Hey and welcome my friend.
This is Lisa Watley and I'll be the voice that tucks you in tonight.
Before the story begins,
Take some time now to breathe,
Listening and making yourself comfortable.
This bedtime story,
As with all my sleep stories and meditations,
Has been infused with healing energies that will help you relax and let go,
Allowing you to fall asleep quickly and to sleep deeply.
These energies will continue to work their healing magic long after the story ends,
Long into the night,
Healing you while you sleep.
There is nothing you need to do to receive these loving energies,
Just listen to the story,
Pushing aside the outside world,
Allowing yourself to be in this moment,
Within the story,
Allowing yourself to dive deep into your imagination as the story unfolds.
Shifting quickly and peacefully into your inner world,
The space where magic happens.
Tonight's bedtime story is a fairy tale called Snow White and Rose Red.
And now,
Be sure to make yourself as comfy as possible,
Snuggling deep into your warm,
Soft bed,
And know that when the story ends,
The music will continue to play and then,
Just like you,
It will simply fade away.
Now if you are tucked in and ready for a wonderful,
Deep,
Peaceful and healing sleep,
Close your eyes and let's get sleepy together.
Sweet dreams my friend.
So as old tales go,
Once upon a time,
A long,
Long time ago,
There was a poor widow who lived in a small cottage by the woods.
In front of her cottage,
There was a garden that had two beautiful rose trees.
One had white roses and the other had red roses.
And she had two children who were very much like the two rose trees.
So she named one of her girls Snow White and the other one she named Rose Red.
Now they were very happy children.
However,
Snow White was more quiet and shy.
She liked to stay home with her mother and help her with the housework or read to her when there was nothing to do.
Rose Red on the other hand,
She was lively and energetic and liked to run around outside in the meadows and fields,
Seeking pretty flowers and catching beautiful butterflies.
The two children are both very good girls who love each other and their mother dearly.
Wherever they go,
They always hold each other's hand.
One day Snow White said to Rose Red,
We will not leave each other.
Then Rose Red answered,
Never,
Never so long as we live.
And their mother added,
And what one has,
She must always share with the other.
The girls often ran about in the forest alone gathering red berries.
No animals ever did them any harm.
Instead,
They came close to them trustfully.
The little gray rabbit would eat a cabbage leaf out of their hands and the young reddish brown baby deer would graze by their side as the fully grown adult deer would jump around happily close by.
And the birds,
They would sing happily as they sat in the tree branches.
Nothing scary or bad ever happened to the girls.
If they stayed too late in the forest and night came upon them,
They simply laid themselves down near one another upon the moss and slept until morning came.
Their sweet mother did not worry,
For she knew that they were always safe.
Once when they had spent the night in the forest and dawn had woken them,
They saw a beautiful child in a shimmery white dress sitting near their bed.
He got up and looked kindly at them,
But said nothing and went off in the forest.
When Snow White and Rose Red looked around,
They found that they had been sleeping quite close to a very steep cliff and would certainly have fallen over the edge in the darkness if they'd gone only a few steps further.
Their mother told them that that beautiful child must have been an angel who watches over them.
Snow White and Rose Red always kept their mother's little cottage neat and tidy.
In the summer,
Rose Red took care of their home.
Every morning before their mother woke up,
She placed a beautiful bouquet of flowers on her nightstand beside her,
And the bouquet always had a rose from each tree.
In the winter,
Snow White took care of their home,
Always lighting the fire and placing the kettle on the stove for warm tea.
In the evening when the snowflakes fell,
Their mother said,
Snow White,
Please go and lock the door,
And then the three of them would sit around the fire,
Listening to the stories that their mother would read them,
Their dog laying on the floor close by,
And behind them upon a perch sat a beautiful white dog with its head hidden beneath its wings.
One night,
As they were sitting comfortably together,
Someone knocked on the door,
And mother said,
Rose Red,
Quick,
Open the door,
It must be a traveler who is seeking shelter from these cold winter winds.
Rose Red went to the door and unlocked it,
All the while thinking that behind the door was a poor old man,
But it wasn't,
No,
Instead a big furry brown bear poked his head in through the doorway.
Rose Red screamed as she jumped back from the door,
Which made the dog bark,
The dove flutter,
And Snow White ran and hid behind her mother's bed,
And then the bear said,
Please do not be afraid,
I will not hurt you,
I am half frozen and only want to warm myself a little by your fire.
Oh,
Poor bear,
Said mother,
Please come lie down by the fire and get yourself warm.
Snow White,
Rose Red,
Come out,
The bear will not hurt you,
He means well.
So they both came out,
And soon enough the dog and the dove came closer and were not afraid of him either.
The bear said,
Come here children,
Brush the snow off my coat please.
So they got the broom and brushed the bear's fur until all the snow was gone,
And then the bear stretched himself out by the fire and relaxed comfortably.
Soon after the girls were very happy to have the bear in their home and began playing with him.
They gently stroked his hair with their little hands,
Climbed upon his back,
And rolled around on the floor playing with him,
Giggling the whole time.
After the children went to bed,
Mother said to the bear,
You can sleep there by the fire,
You will be warm and safe from the cold outside.
The bear was very grateful and snuggled down for a good night's sleep.
And as soon as morning came,
The girls let him out and he walked in a slow,
Relaxed manner,
Not in any hurry at all,
Across the snow and into the forest.
Every night the bear came back at the same time.
He laid himself down in front of the warm and cozy fire,
And let the children play with him as much as they liked.
They got so used to him being there that they never locked the door until their big furry friend had arrived.
When spring had come and everything outside was green,
The bear said one morning to Snow White,
I must go away now,
I will not be back for the whole summer.
And Snow White asked him,
Where are you going?
The bear replied,
I must go into the forest and guard my treasures from some very mean dwarfs.
You see,
In the winter the earth is frozen solid,
The dwarfs must stand or ground,
They cannot work their way through the dirt because it is rock hard.
But now that the sun has thawed and warmed the earth,
They can easily break through it,
So they come out and steal,
And once they get their hands on something and take it back into their little caves,
It is next to impossible to get it back.
Snow White was very sad that the bear was leaving.
As she unlocked the door for him,
He was hurrying out so quickly that he tore a tiny piece of his hairy coat off when it got snagged on the door handle.
Now it seemed to Snow White as if she had seen gold shining through it,
But she wasn't sure because it happened so fast and she didn't really see it very well.
The bear ran away quickly and was soon out of sight behind the trees.
A short time later,
Mother sent the children into the forest to get firewood.
There they found a big tree which lay fallen on the ground.
Close by the trunk something was jumping forwards and backwards in the grass,
But they couldn't make out what it was.
As they got closer,
They saw a dwarf.
He had an old wrinkly face,
A big bobble nose,
And a pearly white beard that was three feet long.
The end of his beard was caught in a crevice of the tree,
And the little fellow was jumping about like a dog that was tied to a rope because he didn't know what to do.
He glared at the girls with his fiery red eyes and said,
Well,
Why do you just stand there?
Can you not come here and help me?
Rose Red asked,
What are you up to,
Little man?
And the dwarf answered with,
You stupid prying little goose.
I was going to split the tree to get a little wood for cooking,
You see.
The little bit of food that we have gets burned up if we use big logs.
I had just driven the wedge safely in,
And everything was going according to plan,
But I soon discovered that the wedge was too smooth and suddenly it popped out.
That's when the tree closed so quickly that I couldn't pull my beautiful white beard out in time.
So now,
If you can't see,
It's stuck and I can't get away,
And you stand there laughing at me.
How repulsive you are.
But he was mistaken.
The children were never laughing at him.
He was just a grouchy,
Mean old dwarf.
Now Snow White and Rose Red tried very hard to help him,
But they just couldn't pull his beard out.
It was really stuck in there.
I will run and get some help,
Said Rose Red.
You senseless goose,
Snarled the dwarf.
Why would you go get someone?
You are already two,
And that's too many for me.
Can you not think of something better?
Snow White said,
Don't be so impatient or rude,
And I will help you.
Then she pulled a pair of scissors out of her bag and cut off the tip of his beard.
As soon as the dwarf knew he was free,
He grabbed a bag that lay amongst the roots of the tree.
It was full of gold.
He lifted it up and grumbling to himself said,
Uncivilized people,
Cutting off a piece of my fine beard,
Well,
Bad luck to you.
And then he swung the bag over his shoulder and went off without even once thanking the children.
Sometime later Snow White and Rose Red went to catch some fish for dinner.
As they got closer to the brook,
They saw something,
Like a large grasshopper,
Jumping towards the water,
Almost as if it were going to leap in.
They ran to it and found it was the grouchy old dwarf again.
Rose Red asked him,
Where are you going?
You surely don't want to go into that water,
Do you?
Well I am not a fool,
Cried the dwarf.
Don't you see that that obnoxious fish wants to pull me in?
The little old dwarf had been sitting there fishing,
And unlucky for him,
The wind had tangled up in his beard with the fishing line.
That's when a moment later,
The big obnoxious fish,
According to the grouchy old dwarf,
Took a bite of the bait,
And the helpless old dwarf didn't have the strength to pull the fish out.
The fish kept the upper hand and pulled the dwarf towards the water.
The dwarf held on to all the reeds and rushes,
But it wasn't any good,
For he was forced to follow the movements of the fish,
And was in urgent danger of being dragged into the water.
The girls arrived just in time.
They held him tight and tried to free his beard from the line,
But it was no use.
The beard and the line were completely entangled.
There was nothing to do but to bring out the scissors again and cut a very small piece off the beard.
When the dwarf realized what she had done,
He screamed at her.
Is that civil,
You toadstool,
To disfigure a man's face?
Was it not enough that you cut off the end of my beard and now you have cut the best part of it off,
Too?
I cannot.
I cannot let myself be seen by my people looking like this.
Then he took out a sack of pearls which lay in the rushes,
And without another word,
He dragged it away and disappeared behind a stone.
A little while later,
Mother sent the two children to town to buy needles,
Thread,
Laces,
And ribbons.
The road led them through a rocky meadow.
As they were walking,
They noticed a large bird hovering in the air,
Flying slowly round and round above them.
It sank lower and lower,
And at last settled near a rock not far away.
Immediately,
They heard a loud,
Heartbreaking cry.
They ran up and saw with horror that the eagle had seized their old acquaintance,
The grouchy dwarf,
And was going to carry him off.
The children,
Full of pity,
Immediately grabbed a hold of the grouchy old dwarf and pulled against the eagle so long that at last the eagle let go of the dwarf.
As soon as the dwarf had got back on his feet and dusted himself off,
He yelled at Snow White and Rose Red.
Seriously,
Could you have not been more careful,
You clumsy creatures?
You dragged my brown coat,
And now it's all torn and full of holes.
He then took up a sack full of precious stones and slipped away under a rock into his hole.
The girls,
Who by this time were used to his ingratitude,
Continued on their way to town to finish their shopping.
On their way home,
As they crossed the rocky meadow once again,
They surprised the grouchy old dwarf,
Who had emptied out his bag of precious stones in a clean spot admiring them.
He didn't think that anyone would come by so late in the day.
The evening sun shone upon the brilliant stones.
They glittered and sparkled with all of the colors of the rainbow so beautifully that the girls just stood still and stared at them.
That's when the old grouchy dwarf yelled,
Why do you stand there staring?
His ashen gray face became copper red with rage.
He was still cursing when a loud growling was heard,
And a furry brown bear came running towards them out of the forest.
The old dwarf,
Startled and filled with fear,
Jumped up ready to run,
But he couldn't reach his cave because the bear was too close now.
Filled with fear,
He cried out,
Please Mr.
Bear,
I will give you all my treasures.
Look at all the beautiful jewels lying there.
What do you want with such a slender little fellow as I?
Take these two very mean girls instead.
The bear was not impressed and did not listen,
For he knew the grouchy old dwarf was lying.
He knew Snow White and Rose Red were very kind,
Caring,
And compassionate little girls.
So he told the grouchy old dwarf to leave the meadow immediately,
And ordered him not to return until he learned not to lie and steal,
And when he could be a happy dwarf instead of a grouchy one that says mean hurtful words to others.
While all that was going on,
The girls had run away.
Soon the bear called to them,
Snow White and Rose Red,
Please do not be afraid.
It was then that the girls recognized his voice,
And when he came up to them,
Suddenly his bear skin fell off,
And he stood there a handsome man clothed all in gold.
He said,
I am a king's son,
And I was tricked by that mean dwarf.
He cast a spell and turned me into a bear and then stole all of my treasures.
I had to live in the forest until I was freed by ordering him out of the meadow.
For now,
He has been sent away and being punished for his bad behavior towards others.
Soon he will learn to treat others with respect and may return to the meadow.
As time had passed,
Snow White fell in love with the king's son,
And Rose Red fell in love with his brother.
Eventually they married,
And they divided all the great treasure which the dwarf had stolen and kept hidden in his cave.
The girls' mother lived peacefully and happily with her children for many years.
When she left their cottage to live with them,
She took with her the two rose trees.
She planted them in front of her bedroom window,
And every year they bloomed full of the most beautiful white and red roses.
That's the end of tonight's bedtime story.
I'm sure you are feeling so relaxed and so sleepy now.
It's time that you allow yourself to begin to drift off into a dream world.
Drifting down.
Getting into a deep and healing sleep now.
Letting sleep take over.
Knowing you are entering into the most beautiful night's rest.
Sweet dreams my friend.
May love surround you.
And until we meet again,
With peace and love,
From my world to yours.
Namaste.
