Volume 4. Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs, The Golden Pears, Cinderella, The Ant & the Grasshopper

Transcription

1 Classic Children s Tales Volume 4 Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs, The Golden Pears, Cinderella, The Ant & the Grasshopper

2 Children s Classic Tales Volume 4 Table of Contents Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs The Golden Pears Cinderella The Ant & the Grasshopper EDCON PUBLISHING

3 Copyright 2008 A/V Concepts Corp. Edcon Publishing Group 30 Montauk Blvd. Oakdale NY Fax Copyright 2008 by EDCON Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission of the publisher, with the following exception: Student activity pages are intended for reproduction. EDCON Publishing grants to individual purchasers of this book the right to make sufficient copies of reproducible pages for use by all students of a single teacher. This permission is limited to an individual teacher, and does not apply to entire schools or school systems. Printed in U.S.A. ISBN #

4 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs One winter day, long ago, a Queen sat sewing at her palace window. Outside, through its ebony frame, could be seen a white world of snow. And as the Queen sewed her fine stitches she pricked her finger, drawing three drops of blood. Would that I had a child, she thought, as white as this snow, as red as this blood, and as black as this ebony frame. Soon after, her wish came true. A daughter was born to the Queen, and the child had skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as ebony. She was named Snow White. A few years later the Queen died and the King married again. The new Queen was beautiful, but vain. The thought that someone might be as lovely as she, tormented her. Time and again, she looked into her magic mirror and asked: Magic mirror on the wall, Who is fairest of us all? And the mirror replied: Thou are the fairest, lady Queen. Year after year the magic mirror gave the same 3

5 4 answer, and the Queen was happy. But as Snow White grew older, she grew more and more beautiful, till one day, when the Queen looked into her magic mirror and asked: Magic mirror on the wall, Who is fairest of us all? The mirror replied: O lady Queen, thou still art fair, But none to Snow White can compare. At these words the Queen fell into a terrible rage. She summoned a huntsman to her presence and said, Take Snow White into the forest and slay her, and bring me her heart to prove that she is dead. The huntsman led Snow White into the darkest woods and there he drew out his knife to kill her. But Snow White, with tears in her eyes, begged that he spare her and the sight of her beauty and innocence stayed his hand. He left Snow White to lose her way among the trees while he returned to the castle. But on his way he killed a deer and cut out its heart, and this he gave to the Queen. The Queen believed Snow White to be dead, and rejoiced. When poor Snow White found herself alone in

6 the forest, she was beside herself with terror. As the dusk grew deeper, friendly noises became frightening, and the silent trees took on ugly faces. She ran through the woods like a frightened bird till suddenly she came upon a tiny white cottage nestling among the trees. Since no one answered to her knock, Snow White flung open the door. Inside she found a tiny table neatly set with seven white cups and saucers. Along the wall were seven little wooden beds that looked soft and inviting. No one seemed to be about. So Snow White crawled into the bed that was just the right size and fell fast asleep. Then the door opened and seven little men paraded into the cottage. Each of the little men lit a candle, and the little house became bright and cheerful. Then one of the little men spied the figure in the bed. Who s that? he asked in surprise. The seven little men bent over the sleeping child and marveled. Her skin is as white as snow, said one. Her lips are as red as blood, said another. 5