The End of a Rainbow, A Pot of Gold
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i'm a little teapot short and stout.
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Monday, November 21, 2011, 12:16 AM
8: The Previously Untold Story of the Previously Unknown Dwarf
My sister let me read an interesting book today (ok it was more of a short read, a 2200 word poem to be exact). It offers an alternative storyline to the classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.A short summary..
There were not seven, but eight dwarfs living under one roof. The seven dwarfs enjoyed life and worked together harmoniously. The eighth, however, was ugly. He also adopted queer habits and developed a palate for insects. This led him to be dubbed 'Creepy'. He was irritable and brooding, disagreeing to his brothers' way of life. Although this was not explicitly illustrated in the poem, the seven brothers likely found him an eyesore too and were not as nice as we know them to be. One fine day, Creepy did something to finally tick them off enough that they dumped him in an abandoned underground cellar in the house and locked him there for good. They carried on happily with life as if he never existed. All these while, he could only look up onto the activities of the house through a hole in the floorboard.
Then came Snow White. As it was told, she cleaned the house and cooked, to the delight of the seven dwarfs who agreed to keep her. One day, the witch came, disguised, and sold Snow White some poisoned accessory, causing her to collapse directly over the hole in the floorboard that was Creepy's window to the world. He saved he by reaching through the hole. Snow White awoke, not realising what happened. It was de javu when Snow White fell for the trick a second time and was again saved by Creepy. The third time this happened, Snow White fainted some distance away. So (and this is weird) Creepy let himself out of his prison easily by picking the lock (why didn't he just let himself out and escaped earlier on?-.-). He kissed Snow White to life, thought she would marry him thereafter, only to have her shriek in disgust at his repulsive appearance. By then, the seven dwarfs were approaching, so witty ol' Creepy said "Hey this is a nice apple why don't you take a bite" and Snow White the bimbo was dumb enough to be tricked the 4th time. She bit the apple and fainted once again while Creepy stole back into the cellar and locked himself in. The seven dwarfs found Snow White, thought she was dead, placed her in a glass coffin and moaned their loss. That night, Creepy, who knew that Snow White wasn't dead but would soon be if he didn't intervene, came out of the cellar again and drove some holes into the side of the coffin to let in air. At this point, the prince appeared and kissed Snow White to life and they rode away to live happily ever after. All this while, Creepy stood in the shadows.
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The poem was written simply, but it certainly wasn't child's play (or read). There was quite a bit of character development, much inferred from his thoughts and actions. Creepy is very much an oddball. He despises optimism and life, he starves himself to bones, and he is a naughty little pervert (he was drinking in the image of Snow White's underwear as he upskirted her from his view from the hole in the floorboards). Yet despite all these eccentricities, he saw it fit to save her life, even after she snubbed him in his face. He even thought to make the effort of drilling holes in her coffin knowing that she would die of hypoxia rather than a poison apple should he not do so. This speaks much about his innate character. This poem reminds us not to judge a book by its cover, and addresses the bias of society towards ugly people, that ugly people need to do much good to be accepted (or maybe not, even for all their efforts).
Anyway, i just thought this was a refreshing, funny and pretty witty way of retelling this age-old classic. Definitely worth that bit of your time.