<P> At the beginning of the story, a queen sits sewing at an open window during a winter snowfall when she pricks her finger with her needle, causing three drops of red blood to drip onto the freshly fallen white snow on the black windowsill . Then, she says to herself, "How I wish that I had a daughter that had skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as ebony ." Some time later, the queen gives birth to a baby daughter whom she names Snow White, but dies shortly thereafter . </P> <P> A year later, Snow White's father, the king, takes a new wife, who is very beautiful, but a wicked and vain woman . The new queen possesses a magic mirror, which she asks every morning, "Magic mirror in my hand, who is the fairest in the land?" The mirror always replies: "My queen, you are the fairest in the land ." 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 . </P> <P> This gives the queen a great shock . She becomes envious, and from that moment on, her heart turns against Snow White, whom the queen grows to hate increasingly with time . Eventually, the angry queen orders a huntsman to take Snow White into the deepest woods to be killed . As proof that Snow White is dead, the queen demands that he returns with her lungs and liver . The huntsman takes Snow White into the forest . After raising his knife, he finds himself unable to kill her and he spares her life . He tells Snow White that her stepmother wants her dead and orders her to flee as far away from the kingdom as possible . He instead brings the queen the heart of a wild animal . </P> <P> After wandering through the forest, Snow White discovers a tiny cottage belonging to a group of seven dwarfs . Since no one is at home, she eats some of the tiny meals, drinks some of their wine, and then tests all the beds . Finally, the last bed is comfortable enough for her and she falls asleep . When the dwarfs return home, they immediately become aware that someone had snuck in secretly, because everything in their home is in disorder . During their loud discussion about who had snuck in, they discover the sleeping Snow White . She wakes up and explains to them what happened, and the dwarfs take pity on her and let her stay with them in exchange for housekeeping . They warn her to be careful when alone at home and to let no one in when they are away delving in the mountains . </P>

Snow white and the seven dwarfs story wikipedia