Kurahashi Yumiko's Cruel Fairy Tales for Adults: Snow White

The following is a selection from Kurahashi Yumiko's Cruel Fairy Tales for Adults. I don't believe this work has been officially translated into English, which is a shame because it's a wonderful book. I've been a fairy tale fanatic for as long as I can remember and when I went looking for Japanese fairy tales, Kurahashi's stories were one of the first things that popped up. Angela Carter's work might be the closest English language equivalent.

The normal disclaimers apply. I am not a professional. I am still learning Japanese. This translation was done purely for fun. DO NOT USE THIS WORK FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES OR REPOST WITHOUT PERMISSION. ♥

Once a upon a time, in a land far away, a baby girl was born to a queen. Her skin was as white as snow; her lips were as red as blood; her hair and eyes were pure black. The baby was extraordinarily beautiful. Thereupon, the girl was named Snow White (1).

As Snow White grew older, her beauty also grew greater and greater but her mother, the queen, became grew weak and died when Snow White was 7 years old. Before she died the queen summoned Snow White and handed her a small bottle containing a medicinal-like substance and said this: “You know, when I die, before too long, a new mother will come. If something dangerous happens, paint this on your face and body. When the danger passes, you should go to a spring in the woods and wash it off. And let me repeat this, don’t believe what bad people tell you…”

Saying that, the queen breathed her last.

As Snow White’s mother said, soon enough the king called for a young queen. She was startlingly beautiful, however, she was also very vain and when she saw the angelic beauty of Snow White her heart was uneasy.

The new queen fetched her treasured magic mirror and questioned it: “Hey Mirror, tell me something. Who is the prettiest in the land?”

The mirror answered.

“My lady, the prettiest person is you, my lady.”

“Is that so. Isn’t that Snow White kid pretty, too, though.

“Snow White is still a child. She cannot be compared to my lady.”

When she heard that the queen was satisfied at first but it stayed in her mind and her unease grew worse. Thereupon, in the same way, every day, she felt compelled to fetch the mirror and check.

Some years passed. Snow White’s chest swelled. She became a woman. Then one day the magic mirror gave the queen the answer she had been afraid of. When she heard it the queen’s face turned violet. Nevertheless, “Snow White is only a tiny bit more beautiful,” said the mirror and the queen just managed to pull herself together and cut her consultation short, storing the mirror away.

A kind maid informed Snow White of what had happened but Snow White didn’t remember the bottle from her mother.

The next time the queen consulted the mirror, the answer did not assuage her unease.

“My lady is beautiful. However, Snow White is 1000 times more beautiful.”

Hearing this the queen’s face grew mottled with anger and humiliation. Her eyes burned violet. The queen promptly called for a woodsman and ordered him to kill Snow White and bring back her heart and liver as proof. The woodsman took Snow White into the woods and unsheathed his hatchet to kill her. Asking if Snow White had anything she wanted to say, Snow White cried and begged for her life. The woodsman took his opportunity. He stripped her and had his way with her, thinking that as soon as he had his fill, he would strangle her to death. Then, by chance, a baby wild boar ran past them. The woodsman changed his mind and killed the boar, taking the heart and liver back with him. No sooner had the queen seen them then she threw them to the dog.

Meanwhile, deep in the woods, Snow White wandered around by herself. Before the sun set, she found a small house and tried going inside. Everything in the house was so small that it appeared to be for children’s use. On the table were plates, knives, and forks set up for seven people. The exhausted Snow White ate some bread and the food in the pot, drank some grape wine, and fell into bed with no recollection of her actions. Before long, the seven dwarves returned home. These seven dwarves went out to the mountains to search for gold and silver. Their faces were those of adults but their legs were crooked and their height was as small as of children.

They heard Snow White’s story of her stepmother trying to kill her and the dwarves said that it was fine to stay with them as long as she could do the cooking and cleaning and knitting and so on. However, Snow White had not learned one bit of that type of work. It couldn’t be helped. Snow White would stay on in the house as the dwarves’ night attendant. At any rate, she was a beautiful girl with skin as white as snow and because her temperament was obedient she become good in bed (2) and the dwarves were pleased with her. Every day she cheerfully sent them off to work. However, the dwarves were worried that she would be left alone by herself during the day and gave her a stern warning. “Watch out for that stepmother. If she gets winde that you’re here, she’ll definitely come to kill you. Don’t let anybody in the house.”

Well, the Queen was feeling at ease. With Snow White deceased, there was nobody more beautiful than her. But, one day, she innocently tried consulting the mirror in her the usual way. “In the dwarves’ house in the woods, Snow White is one thousand times more beautiful,” the mirror answered. The queen guessed everything and felt the desire to be evil. Thereupon, she promptly painted herself up as an old peddler woman and visited the dwarves’ house.

She knocked on the door but Snow White remembered the dwarves’ warning and didn’t open it and peeked through the window instead.

“Well, what a pretty young lady. If you used make-up, you’d be even prettier than the princess in the castle,” the peddler said, lining up an array of colored makeup to show her. Snow White pointed out a lipstick and the peddler generously gave it to her.

Snow White happily put the lipstick put on but suddenly lips swelled up like an ugly camel. Before long, the dwarves came home. They heard the whole story and immediately took Snow White to the spring in the woods and washed her face. The unbelievable swelling lessened and Snow White returned to her former beauty.

“Make no mistake, that was the stepmother. Don’t take anything from suspicious people.” Giving her that warning, the dwarves left. Next a woman selling underwear appeared. It was actually the queen in well disguised but Snow White didn’t notice. The woman proposed an idea with deceitful words. If you want to keep the men inside the house happy, you can’t wear crude underwear. Try revealing yourself in pretty underwear, she said. Snow White couldn’t help but want them. She bought the underwear with the dwarves’ gold coins. Putting them on, she found they had been soaked in poison and her entire body became inflamed. She cried and shouted and before long the dwarves returned and put her into a medicine-infused bath. Her body returned to as it was before.

The next day the dwarves left Snow White with this warning, “Don’t buy anything from suspicious peddlers.” Afterwards, she heard a voice singing under the window and looking out she saw a farm girl holding a basket and taking a rest while eating an apple. Her basket was filled with delicious looking apples. Because they looked so delicious, Snow White ate the apple she was offered. But a poison had been inserted into the apple and suddenly her throat began to hurt and her white skin was turned to the color of mud. The farm girl revealed her true form as the queen. She sneered and said, “You aren’t even a little bit smart. This time no matter what water you wash with, no matter what medicine you take, nothing can be done.”

And just as the queen had said, even though the dwarves tried everything they could think of, Snow White’s skin remained the color of mud. The dwarves sighed and grumbled, “Even though we warned you,” and “If you’d been half as smart as you were good looking this wouldn’t have happened.”

Snow White cried her eyes out. Shortly thereafter, the prince of another kingdom happened to be passing by. This young, gallant prince listened to Snow White’s unfortunate tale with sympathy and then galloped away to the castle to get justice. Love had miraculously bloomed. He swore that he would return the princess to her old form and punish the ill-natured queen.

The prince was given a warm welcome by the queen when he arrived at the castle. He’d never seen anybody with such a high degree of elegance and refinement. With a single look the prince was overcome with the queen’s beauty and he listened eagerly to her witty conversation. He came to think that his sympathy with Snow White’s unfortunate life story was a little bit ridiculous. After seeing the mud-colored Snow White, the queen seemed like the real princess as white as snow. The young prince fell in love with the pretty queen.

The queen’s heart also moved towards the gallant prince.

One night, the two revealed their love to each other on a balcony. The queen looked at the prince with her charming, shining eyes and he said that he would fulfill the couple’s love by any means necessary. Getting rid of the senile old king was his task, she said. The prince accepted it.

As things ended up, the queen and prince were able to attend their joyous wedding banquet. That night before the newlyweds made their appearance, the queen took out the aforementioned mirror. Then without saying the words she abruptly struck it against the wall and smashed it.

When the new king asked “What’s going on?” the queen laughed sweetly, “I’m getting rid of an evil spirit that’s haunted me for a long time,” she answered.

Incidentally, you remember Snow White. Snow White was troubled by being unable to get rid of her mud colored skin. At long last she remembered the small bottle from her mother. In seventh heaven, she painted the medicine on her face and body. Far from erasing the mud color, it changed even more to a mottled bruised color. It was skin blackening medicine.

But I can’t say that Snow White’s life was unhappy. Snow White continued to work at the dwarves’ house in the woods and gave birth to many children. They all lived happily ever after.

1) 白雪姫 2) 床上手