Snow was falling gently, tiny white feathers dropping silently out of a blue sky and powdering the ground. A wise and good queen sat by a window, and played on an ebony lute. Staring dreamily at the snow as if lost in its loveliness, she accidentally cut her finger on a string and three drops of blood fell to the ground, creating a wonderful contrast with the white blanket on which they now lay:

“I would so like to have a child, as white as snow, with a complexion beautiful like a rose and hair as black as ebony.”

Soon after, the queen gave birth to a baby girl. She was indeed white as snow, with a complexion red as a rose and with hair as black as ebony. She was called Snow White. But tragically, very soon after the birth the queen died.

After a year the king married a second time. His new wife was a beautiful lady, but proud, cruel and arrogant. She desired to be the most beautiful woman in the world and owned a magical mirror, a gift from a fairy, which could answer any question. Every morning as the queen combed herself, she would ask:

“Mirror, mirror tell me the truth, do you see before you beauty and youth?”

“The world offers no beauty to compare to yours.”

The queen was happy because she knew that the mirror could tell only the truth.

Meanwhile, Snow White grew older and became more beautiful with each passing day, and by the time she was twelve years old, she was beautiful as a bright spring day, even more beautiful than the queen!

One morning the queen stood before the mirror and asked:

“Mirror, mirror tell me the truth, do you see before you beauty and youth?”

“Oh Queen, you are lovely like a cloudless starry sky, but Snow White is a thousand times more beautiful than you.”

“Who? What...” she exclaimed in shock and anger.

The queen was furious, she turned first white, and then red with rage. In an instant she hated Snow White. Her envy and vanity grew like weeds in her heart, until her jealousy and wounded pride gave her no peace.

And rage overcoming her, she thought to herself:

No one can be more beautiful than me.

Foolish mirror, there is betrayal in your lies,

Snow White dare not possess my own prize,

I shall end this even before the sun shall rise.

She called upon one of the castle hunters and ordered:

“Take her to the woods; I do not want to see her anymore. You must kill her, and for proof bring me back her heart.”

The hunter obeying his orders led Snow White into the woods, but when he pulled out a knife to rip out her innocent heart, she pleaded:

“Oh, dear man, spare my life, I shall go far away, far away through the wild woods and I’ll never come back.”

“Run then, poor child!”

Wild animals shall eat you anyway, he thought sadly.

His heart felt lighter, because he had not had to kill her. On the road back home he saw an unfortunate wild pig who was snuffling around happily in the undergrowth. He killed it, taking out its heart to give to the queen as proof that he had indeed killed Snow White.

Illustrations and cover

Arthur Friday

Text by

Alex Fonteyn

English Translation and Adaptation:

Stefan Potocki

Matthew Zamoyski

Typesetter

Andrzej Nowak

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.

© Copyright by Tom eMusic

ISBN 978-1-62321-008-3

Tom eMusic

www.tomemusic.com

New York 2012