Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

Once upon a time, there was a

beautiful young princess named
Snow White. She lived in a faraway
kingdom with her father and
stepmother.

Her stepmother, the queen, was also

very beautiful but arrogant and
proud. She spent all day staring at
herself in front of the mirror. The
mirror was magical and when in front
of it she would asked, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the most beautiful woman of all?”

The mirror would answer, “You are the most beautiful of all women.”

This answer satisfied the queen because she knew that her mirror always told the truth.

However, as the years passed by, the beauty and kindness of Snow White became more evident, even
surpassing that of the queen. Finally, there came a day when the queen asked, “Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
who is the most beautiful of all?”

The mirror answered, “Snow White is kinder and more beautiful than you.”

The queen was filled with anger. She devised a plan to get rid of Snow White. She asked to see the palace
hunter and said to him, “Take the young princess to the forest and make sure that the wild animals take care
of her so that we never see her again.”

Tricking Snow White, the hunter took her deep into the forest, but when he was about to carry out the
queen's orders, he took pity on the beautiful girl and said, “Run, go away, poor girl. Find a safe place to live.”

Finding herself alone in the forest, she ran as far as she could until it was nightfall. Then, she spotted a small
hut and went into it to sleep. Everything in the cabin was small. There was a table with a white tablecloth
and seven small plates, each a spoon. Also, there were seven small knives and forks, and seven jars. There
were seven small beds against the wall, one next to the other and covered with blankets as white as snow.

Having not eaten all day, Snow White was hungry and thirsty, so she ate a little bit of vegetables and bread
from each plate and drank a small sip from each jar. Then, being tired, she tried laying down on each one of
the beds until finally settling on the seventh bed.

When it was dark, the owners of the cabin returned. They were seven dwarves who mined gold and precious
stones in the mountains. Inside the cabin, they lit their seven lanterns, and noticed that things were not
exactly in the order in which they had left them.

The first dwarf said, “Who has sat in my chair?”

The second said, “Who ate from my plate?”

The third said, “Who took a piece of my bread?”

The fourth said, “Who took ate my vegetables?”

The fifth said, “Who used my fork?”

The sixth said, “Who used my knife?”

“The seventh said, “Who drank from my jar?”

Then, the first dwarf, noticing wrinkles in his bed sheets said, “Who has slept in my bed?”

And the others, checking their beds, replied, “Someone has been in our beds too.”

When the seventh dwarf looked in his bed, he saw Snow White, who was sleeping soundly. He called the
others who came over running. “Oh heavens! Oh heavens!” they whispered. “What a dear girl!”

When dawn came, Snow White woke up, and felt scared when she saw the seven dwarfs. Yet they were
friendly and asked her name.

“My name is Snow White,” she answered. She told them all about her evil stepmother.

Feeling sorry for Snow White, the dwarves told her she was welcomed to stay with them.

“Our home is yours, and you can stay with us as long as you want. You can take care of our house, cook, fix
the beds, wash, sew and knit.”

Snow White accepted happily and stayed with them. She kept the dwarves house in order. In the morning,
they went to the mountains to look for gold and precious stones, and in the evening, they returned, finding
dinner ready.

Time passed and one day, the queen decided to consult her mirror and discovered that the princess was still
alive. Furious, she poisoned an apple and took on the appearance of an old woman.

“A bite of this apple and Snow White will sleep forever,” said the evil queen.

The next day, the dwarves left for work and Snow White was left alone.

Shortly afterwards, the queen, disguised as an old woman, approached the kitchen window. The princess
offered her a glass of water.

“Thank you!” replied the old woman. “Let me give you this apple in return.”

The moment she bit the apple, Snow White fell unconscious on the floor. The dwarves, alerted by forest
animals, arrived at the cabin while the evil queen fled.

The dwarves placed a Snow White in a glass case, hoping one day she would awaken.

The day came when a prince crossing the forest on his horse saw the beautiful girl in the crystal and
marveled at her beauty. He bent down and kissed her on the cheek. At that moment, Snow White awoke to
break the evil queen’s spell.
Snow White and the Prince were married and lived happily ever after.

Little Red Hen

Once upon a time there was a red hen that found a grain of wheat.

“Who will plant this grain?” she asked.

“Not me,” said the dog.

“Not me,” said the cat.

“Not me,” said the pig.

“Not me,” said the mouse.

“Then I will,” said the little red hen. Cluck, cluck!

She planted the grain of wheat and it grew very tall.

“Who will cut this wheat?” asked the little red hen

“Not me,” said the dog.

“Not me,” said the cat.

“Not me,” said the pig.

“Not me,” said the mouse.

“Then I will,” said the little red hen. Cluck, cluck!

The little red hen cut the wheat.

“Who will take the wheat to the mill to make the flour?” asked the little red hen.

“Not me,” said the dog.

“Not me,” said the cat.

“Not me,” said the pig.

“Not me,” said the mouse.

“Then I will,” said the little red hen. Cluck, cluck!

She took the wheat to the mill and later returned with the flour.

“Who will knead this flour?” asked the little red hen.

“Not me,” said the dog.

“Not me,” said the cat.

“Not me,” said the pig.

“Not me,” said the mouse.

“Then I will,” said the little red hen.

Cluck, cluck!

The hen kneaded the flour and then

baked the bread.

“Who will eat this bread” asked the

little red hen.

“I will,” said the dog.

“I will,” said the cat.

“I will,” said the pig.

“I will,” said the mouse.

“No,” said the little red hen. “I will eat it myself!” Cluck, cluck!

And she ate all the bread.

Moral: Do not expect any reward without doing any of the work.

The Tortoise and the Hare

Once upon a time there was a hare who

spent all day bragging about how fast he
could run. Tired of hearing him boast, the
tortoise, challenged him to a race.

“You must be kidding!” said the hare

laughing. “I am so much faster than you.”

“We shall see,” the tortoise replied.

The next day, the animals of the forest gathered to watch the race. Everyone wanted to see if the tortoise
could beat the hare.

The bear started the race yelling “On you mark, get set, go!”

The hare immediately raced ahead, running faster than ever. He looked back and saw the tortoise was only a
few steps away from the starting line.
“Foolish tortoise, ” thought the hare. “He is so slow. Why would he want to race me if he has no chance to
win?”

Confident that he was going to win the race, the hare decided to stop in the middle of the road to rest under
a tree. The cool and pleasant shade of the tree was very relaxing, so much so that the hare fell asleep.

Meanwhile, the tortoise continued walking slowly, but steady. He was determined not to give up. Soon, he
found the hare sleeping peacefully.

The tortoise was winning the race!

When the tortoise approached the finish line, all the animals in the forest began cheering with excitement.
The noise woke the hare, who could not believe his eyes: the tortoise was crossing the finish line and he had
lost the race.

Moral: You can be more successful by doing things slowly and steadily than by acting quickly and
carelessly.

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

There was once a little

shepherd taking care of
his flock on the top of a
hill. He was very bored.
To amuse himself he
took a great breath and
sang out, “Wolf! Wolf!
The Wolf is chasing the
sheep!”

The villagers came

running to help the little shepherd and drive away the wolf. But when they reached the top of the hill they
did not find any wolves. Instead, they found the little shepherd laughing.

“Don't cry 'wolf when there's no wolf,” said the villagers and they left angry down the hill.

After a few hours, the little shepherd, finding himself once again very bored, shouted, “Wolf, wolf! There is a
wolf chasing the sheep.”

The villagers ran again to help him, but seeing that there were no wolves, they told the shepherd very
angrily, “Don't cry wolf when there is no wolf. Do it only when a wolf is truly chasing the sheep.”

Having tricked the villagers once again, the shepherd boy was rolling on the ground with laughter as he
watched the villagers go down the hill.
Later, the little shepherd saw a wolf near his flock. Scared, he shouted as loud as he could.

“Wolf, wolf! There is a wolf chasing the sheep.”

But the villagers thought he was trying to trick them again, and this time they did not come to his aid. The
little shepherd cried inconsolably as he watched the wolf run away with all his sheep.

At dusk, the little shepherd returned to the village and told everyone, “The wolf a on the hill and has taken
all my sheep. Why did you not help me?”

Then, the villagers responded, “We would have helped you, just like we did before, but nobody believes in a
liar even when he is telling the truth.”

The Milkmaid and Her Pail

Once there was a young milkmaid who was going to the market carrying a jug of milk. While walking, she
thought about all the things she would do with the money she would get for selling her milk.

“When they pay me,” she said to herself, “I'll buy some chickens. The chickens will lay a lot of eggs which I
will sell at the market. With the money I make from the eggs I will buy myself a dress and very elegant
shoes. Then I will go to the fair and since I will look so beautiful, all the boys will want to come and talk to
me.”

Thinking of everything she would do with the money from selling her milk, the maid soon became distracted
and tripped on a stone. Her jug broke, spilling all the milk. With the jug broken, so too were her dreams of
the chickens and eggs, the dress and shoes.

Moral: Do not count you chickens before they are hatched.