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A very ancient folk tale, often copied and translated, found in Grimm’s compilation of fairy tales. This is a moral tale about a poor shoemaker who receives unexpected help when he thinks he won’t be able to make it: elves come into his house and shoulder his work for him.

“Snow Drop and the Seven Dwarfs” also known as “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves”is a German fairy tale, written by Brothers Grimm, known across much of Europe and is today one of the most famous fairy tales worldwide. A queen gives birth to a baby daughter, a girl with skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as ebony. She is named ‘Snow White’. Sadly, the Good Queen, Snow White’s mother, dies during childbirth. After a year has passed, Snow White’s father, the King, takes a new and second wife, who is very beautiful, but a wicked and vain woman. The new queen, Snow White’s evil stepmother, possesses a magic mirror, which she asks every morning, “Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?” The mirror always replies: “My Queen, you are the fairest one of all.” The Queen is always pleased with that, because the magic mirror never lies. But as Snow White grows up, she becomes more beautiful each day and even more beautiful than the Queen, and when the Queen asks her mirror, it tells her that Snow White is the fairest. This gives the queen a great shock. She becomes yellow and green with envy and from that hour on, her heart turns against Snow White, and she hates her more and more each day. Envy and pride, like ill weeds, grow in her heart taller every day, until she has no peace day or night. Eventually, the Queen orders a huntsman to take Snow White into the deepest woods to be taken…

“Snow-White and Rose-Red” is a German fairy tale written by Brothers Grimm. Snow-White and Rose-Red are two little girls living with their mother, a poor widow, in a small cottage. They are very good little girls, they love each other dearly, and their mother is very fond of them. Dark-haired Rose-Red is outspoken and cheerful and loves to play outside. Fair-haired Snow-White is quiet and shy and prefers doing housework and reading. One winter night, there is a knock at the door. Rose Red opens the door to find a bear. At first, she is terrified, but the bear tells her not to be afraid. “I’m half frozen and I merely want to warm up a little at your place,” he says. They let the bear in, and he lies down in front of the fire. Snow-White and Rose-Red beat the snow off the bear, and they quickly become quite friendly with him. They play with the bear and roll him around playfully. They let the bear spend the night in front of the fire. In the morning, he leaves trotting out into the woods. The bear comes back every night for the rest of that winter and the family grows used to him. When summer comes, the bear tells them that he must go away for a while to guard his treasure from a wicked dwarf. During the summer, when the girls are walking through the forest, they find a dwarf whose beard is stuck in a tree. The girls rescue him by cutting his beard free, but the dwarf is ungrateful and yells at them for cutting his beautiful beard. The girls encounter the dwarf several times that summer, rescue him from some peril each time and the dwarf is ungrateful each time. Then one day, they meet the dwarf once again. This time, he is terrified because the bear is about to eat him…