A year later the king took himself another wife. She was a beautiful woman (though still not as beautiful as his first bride), but she was proud and arrogant, and she could not stand it if anyone might surpass her in beauty. She had a magic mirror. Every morning she stood before it, looked at herself, and said:
"Mirror, mirror, on the wall,To this the mirror answered:
Who in this land is fairest of all?"
"You, my queen, are fairest of all."Then she was satisfied, for she knew that the mirror spoke the truth.
This went on for many years, but it all changed with the appearance of a woman named Suana, who was called Snow White. One might think that she was called so because of her face, but she was in fact dark-skinned. It was her hair that was white as snow. She had a sort of wisdom and beauty that befitted a woman of her years. She lived happily until the day the white men came. They took her people and sold them into slavery. Fearing a fate worse than death, Snow White escaped to a new land.
One day when the queen asked her mirror:
"Mirror, mirror, on the wall,It answered:
Who in this land is fairest of all?"
"You, my queen, are fair; it is true.
But Snow White is a thousand times fairer than you."
The queen ordered her servants to find this Snow White who was supposedly the most beautiful in the land. When the queen saw that Snow White was not white, the queen could not understand. The whites were the master race. How could a person of color be more beautiful than her? So the queen made Snow White her slave, thinking that with hard work, Snow White's beauty would fade. But no matter how hard Snow White worked, no matter how much she despaired, she kept that inner beauty that the queen could not fathom, and that inner beauty continued to show on Snow White's face.
Furious, the queen ordered her huntsman to get rid of this awful thing. "Take Snow White out into the woods," she said. "I never want to see her again. Kill her, and as proof that she is dead bring her lungs and her liver back to me." The huntsman nodded, having no choice but to obey his queen. He took Snow White deep into the woods, and they were alone together.
"You may take my life," she said gracefully. "I have lived many years, and my time is done. I have only one request. My people have been enslaved, tortured, and killed. I need to know that there is still someone who views me as a person. Someone who doesn't discriminate."
The huntsman looked at Snow White. "I don't think you deserve to be hurt. You are human, even though you look different from me. If I could do something, I would, but I fear for my life." He thought for a moment. "I will spare your life because you deserve to live it, no matter how few years you may have left. If I should ever have another chance to help your people, believe me that I will take it. Now, go far away from here, that the queen might not hurt you again." Snow White nodded, and ventured further into the forest. Meanwhile, the huntsman killed a wild boar, cut out its lungs and liver, and took them back to the queen as proof of Snow-White's death.
After Snow White had been walking for hours and begun to despair of ever reaching shelter, she found herself surrounded by a group of seven people, all pointing spears at her. They were dark-skinned as well, but their skin was much lighter than Snow White's. As soon as they saw Snow White's skin, they lowered their spears.
"Forgive us," the leader said. "We thought you might be one of the white people."
Snow White shook her head. "No, they have done me too much harm."
"They have hurt us as well. They drove us from our land, so that we are forced to live in these woods. But we have learned the ways of the land, and we are satisfied here," the leader said.
"What do you come to us for?" another one of the natives asked.
"I came not looking for you," said Snow White, "though I hope you might help me all the same. I seek shelter from the white people."
"That we may give you," the leader answered. "Come, we will teach you the ways of nature." And so Snow White became part of the tribe. She learned how to love mother nature, communicating with all manner of birds and beasts, using the plants and the land without taming them. In return, Snow White told the natives of her people and taught the natives her people's ways. It was a pleasant arrangement, and Snow White enjoyed being wild and free. Each day she grew more beautiful from knowledge and experience and sharing a kindred spirit with others who were fair and kind.
Now the queen, believing that Snow White was dead, could only think that she was again the first and the most beautiful woman of all. She stepped before her mirror and said:
"Mirror, mirror, on the wall,It answered:
Who in this land is fairest of all?"
"You, my queen, are fair; it is true.This startled the queen, for she knew that the mirror did not lie, and she realized that the huntsman had deceived her, and that Snow White was still alive. Then she thought, and thought again, how she could kill Snow White, for as long as long as she was not the most beautiful woman in the entire land her envy would give her no rest.
But Snow White, beyond the mountains
With the seven natives,
Is still a thousand times fairer than you."
At last she thought of something. Coloring her face, she disguised herself as an old peddler woman, so that no one would recognize her. In this disguise she went to the dwelling of the tribe. She called out, "Beautiful wares for sale, for sale!"
Snow White peered out the window and said, "Good day, dear woman, what do you have for sale?"
"Good wares, beautiful wares," she answered. "Bodice laces in all colors." And she took out one that was braided from colorful silk. "Would you like this one?"
"I can have no need of such clothing," said Snow White. "That is white women's clothing, and I am no white woman. Take your wares to one who would desire them." Frustrated, the queen returned home.
Not long afterward, in the evening time, the natives came home, for they had been gathering food while Snow White was guarding their dwelling. Snow White told them of the peddler woman. When they heard what had happened they said, "The old peddler woman was no one else but the godless queen. Take care and let no one in when we are not with you."
When the wicked woman returned home, she thought of the woman who would not wear such beautiful clothing. Surely, the queen thought, such a woman could not be beautiful. So she went to her mirror and asked:
"Mirror, mirror, on the wall,The mirror answered once again:
Who in this land is fairest of all?"
"You, my queen, are fair; it is true.When she heard that, all her blood ran to her heart because she knew that Snow White had a different kind of beauty that surpassed the queen's, and the queen was afraid because she did not understand this beauty. "This time," she said, "I shall think of something that will destroy you."
But Snow-White, beyond the mountains
With the seven natives,
Is still a thousand times fairer than you."
Then with the art of witchcraft, which she understood, she made a poisoned comb. Then she disguised herself, taking the form of a different old woman. Thus she went across the seven mountains to the home of the seven natives, knocked on the door, and called out, "Good wares for sale, for sale!"
Snow White looked out and said, "Go on your way. I am not allowed to let anyone in."
"You surely may take a look," said the old woman, pulling out the poisoned comb and holding it up. The child looked at the comb. "Such a comb would not manage my thick hair. The natives I live with take care of me and make sure I have all I need, and I do the same for them. Now, go and sell your wares to somebody who can make use of them." The queen became enraged, but knowing there was naught she could do, she returned home.
Surely with such unruly hair, she cannot be beautiful, the queen thought. She stepped before her mirror and said:
"Mirror, mirror, on the wall,The mirror answered:
Who in this land is fairest of all?"
"You, my queen, are fair; it is true.When the queen heard the mirror saying this, she shook and trembled with anger, "Snow White shall die," she shouted, "if it costs me my life!"
But Snow-White, beyond the mountains
With the seven dwarfs,
Is still a thousand times fairer than you."
Then she went into her most secret room -- no one else was allowed inside -- and she made a poisoned, poisoned apple. From the outside it was beautiful, white with red cheeks, and anyone who saw it would want it. But anyone who might eat a little piece of it would die. Then, coloring her face, she disguised herself as a peasant woman, and thus went across the seven mountains to the seven natives. She called out to Snow White.
Snow White stuck her head out the window and said, "I am not allowed to let anyone in. The natives have forbidden me to do so."
"That is all right with me," answered the peasant woman. "I'll easily get rid of my apples. Here, I'll give you one of them."
"No," said Snow-White, "I cannot accept anything."
"Are you afraid of poison?" asked the old woman. "Look, I'll cut the apple in two. You eat the red half, and I shall eat the white half."
Now the apple had been so artfully made that only the red half was poisoned. Wheras the other wares had been things Snow White did not need, this time the queen had brought something Snow White could enjoy. She longed for the beautiful apple, and when she saw that the peasant woman was eating part of it she could no longer resist, and she stuck her hand out and took the poisoned half. She barely had a bite in her mouth when she fell to the ground dead.
The queen looked at her with a gruesome stare, laughed loudly, and said, "Ugly black woman! This time you will no longer be the most beautiful in the land."
Back at home she asked her mirror:
"Mirror, mirror, on the wall,It finally answered:
Who in this land is fairest of all?"
"You, my queen, are fairest of all."Then her envious heart was at rest, as well as an envious heart can be at rest.
When the natives came home that evening they found Snow-White lying on the ground. She was not breathing at all. She was dead. They lifted her up and looked for something poisonous. They washed her clean. They tried to shake any evil spirits out of her. They attempted the healing rituals as per their religion. But nothing helped. The dear woman was dead, and she remained dead. They laid her on a bier, and all seven sat next to her and mourned for her and cried for three days. They were going to bury her, but she still looked as fresh as a living person.
They said, "We cannot bury her in the earth, for her spirit is not yet ready to pass to the underworld," and they made a simple wooden coffin to symbolize that she was simple, but beautiful and strong. They laid her inside, and with golden letters wrote on it her name, and that she was a woman of wisdom and beauty. Then they put the coffin outside on a mountain, and one of them always stayed with it and watched over her. The animals too came and mourned for Snow White, first an owl, then a raven, and finally a dove.
Snow White lay there in the coffin a long, long time, and she did not decay, but looked like she was asleep, for she was still as beautiful as the day she died.
Now it came to pass that a prince entered these woods and happened onto the natives' home, where he sought shelter for the night. He saw the coffin on the mountain with beautiful Snow White in it, and he read what was written on it with golden letters.
Then he said to the natives, "Let me have the coffin. I will give you anything you want for it."
But the natives answered, "We will not sell it for all the gold in the world. She was too dear to us."
Then he said, "Then give it to me, for I cannot live without being able to see Snow White. I will honor her and respect her as my most cherished one."
As he thus spoke, the good natives felt pity for him and gave him the coffin. The prince had his servants carry it away on their shoulders. But then it happened that one of them stumbled on some brush, and this dislodged from Snow White's throat the piece of poisoned apple that she had bitten off. Not long afterward she opened her eyes, lifted the lid from her coffin, sat up, and was alive again.
"Good heavens, where am I?" she cried out.
The prince said joyfully, "You are with me." He told her what had happened, and then said, "I love you more than anything else in the world. Come with me to my father's castle. You shall become my wife." Snow White looked up at him. He was a dark-skinned man just like her, and he was a prince. Knowing that in his land people like her must be respected, she went with him. Their wedding was planned with great splendor and majesty.
Many neighboring royals were invited to the feast, including the queen. After putting on her beautiful clothes she stepped before her mirror and said:
"Mirror, mirror, on the wall,The mirror answered:
Who in this land is fairest of all?"
"You, my queen, are fair; it is true.The wicked woman uttered a curse, and she became frightened, so frightened that she did not know what to do. At first she did not want to go to the wedding, but she found no peace. She had to go and see the young queen. When she arrived she recognized Snow White, and terrorized, she could only stand there without moving.
But the young queen is a thousand times fairer than you."
When Snow White saw the queen, she recognized her as the evil woman who had tried to kill her, and the evil queen was banished from the land. Snow White lived her new life with a man who loved and respected her, and in time she learned that she loved him too.
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