Snow White and Red Rose

Snow white and Red rose
There was once a poor woman who lived in an old thatched cottage .In front of the cottage grew two rose bushes. One grew flowers as white as snow, the other had flowers as red as wine. The woman had two daughters who resembled these rose bushes: one had a complexion as white as snow, the other lips as red roses. She named her daughters snow white and red rose. They were both good girls, but very different. Snow white, the elder, liked to stay with her mother and help her around the house, while her sister, Red rose, would wander the fields collecting flowers. But they loved each other dearly, and enjoyed each other’s company. This pleased there mother. ‘what one has she must share with the other.’ The two girls liked to go walking in the woods to pick berries. Although the woods were filled with wild animals they never came to any harm-rather the reverse. The rabbits would come would come to feed from their hands and the deer would walk by their sides. If the girls were far from their home when night fell, they would make themselves a bed on the soft moss and sleep peacefully until morning. Their mother did not worry, as she knew her daughters were perfectly safe in the woods. The cottage itself was spotlessly clean, thanks to the way the two girls helped their mother. Red rose did the work housework during the summer. She would rise early, before anyone else was awake, so that she could bring her fresh flowers to put by her bed. During the winter, it was Snow white who lit the fire and set the cooking pot to boil. It was a copper cauldron, but she cleaned it so well, it shone like gold. One evening, as the snow falling softly outside, Snow white and Rose red sat by the fire as their mother read to them. A small lamb lay beside them, basking in the warmth, and a dove dozed on its perch above them. As the night drew on there came a loud knock at the door. ‘Quickly, Rose red,’ said her mother. ‘Open the door. It must be a lost traveller