Kila: Snow-White and Rose-Red
Kila offers fun story books to stimulate the love of reading. Kila’s story books help kids to enjoy reading and learning with a plentiful amount of fables and fairy tales.
There was once a poor, lonely widow who lived in a remote cottage. In front of the cottage was a garden where there stood two rose trees. One bore white roses and the other red.
She had two daughters who were like the two rose trees, so she called one Snow White, and the other Rose Red.
One evening, the mother put on her spectacles and read aloud from a large book, and the two girls listened while they sat and spun thread.There was a knock at the door which sounded like somebody wanted to be let in.
Rose Red went and pushed back the bolt, thinking that it was a poor man. But it was a huge bear who stuck his big, black head around the door. Rose-Red screamed and sprang back, while Snow-White hid herself behind her mother's bed.
The bear began to speak and said, "Do not be afraid, I will do you no harm! I am half-frozen, and only want to warm myself a little beside you."
"Poor bear," said the mother. "Lie down by the fire, only take care that you do not burn your coat."
The bear said to the girls, “Please knock the snow out of my coat a little;" so they brought the broom and swept the bear's fur clean while he stretched himself comfortably by the fire and growled contentedly.
As soon as day dawned, the two children let him out and he trotted off across the snow and into the forest. From then on, the bear came around every evening at the same time and let the children amuse themselves with him as much as they liked.
When spring came, the bear said to Snow White, "I must go into the forest and guard my treasures from the wicked dwarfs.” Snow White was quite sad that he was going away and she unbolted the door for him. The bear ran off quickly and was soon out of sight.
A short time afterwards, the mother sent her children into the forest to collect firewood. They saw a dwarf with a snow-white beard, a yard long, and the end of the beard was caught in the crevice of a tree.
He glared at the girls with his fiery red eyes and cried, "Why do you stand there? Can you not come here and help me?"
"Don't be impatient," said Snow White, "I will help you," and she pulled her out of her pocket and cut off the end of his beard.
As soon as the dwarf was free, he swung his bag over his shoulder and went off without giving the children a second glance.
On another day, when the girls were crossing a heath on their way home, they surprised the dwarf who had just emptied out his bag of precious stones on a clean spot. The brilliant stones glittered and sparkled with different colors.
"Why do you stand there gaping?" cried the dwarf, and his grey face turned bright red with rage.
He was continuing to yell when a loud growling was heard and a black bear came trotting towards them out of the forest. The dwarf sprang up in a fright, but he could not get to his cave for the bear was already too close.
Then, with fear in his heart, he cried, "Dear Bear, spare me. I will give you all of my treasures.” The bear ignored his words and gave the wicked creature a single blow with his paw. The dwarf never moved again.
The girls had run away but the bear called to them, "Snow White and Rose Red, do not be afraid." When they recognized his voice, they stopped.
When he caught up with them his bearskin suddenly fell away and he stood there, a handsome man, all clothed in gold.
"I am the King's son," he said, "and I was bewitched by that wicked dwarf who had stolen my treasures. I was forced to run about the forest as a savage bear. Now he has got his well deserved punishment."
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