Little Snow Whitepage 3 / 8
Then, as she was so tired, she laid herself down on one of the little beds, but none of them suited her, one was too long, another too short, but at last she found that the seventh one was right, and so she remained in it, said a prayer and went to sleep.
When it was quite dark the owners of the cottage came back. They were seven dwarfs who dug and delved in the mountains for gold and diamonds. They lit their seven candles, and as it was now light within the cottage they saw that someone had been there, for everything was not in the same order in which they had left it.
The first asked: “who has been sitting on my chair?”
The second: “who has been eating off my plate?”
The third: “who has been taking some of my bread?”
The fourth: “who has been eating my vegetables?”
The fifth: “who has been using my fork?”
The sixth: “who has been cutting with my knife?”
The seventh: “who has been drinking out of my mug?”
Then the first looked round and saw that there was a little hollow on his bed, and he asked: “who has been getting into my bed?” The others came up and each called out: “somebody has been lying in my bed too”. But the seventh, when he looked at his bed saw Little Snow-White, who was lying asleep therein. And he called the others, who came running up, and they cried out with astonishment, and brought their seven little candles and let the light fall on Little Snow-White. “Oh, heavens, oh, heavens!” cried they, “what a lovely child!”. And they were so glad that they did not wake her up, but let her sleep on in the bed. And the seventh dwarf slept with his companions, one hour with each, and so passed the night.
When it was morning Little Snow-White awoke, and was frightened when she saw the seven dwarfs. But they were friendly and asked her what her name was. “My name is Snow-White”, she answered.