"Snow White and Rose Red," by the Brothers Grimm

In which the titular sisters encounter a very nice bear and a very ungrateful dwarf and between them find a happy-ever-after; and in which the narrator insists on demonstrating that he learned SOMETHING in four years of high school German.



And here's our first fairy tale by Grimm! As described at length in the recording, this Snow White is not the same as that of "...and the Seven Dwarves." The names are different in German: Sneewittchen for the more famous one, and Scnheeweißchen* for this one. They both translate literally to "Little Snow White," but the former is Low German and the latter is High German. There is a dwarf in this one, though!

Much like with Andersen and Verne, there are a multitude of translations of Grimm both in and out of the public domain. A translation by Margaret Hunt from the 1870s is considered the definitive English translation of the nineteenth century. It also, however, has not aged especially well. Instead, I'll be using the version used in the Barnes & Noble Classics edition I got for free a while back, which is an anonymous translation from 1869. Maybe not the best, but definitely usable.

I was, though, very pleased with the number of illustrations I was able to find for this somewhat lesser-known tale. I couldn't entirely decide between three sources, so I used them all! One batch is by Jennie Harbour, from a 1921 compilation edited by Edric Vredenburg called My Book of Fairy Tales. Another is by L. Leslie Brooke, from a 1909 book called The House in the Wood and Other Fairy Stories, and the third is by Alexander Zick from a German edition of Grimm's from sometime in the 1880s, probably. Most of the image files are courtesy of SurLaLune Fairy Tales.

2:37 - They were like the flowers which bloomed on two
rose-bushes which grew before the cottage. (Jennie Harbour)

See more illustrations after the jump!

2:37 - Snow White and Rose Red, as flowers. (L. Leslie Brooke)

One rather unusual thing about this story is the nature of the core family. It's rather rare in these fairy tales to have a widowed mother; more often, you have a lone father, often with a wicked stepmother ("Cinderella," "Hansel and Gretel," the other "Snow White," etc.) Also unusual is how happy the family appears to be, with no strife between the sisters, or between mother and daughters. They don't even appear to be discontented being poor, though they seem to even be in reduced circumstances (note they are all able to read, which was unusual among the poor at the time), probably due to the father's death.

3:44 - They saw a beautiful Child dressed in
shining white sitting near their couch. (Alexander Zick)

3:56 - They would have certainly fallen had they walked
a couple of steps further in the dark. (L. Leslie Brooke)

Similarly to the above, notice how innocent the two sisters are painted to be. They are actively protected by a good angel who keeps them from harm. Notably, this is one of the few stories where the forest is not in any way painted as a scary place full of dangers, à la "Hansel and Gretel," "Little Red Riding Hood," etc. No, the mother doesn't worry about the children even one bit as they go off in the woods by themselves. They're THAT good.

4:36 - The mother would put on her spectacles
and read out of a great book. (Jennie Harbour)

Oh, and they have a pet lamb and a pet dove. THEY'RE SO FREAKING INNOCENT YOU GUYS.

5:12 - A great fat Bear poked his black head in. (Jennie Harbour)

5:55 - They fetched their brooms and swept him clean. (L. Leslie Brooke)

Around here, we hear what is sort of the "pull quote" from this story, where the Bear recites:

"Leave me my life, you children,
Snow White and Rose Red,
Or you'll never wed."

This is a somewhat more oblique translation which could be interpreted in a couple of ways. It's a little more usually translated to the rather more straight-forward and creepy

"Snow White and Rose Red,
Don't beat your lover dead."

Getting a little ahead of yourself, aren't you Mr. Bear?

8:12 - The end of his beard was fixed in a split of the tree. (Alexander Zick)

8:25 - "Are you going to pass without offering me any assistance?" (L. Leslie Brooke)

10:18 - The fish pulled him where it liked, and he must
soon have been drawn into the pond. (L. Leslie Brooke)

11:26 - The eagle had caught the Dwarf and
was trying to carry him off. (L. Leslie Brooke)

11:31 - The children held him fast until the bird
gave up the struggle and flew away. (Jennie Harbour)

12:20 - "What are you standing there gaping for?" (Jennie Harbour)

12:34 - He could not gain his retreat before the Bear overtook him. (Alexander Zick)

13:16 - His rough coat suddenly fell off. (Jennie Harbour)

13:22 - "I am a king's son," he said. (L. Leslie Brooke)

And of course our heroines receive the standard fairy tale reward of marriage, with Snow White marrying the Bear-man and Rose Red marrying his convenient brother brought in for just such an occasion. This way, our happy family unit from the beginning doesn't even need to get split up for marriage's sake, and everyone lives happily ever after.

Except the Dwarf. 'Cause he was a jerk.


If you would like to read along, the text of this translation can be found at FairyTalesAndFolklore.com. No reading ahead, though!


*In German, the ß symbol stands for a double "s."