by
The
Brothers
Grimm

Looking-glass upon the wall,
Who is fairest of us all?

"Snow White" is a very grim story.

In fact, most fairy tales manifest murder and mayhem. The hero or heroin must earn that "happily ever after" ending by overcoming some unhappy situation. This predicament usually involves stepmothers, witches, or trolls and such as the villain.

The villainous Queen in this fairy tale is also Snow White's vain stepmother. She's also a bit of a witch. The Queen receives daily updates on her beauty through a magic looking glass. Unfortunately, this telltale mirror reports that Snow White is the fairest in the land. Green with jealousy, the evil Queen attempts to kill Snow White who seeks refuge in the tiny home of the seven dwarfs.

The dwarfs caution the young child to be wary and to keep the doors closed while they are at work lest the Queen finds her. However, peddlers (actually the Queen in disguise each time) lure the young child from safety.

 Snow White finally succumbs to the temptation of a beautiful, red-cheeked apple, which is, of course, laced with poison. The dwarfs find Snow White lifeless when they return home, and they cannot revive her. Nevertheless, she is as beautiful as ever, and the

seven little men cannot bear to bury poor Snow White. Instead, the dwarfs lay her to rest in a glass coffin, and place the coffin on the top of the mountain.

That's the grim part of the story. Now for the happily-ever-after part:

A young Prince happens by and sees Snow White ensconced in her glass coffin. Overwhelmed by the sight, the Prince convinces the dwarfs he should take Snow White to his castle. During the journey to the Prince’s castle, the pallbearers stumble. The motion jolts Snow White, in a Middle Ages version of the Heimlich maneuver, causing the bit of poisoned apple to be expelled from Snow White's throat. She then rouses in a confused state and throws open the coffin. The Prince then explains what has transpired. He also asks her to be his bride.

As it happens, the Queen is invited to the wedding festivities where she sees that the new challenger to the mirror's best beauty award was none other than Snow White. The happy couple thoughtfully provides the Queen with poker-hot dancing shoes in which she dies dancing at their wedding.

Grim to The End

"Snow White" Revisited

What about those seven dwarfs. Did they strike it rich? Rich or poor, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm’s dwarfs probably did not look like Walt Disney’s dwarfs. Come to think of it, Grimm’s first version of the tale differs from the second version: notably a wicked stepmother replaces the mother in the role of villain Queen. In fact, I was reminded of Goldilocks and The-someone’s-been-sleeping-in-my-bed-Three Bears when I was reading this German fairy tale.

If you have ever wondered about the similarities among different fairy tales or the dissimilarities found in versions of the same fairy tale, you can find out more about Snow White and her cohorts at these web sites:

Snow White includes the 1812 version, Little Snow-White, and other stories and interesting links provided by D. L. Ashliman.

Another Snow White is for the reading at Kay E. Vandergrift's web site.

Another version might be more familiar to modern readers at the disneymania pages.

Adam & Eve

God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof,
then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Genesis 3:5

Did Adam and Eve Discover the First Apple?

The fruit of the apple tree is as old as the Old Testament story of Adam and Eve. In fact, many scholars believe the apple grew up from the same
area as The Garden of Eden depicted in Biblical
verse.

This story from the Old Testament is about the creation of man and woman. It is also about the paradise they inhabit, innocence, and good and evil.

Eve said the serpent beguiled her. The snake in the grass assured her the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil was delicious fruit that would make her wise. So she tried the fruit, found it was delicious, and offered it to Adam.

Of course, once they ate the fruit, they lost their innocence, and God drove them from the Garden of Eden. 

This allegorical tale of innocence and snakes has influenced multitudes over the ages. Writers often allude to Adam and Eve, as in John Steinbeck's east of eden. Here are two lighthearted synopses of this old story.

Humorist Mark Twain wrote about the Fall: "Adam was but human--this explains it all. He did not want the apple for the apple's sake, he wanted it only because it was forbidden."

Lord Byron wrote: "All human history attests/That happiness for man--the hungry sinner!--/Since Eve ate apples, much depends on dinner."