from royalty like yourself.”

  Snow White was overwhelmed by the dwarfs’ kindness. She stayed with the dwarfs for several months and they became a family. They forgot all about the Evil Queen, but unfortunately for Snow White, her stepmother had not forgotten about her.

  By now, the Magic Mirror’s knowledge of the world it reflected had grown, and it found Snow White’s whereabouts. One night, the Evil Queen stood before it and asked:

  “Mirror, Mirror, on the wall,

  Who is the fairest of them all?”

  The mirror replied:

  “My lady’s beauty is fair and true,

  But Snow White is far fairer than you.”

  The Evil Queen couldn’t believe her ears. “How can that be?” she asked. “I had her heart on a plate!”

  “’Twas not the princess’s heart you consumed,

  But that of a swine.

  She lives in a cottage deep in the woods,

  With dwarfs from the mines.”

  The Evil Queen was beside herself with anger. She quickly devised a new plan to get rid of her stepdaughter forever. This time, rather than putting the task in someone else’s hands, the Evil Queen would do the deed herself.

  The next morning, the jealous queen disguised herself as an old peddler woman and filled a basket full of the finest accessories from her own wardrobe. She traveled into the forest and found the dwarfs’ cottage. The Evil Queen waited for the seven dwarfs to leave for the mines and then knocked on the door.

  “Hello, may I help you?” Snow White said as she answered the door. She was surprised to see another person so far in the woods.

  “Good afternoon, my dear,” the Evil Queen said, using a different voice from her own. “I am an old merchant and have many beautiful things to sell, if you’re interested.”

  “What kinds of things?” Snow White asked.

  “Silks and scarves, laces and corsets, and much more,” she said. “Everything fancied by a young girl like you.”

  “I wish I could purchase some of your lovely items, but I’m afraid I don’t have any coins to spare,” Snow White said.

  The princess went to shut the door, but the Evil Queen blocked it with her foot.

  “It doesn’t cost anything to try something on,” she said. “Please, I insist.”

  She opened the basket and showed Snow White all the colorful accessories inside. Snow White was entranced by the colors and fabrics and couldn’t resist letting the old woman inside.

  The Evil Queen helped Snow White try on a corset and laced it up behind her. She pulled it tighter and tighter. When Snow White expressed that it was hard to breathe, the Evil Queen pulled it even tighter. Snow White turned blue and fell on the floor as if she were dead.

  The Evil Queen laughed. “Now I shall be fairest once again!” She left the cottage and hurried back to the castle, anxious for her Magic Mirror to confirm it.

  Soon after, the seven dwarfs returned from the mines and found Snow White on the floor. They noticed the tight corset right away, and the oldest split it open with his knife. Snow White gasped and regained consciousness.

  “Who did this to you?” the oldest dwarf asked.

  Snow White told the dwarfs about the old merchant woman selling accessories. Fearing it may have been the Evil Queen in disguise, the dwarfs told Snow White to never open the door for that woman again.

  Meanwhile, the Evil Queen returned to the castle and stood before her Magic Mirror.

  “Mirror, Mirror, on the wall,

  Who is the fairest of them all?”

  To her dismay, the mirror replied:

  “My lady’s beauty is fair and true,

  But Snow White is far fairer than you.”

  “No!” the Evil Queen shouted. “I crushed her ribs with a corset and yet she still lives!”

  The angry queen knew she would have to try harder if she wanted Snow White to remain dead. She went into a secret chamber in the castle that no one else knew about and devised her next plan. The chamber was filled with cauldrons and potions and many other items used for witchery. There, the Evil Queen took a comb and laced it with poison.

  The next day, the Evil Queen disguised herself as a different old woman and traveled to the dwarfs’ cottage again. She waited for the dwarfs to leave for the mines and then knocked on the door.

  Thinking that it was another woman entirely, Snow White answered the door.

  “Hello, may I help you?” she asked.

  “Hello, my dear. I’m a traveling beautician,” the Evil Queen said in a different voice from what she had used before. “I’m selling many beauty secrets and tricks, guaranteed to attract the man of your dreams.”

  “I would love to learn what you can teach me,” Snow White said. “But I’m afraid I don’t have a coin to my name.”

  The Evil Queen ran her fingers through Snow White’s dark hair.

  “Hair as lovely as that should never go untended,” she said. “Allow me to comb it for you, free of charge!”

  Snow White thought that this was too generous an offer to refuse, so she let the old beautician into the cottage. The Evil Queen combed Snow White’s hair with the poisoned comb and pressed it into her scalp. Within moments the poison did the trick, and Snow White fell to the floor as if she were dead.

  “Now I shall be fairest once more!” The Evil Queen cackled and fled back to the castle before the dwarfs returned.

  When the dwarfs arrived, they found Snow White on the floor, just as they had the day before. The youngest dwarf pulled the comb out of Snow White’s hair. Once the poison had worn off, the princess awoke and sat up.

  “Who did this to you?” the youngest dwarf said.

  Snow White told the dwarfs about the old beautician but assured them she wasn’t the same lady as the one the day before. Growing even more paranoid, the dwarfs made her promise to never open the door for a stranger again.

  Once she was back at the castle, the Evil Queen triumphantly threw off her disguise and stood before her Magic Mirror.

  “Mirror, Mirror, on the wall,

  Who is the faire
st of them all?”

  The mirror replied:

  “My lady’s beauty is fair and true,

  But Snow White is still fairer than you.”

  “But how?” the Evil Queen yelled. “I poisoned her with a comb and yet she still lives!”

  The furious queen stomped back into her chamber of witchery and devised another plan to kill the princess. She concocted a poison twice as strong as before and laced a bright red apple with it.

  The following day, the Evil Queen disguised herself as yet another old woman, this time selling apples, and returned to the dwarfs’ cottage. Just as before, she waited until they left before knocking on the door. However, there was no answer.

  “Apples for sale!” the Evil Queen called into the house. “Fresh, juicy apples—the perfect snack for a young maiden!”

  Snow White peered through the window at her.

  “No, thank you,” she said. “I’m not supposed to open the door for strangers.”

  “Oh, of course, child,” the Evil Queen said. “I would never wish a beautiful girl like you any harm. Please take this apple as a token of apology for disturbing you.”

  Snow White was charmed by the old woman’s kindness, and the Evil Queen handed her the poisoned apple through the window. Snow White took a bite and began to choke on it. The princess fell to the floor, most certainly dead.

  The Evil Queen waited to make sure Snow White didn’t wake up this time. After hours of watching her closely, she never saw the princess move. She was certain her stepdaughter was dead.

  “Now I shall be the fairest forever!” the Evil Queen said, laughing.

  She rushed back to her castle just before the dwarfs arrived home from the mines. The Evil Queen stood before her Magic Mirror and asked it:

  “Mirror, Mirror, on the wall,

  Who is the fairest of them all?”

  To her excitement, the mirror replied:

  “My lady’s beauty is fair and true,