ply.

"Why have you come into our cottage?" they asked.

Then she told them how her stepmother would have had her killed, but the
Huntsman had spared her life, and how she had wandered about the Whole
day until at last she had found their house.

When her tale was finished the Dwarfs said, "Will you look after our
household--be our cook, make the beds, wash, sew, and knit for us, and
keep everything in neat order? If so, we will keep you here, and you
shall want for nothing."

And Snow-White answered, "Yes, with all my heart and will." And so she
remained with them, and kept their house in order.

In the morning the Dwarfs went into the mountains and searched for
silver and gold, and in the evening they came home and found their meals
ready for them. During the day the maiden was left alone, and therefore
the good Dwarfs warned her and said, "Be careful of your stepmother, who
will soon know of your being here. So let nobody enter the cottage."

The Queen meanwhile, supposing that she had eaten the heart and tongue
of her stepdaughter, believed that she was now above all the most
beautiful woman in the world. One day she stepped before her mirror,
and said:

"Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of us all?"

and it replied:

"The Queen was fairest yesterday;
Snow-White is fairest now, they say.
The Dwarfs protect her from thy sway
Amid the forest, far away."

This reply surprised her, but she knew that the mirror spoke the truth.
She knew, therefore, that the Huntsman had deceived her, and that
Snow-White was still alive. So she dyed her face and clothed herself as
a pedler woman, so that no one could recognize her, and in this disguise
she went over the seven hills to the house of the seven Dwarfs. She
knocked at the door of the hut, and called out, "Fine goods for sale!
beautiful goods for sale!"

Snow-White peeped out of the window and said, "Good day, my good woman;
what have you to sell?"

"Fine goods, beautiful goods!" she replied. "Stays of all colors." And
she held up a pair which were made of many-colored silks.

"I may let in this honest woman," thought Snow-White; and she unbolted
the door and bargained for one pair of stays.

"You can't think, my dear, how they become you!" exclaimed the old
woman. "Come, let me lace them up for you."

Snow-White suspected nothing, and let her do as she wished, but the old
woman laced her up so quickly and so tightly