lives here is very short!” she observed. “Everything is so small – chairs, plates, bowls, forks, knives and the drinking cups!”
Snow White was very hungry. She had been walking and running the whole day without food. She had eaten some nuts and berries that she had found in the forest. Now she ate a piece of bread from each plate and drank some milk from each cup. She sliced and ate the cheese that she found in the centre of the table.
“Now, let me see what there is upstairs,” she said, and climbed the steps. Upstairs, she found seven beds neatly made up. She sat on one and found it very comfortable. She was tired, so she put the candle on the table, lay down across the seven beds and soon fell asleep.
4
This cottage was the home of seven dwarfs. They were miners, who spent the day digging for diamonds and gems in the mountains nearby. Every morning they took their sacks, picks and shovels and set off for the mountains. There they dug for diamonds and gems that they filled into their sacks. In the evenings, they lit their lanterns and returned to their cottage, singing as they came home.
Their singing stopped that evening, when they saw a light shining through one of the windows. They were amazed and looked at one another.
“Someone is in our cottage!” they exclaimed in chorus.
They walked slowly and carefully back to their cottage. Who could be in their cottage? They were afraid and crept in, making as little noise as possible.
“Someone has eaten our food!” said one of the dwarfs.
“Some of our food,” corrected one of the others.
Then they crept upstairs, scared that they might find a robber hiding there. When they saw Snow White asleep on their beds, they exclaimed softly, “It’s a girl!” and raised their lanterns high to look at her. “She’s so beautiful!” they said.
Snow White was lying fast asleep, her curly head on one of their pillows. They all sat around her, wondering who she was.
Suddenly Snow White opened her eyes. She jumped up when she saw the seven dwarfs.
“Oh, please don’t be frightened of us,” they said hastily. “We will not harm you. We are miners who live here. Please tell us who you are and how you found our cottage.”
Snow White told them her story and explained that now she had no home. Tears rolled down her eyes. “Will you please let me stay here? Please! The Queen will kill me if I return to the palace.”
“Of course you can stay here as long as you wish.”
“Oh, thank you! I’ll keep house for you, cook your meals and wash your clothes. I’ll do everything for you, in return for your kindness.”
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