In Snowdrop (or “Snow White”) a queen sewing by the window during a snowfall pricks her finger. Admiring the drops of blood on the snow, she wishes for a daughter “as white as that snow, as red as that blood, and as black as this ebony windowframe!”. The queen dies, but not before giving birth to Snowdrop. The girl’s stepmother, a vain and vindictive woman, plots to eliminate Snowdrop, who grows more beautiful by the day. Snowdrop is left in the forest to die but takes shelter with seven dwarfs who become her protector when the evil stepmother learns she is still alive.
