This Story is Copyrighted, if in doubt, please read COPYRIGHTS section at TALESetc.com APPLE by TALA BAR Once there was a great, wise queen who, since her husband's death, had ruled with a strong hand, installing peace and order. The Queen had one daughter, the beautiful Princess Snowhite. Like the ancient heroine, the Princess's complexion was as clear and white as snow, her hair and eyes were raven black and her lips as red as blood. Snowhite had never known her father, who died when she was only three months old. Although the Queen had pointed to their newly-born, an only child, and asked him to stay home to enjoy his daughter, the King had gone to fight in one of the many wars, which had been taking place on the borders of his kingdom throughout his life, leaving Snowhite fatherless. The Queen then made peace with all her neighbors, and dedicated her life to raising her daughter and managing the kingdom. Snowhite grew up to be a beautiful, clever girl, enchanting everyone around her; the nurses worshipped her and fulfilled all her wishes, and her girlfriends loved playing with her because she always had new interesting ideas for games. No one found any fault in her, except her mother the Queen. Only she, who was closer to Snowhite more than anyone else, felt that in spite of her beauty and cleverness, the Princess had as cold a nature as the snow she was named after. It was true that she amused the ministers, who regarded her as a pretty toy; she showed kindness to her nurses and behaved as a true leader with her friends. Even the Queen could not complain about their personal relationships, because Snowhite was submissive toward her mother, behaving as a true subject to the Queen. However, she lacked warmth, or any feeling of affection. It was a sad fact which her mother had to acknowledge, that Snowhite loved none of the people who were close to her, perhaps, the Queen reflected, not even herself. *** As long as the Princess was a little girl, the Queen did not worry too much. 'She'll grow out of it,' she thought and she still made an additional effort to pour on her daughter a double measure of love and warmth, as if she wanted to melt the ice and thaw the cool heart. To no avail. As Snowhite grew up, the emotional barrier between her and her friends and attendants grew higher and higher, until they could no longer ignore it; one by one they left her company to look for more satisfying connections. Gradually, Snowhite's girlfriends matured, found mates and got married while the nurses left to take care of other children. The ministers began to see her with new eyes: she was no longer an amusing little girl, but a lovely, attractive young lady, and they now paid her a different kind of attention. Young courtiers saw the Princess as a desirable image. They imagined themselves walking by her side, sunk deep in heartfelt conversation; they felt like touching her white hand, caressing her black hair, even catching a kiss from the red lips. However, Snowhite did not let anyone get that close to her, and the barrier around her remained high and stout. Young men could only look at her from afar, admiring her beauty not daring to approach her. The Queen saw all that and grew even sadder. If the girl could not get close to anyone, how would she ever find a suitable mate to fall in love with, to marry and have children, and to carry on from her mother to rule over the land? The Queen reflected that she herself would soon arrive at an age when she would prefer to amuse herself with grandchildren and leave the business of the Kingdom to younger people. But how could this happen if Snowhite let no one approach her? In her mind, the Queen searched for means to change her daughter's heart. She then remembered her own mother, who had been a wise woman with great powers, which some people would call supernatural. When she died, the old sorceress had left her daughter many books and articles of magic, which the Queen never bothered about. For herself, she had always preferred to deal with the world with earthly means, using both her rational and her emotional intelligence rather than the supernatural; but this, she felt, was becoming a problem which all her mundane wisdom could not help her solve. After much meditation, she decided with great trepidation that she had no other course to turn to but her mother's wizardry. Searching through the books, the Queen read about a number of simple means that could be used to soften a cold heart. Looking through her mother's artifacts, she found one of these means, which was a magic comb, made of ivory and inlaid with colorful gems. Anyone wearing that comb would be filled with happiness, and his or her heart would be open toward all people. When Snowhite's eighteenth birthday arrived, the Queen invited princes from all her neighboring countries to a magnificent ball. With her own hand she combed her daughter's hair, put the comb in it and kissed her head for luck; the ivory glowed on top of Snowhite's shiny black hair, the gems glittered like the stars at night. All the princes surrounding Snowhite adored her, paid her untold compliments; every one of them tried to get her attention and invite her to dance. But Snowhite retained her coolness, holding herself back from them all. The power of the happy comb had no effect over the Pricess's cold heart, it did not manage to melt the ice that surrounded it. Long before the end of the ball it was clear to all her admirers, that no one could approach Snowhite, no one could capture her heart. Following the list of means she had read about in her late mother's books, the sorrowing Queen resumed her search. Among the megical artifacts she then found a belt laced with threads of gold and silver; it was said that anyone wearing that belt would be suffused with the feeling of kindly warmth toward all people. For Snowhite's nineteenth birthday the Queen again invited the princes of all neighboring countreis; with her own hands she helped her daughter to put on a magnificent light-blue dress, and encircled her slim waist with the gold and silver belt, which shone like a commet's tail on the sky-like background. A wave of pleasant warmth was emitted from the Princess's body, affecting the princes surrounding her; only her own heart was not affected, it remained as cold as ever and did not respond to their advances. *** The Queen was desparate. She did not know what else she could do to arouse any sort of love in Snowhite's heart, because she no longer trusted her mother's artifacts. During the days, she was still looking after her kingdom's business; at night, though, she pondered again and again over the sorceress's books, looking perhaps for a special potion, or powder, which would be effective in melting her daughter's icy heart. The Princess's twentieth birthday passed with no special notice, the party was prepared half-heartedly and was soon eded with Snowhite retiring to her rooms, cold and unhappy. At last, after many days of search, the Queen found a very old tome hidden under a pile of others, which she had not looked in before. The book's formerly silver cover had tarnished black, its smooth white pages had turned brittle, looking dark gray from age and dust. She had to wear thick gloves to browse through those pages, because she she was afraid they might be poisoned. In that book she read: "In the thick of a forest growing at the top of a high mountain, among the thicket of trees and thorny shrubs surrounded by many bogs and pits, there grows an apple tree. Only one apple hangs on a branch of the tree among spiky boughs. This apple has the special character that it can melt any frozen heart and thaw the coldest of feelings. Only a person pure of heart can pick that apple, which would avoide the hand of any other. Though the apple can melt a frozen heart, it cannot soften a heart of stone. If a person whose heart had turned to stone eat the apple, he or she would die on the spot." When she finished reading, the Queen went back to read the last passage again. There it was. The difference between a cold heart and a heart of stone. How was it possible to tell between them? Still, she reflected, she was almost absolutely certain that Snowhite's heart was not made of stone. There must be a spark of life in it, a trace of fire buried somewhere under the layers of ice! But if it was not there? She asked herself. In that case, was it not better for the Princess not to live at all than to live the way she did? The Queen had to make a decision, and, at last, she did. The next day she issued a declaration, which she sent throughout the Kingdom and the neiboring countries. It said: "Any unmarried man who will get the magic apple, bring it to the Palace and give it to Princess Snowhite to eat, will win her hand in marriage and rule with her over the kingdom." Below, particulars of the way to reach and get the apple were given, making clear the hardships and difficulties to be met on the way. Continue Story Index