Lang Lang. Reading 01: Snow White

Author: Hai Qing
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: The Lang Lang Reading Collection is a beautiful gift presented by the Foreign Languages Press to the. It offers a wide range of topics and diverse styles; combines difficulty levels with precise annotations; and features an innovative and lively layout with numerous sections. Reading through it will immerse you in the enchanting world of English, allowing you to fully enjoy the charm and allure of English culture while quickly improving your English skills in a relaxed and enjoyable way.
Snow White is a world-famous fairy tale. Its authors were a pair of brothers from Germany—Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm. The story begins on a snowy night when the Queen gives birth to a beautiful princess. The King, seeing the child’s skin as white as snow, names her Snow White. Unfortunately, the princess’s mother dies shortly after her birth. The court is filled with sorrow. How can she grow up happily without a mother? Soon after, the King marries another queen, who is beautiful but extremely proud. She feels uneasy whenever she sees the lovely Snow White. The queen owns a magic mirror, and every time she asks, "Who is the most beautiful in the world?" the mirror replies, "You are the most beautiful." Over time, one day the mirror answers, "Snow White is the most beautiful." How could the queen tolerate anyone being more beautiful than her? So, she secretly orders a guard to take Snow White into the forest to be killed. The guard, unwilling to carry out the order, thinks the princess will not find her way back to the palace and leaves her alone. As night falls, Snow White is lost, hungry, tired, and desperate. She comes across a small house and enters it. "What a strange house," she thinks. Inside, there are seven small tables, seven chairs, seven delicious meals, and seven beds. Snow White fills her stomach first, then lies down on a bed and falls asleep.
When Snow White wakes up, she sees seven dwarfs in the house, all staring at her with wide eyes. She quickly tells them about getting lost in the forest. The dwarfs sympathize with her and let her stay with them. From then on, the dwarfs go to work, and Snow White cleans the house and cooks meals. They live happily together.
Believing herself to be the most beautiful woman in the world, the queen one day asks her magic mirror, "Mirror, mirror, who is the most beautiful now?" "Of course, it is Snow White," the mirror replies. Seeing that Snow White is still alive, the queen becomes furious. She poisons a large, red apple and applies the poison to it. Disguised as an old woman selling apples, she approaches Snow White’s cottage and calls out, "Fresh and crisp red apples! Little girl, try one." Snow White cannot resist and takes a bite, falling unconscious immediately.
That evening, the dwarfs return home and find Snow White lying on the ground, holding the poisoned apple. No matter how hard they try, they cannot wake her. "Snow White is dead!" they all say in sorrow. The dwarfs place Snow White in a glass coffin and guard her day and night. Animals from the forest also come to pay their respects, as they are her friends and want to stay with her always.
A prince riding a horse passes by and sees them crying. He asks, "Why are you so sad?" "The princess was killed by an apple," they reply. The prince looks at the beautiful princess, whose face is still rosy, and cannot resist opening the coffin. As he lifts her, she opens her eyes. "Who are you?" she asks. "I am a prince from far away," he replies. The dwarfs are overjoyed to see Snow White miraculously revived. The love-struck prince decides to take her back to his country. Snow White hesitates, not wanting to leave her friends. "If the prince truly loves you, you will be happy, and so will we," the dwarfs say. The prince rides off with his beloved princess, bidding farewell to the dwarfs and the animals. After traveling over mountains and valleys, he finally returns to his kingdom and marries Snow White.
The wicked queen receives an invitation from the neighboring kingdom. After dressing up, she stands before her mirror and asks, "Who is the most beautiful?" This time, the mirror replies, "The bride of the neighboring prince is the most beautiful." Enraged, the queen grabs a sharp sword, mounts a broom, and flies to the neighboring kingdom. As she approaches, she has no idea that the bride is none other than Snow White! Filled with rage, she collapses and dies from the shock. Snow White and the handsome prince live happily ever after.