she lifted up the latch and walked in, and there she
saw three little beds and three little chairs and three little
cupboards all ready for use. And she went up to the first bed and lay
down upon it, but it was so hard that she couldn't rest; and then she
went up to the second bed and lay down upon that, but that was so soft
that she got too hot and couldn't go to sleep. So she tried the third
bed, but that was neither too hard nor too soft, but suited her
exactly; and she fell asleep there.

In the evening the owners of the hut, who were three little dwarfs who
earned their living by digging coal in the hills, came back to their
home. And when they came in, after they had washed themselves, they
went to their beds, and the first of them said:

"Somebody has been sleeping in my bed!"

And then the second one said:

"And somebody's been sleeping in my bed!"

And the third one called out in a shrill voice, for he was so excited:

"Somebody is sleeping in my bed, just look how beautiful she is!"

So they waited till she woke up, and asked her how she had come there,
and she told them all that the hunter had said to her about the Queen
wanting to slay her.

Then the dwarfs asked her if she would be willing to stop with them
and keep house for them; and she said that she would be delighted.

Next morning the Queen went up as usual to her mirror, and called out:

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

And the mirror answered as usual:

"Queen, Queen, on thy throne,
Snowwhite's the fairest thou must own."

And the Queen knew that Snowwhite had not been slain. So she sent for
the hunter and made him confess that he had let Snowwhite go; and she
made him search about beyond the forest, till at last he brought back
word to her that Snowwhite was dwelling in a little hut on the hill
with some coal-miners.

Then the Queen dressed herself up like an old woman, and, taking a
poisoned comb with her, went back the next day to the hut where
Snowwhite was living. Now the dwarfs had warned her not to open the
door to anybody lest evil might befall her; and she found it very
lonesome keeping always within doors.

When the Queen, disguised as an old woman, came to the door of the
house she knocked upon it with her stick, but Snowwhite called out
from within:

"Who is there? Go away! I must not let anybody come in."

"All right," answered the Queen. "If you can come to the window w