“Snow-white and Rose-red.” The Fairy Book, Dinah Maria Mulock, New York: Mayflower Books, 1979, pp. 101-108.

Tale Summary

There was once a poor widow, who had two lovely daughters named Snow-white and Rose-red.  Snow-white was the quieter and gentler of the two, while Rose-red was more adventurous. They lived together in a little cottage where there were two rose trees out front, one white and the other red. The sisters were perfect and well-behaved, and often went out to play in the woods where the animals greeted them. Their mother never worried about them, even if they slept there overnight. She knew that an angel must be taking care of them, as one night the girls awoke in the woods to see a beautiful child in a white dress, and after she disappeared, saw that they had fallen asleep next to a cliff and surely would have fallen if they took only a few more steps in the dark. The cottage they lived in was kept spectacularly tidy, and when snow fell they gathered in front of the fire with a lamb and a white dove to listen to their mother’s stories. One snowy evening as they were thus enjoying themselves, there was a knock at the door and Rose-red answered to find a bear, who told the frightened children that he meant no harm, and that he was half-frozen and only looking for some warmth. The mother invited him to lay by the fire, and quickly he became friends with the children and their animals. The girls played with him, but when they got too mischievous he told them:

“Little Snow-white and Rose-red,

You will strike your lover dead.”

Every evening the bear came to visit at the same time, but when spring came, he told the girls he must go away, and may not be back again the whole summer. He explained that he had treasures in the woods he must protect against evil dwarfs, who lived under the frozen earth during wintertime but were coming out of the thawed ground. Snow-white was especially sorrowful that he had to leave, and she thought she saw gold when he tore his skin on the door hook as he left. Some time later when the girls were sent to gather firewood, they found a large tree which had been chopped down, and underneath a little dwarf who was trapped. He was very rude with them as they tried to free him, and when they realized that the only solution was to trim his beard, he was furious at them for disfiguring him, and left with a sack over his shoulder. One day, the girls went to the stream to catch fish, and found the same dwarf jumping around in distress, as his beard was tangled in his line and a fish was pulling him along. They once again had to trim his beard to save him, and he was once again very rude, and disappeared with a sack of pearls. Soon after, the girls traveled to town, and on the way found their dwarf acquaintance being carried off by a large eagle. He was ungrateful to them and very rude, and slipped into his den with a sack of precious stones. Later that day, the dwarf emptied the precious stones which shone beautifully in the evening sun, thinking no one would come by so late. On their way back from town the girls stumbled upon him again and gazed at the stones. He admonished them, but suddenly the bear came out of the woods and killed him. The bear’s skin fell off to reveal a handsome young man dressed all in gold, who explained that the dwarf had put a spell on him and was now freed. Snow-white was married to the prince, and Rose-red was married to his brother. When they all moved to the castle with the old mother, she brought the two beautiful roses with her.