Many centuries ago, a forester and his wife lived in a large forest with two beautiful daughters. The elder of the two, aged ten, was called Rose-Red, because of her fresh red complexion and healthy figure. In contrast to her sister, the younger was of slight build and had a fine, transparent white complexion. She was therefore called Lily-White. She was six years of age. They were both sweet girls, whose parents enjoyed them a lot. Rose-Red already helped her mother diligently with her work.

Winter came to an end, but it was still very bleak and cold outdoors. When they had had their dinner in the evening, they gathered comfortably around the hot fireplace. The father then lit his pipe, the mother mended clothes, Rose-Red knitted stockings, and Lily-White played with her doll or worked on sewing a rag doll.

One stormy evening, when the rain was beating heavily against the windows and the entire family was gathered comfortably around the fireplace as usual, there were a few loud knocks on the front door. The knocking gave the children a considerable fright, and the whole company was curious to know who this late guest could be.

Mother ordered Rose-Red to open the door and not to be scared. The girl obliged. But how frightened she was when the moonlight did not reveal a traveller, but a large brown bear. She was even more amazed when it began to speak.

"My dear child," it said, "fear me not. I will do you no harm. All I ask is a place to stay for tonight."

Rose-Red went back in and told her parents. Bruin was shown in and given a chair near the fireplace. The mother fetched some food and put fresh straw next to the fireplace for the bear to sleep on. The children had a lot of fun with Bruin and caressed him and stroked his shaggy fur.

When Bruin had finished his meal and sat by the fire again, he told the family who he was. "I live in a large den in the forest. In a large mountain nearby, there live fifty evil dwarfs. Their leader is my worst enemy, who never leaves me in peace. Every day when I set out to look for food, he keeps pursuing me and torments me in all sorts of ways. Whenever I want to catch him, he is too quick for me and rapidly climbs up a tree to get away from me. This evening, I was once more out looking for food. The enemy pursued me again with a large stick he used to threaten me, and for that reason, I ran this way. For fear of him, I lack the courage to return to the den tonight."

They had all listened to the story with great compassion, and the forester decided to go out with several other people the following day to kill the dwarfs. The next day after breakfast-after having thanked Bruin cordially-they opened the front door and heard some nasty moaning, which came from the forest close by. They all followed the sounds and the forester took an axe with him. Having arrived at the place the moaning had come from, they saw an ugly dwarf whose long white beard had got stuck under a big tree, which had been blown down by the storm. Bruin recognized his worst enemy in the dwarf.

The dwarf also recognized the bear, but nevertheless, his agony made him call for help. "Please try to lift the trunk, but do not cut off my beard, because then I will have lost my magic powers."

But the forester, delighted to be able to punish the ugly creature, cut the beard off after all. This enraged the dwarf so much that he wanted to attack the man. The forester, however, boldly took up his axe and used it to smash the dwarf's head in. Then he went back home to fetch some limestone to brick up the only entrance to the mountain, which still contained the other dwarfs. All these evil creatures were now buried alive. Barely had the forester finished this job, when behold!: a handsome prince, dressed in wonderful, magnificent garments, appeared before their eyes.

Before they had a chance to speak, the prince said, "I was the bear you just saw. I want to thank you cordially for your kind reception and for the great service you have done me by killing the dwarfs. At one point, this evil dwarf had transformed me into a bear and driven me out of my castle. He had then taken me to a large den here in the forest, in which I was forced to live from then on and where I had to look for my food like an animal. No sooner would I regain my human shape before he, the dwarf himself, would be dead. This now has happened. As a reward, all four of you will have to come and live in my castle and stay there forever."

The family had all listened to the story attentively and were very glad now that the evil dwarfs had been killed. They sold their house and garden and went to live in the prince's castle. After several years, the prince asked for Rose-Red's hand in marriage, whereupon a large wedding took place. Several years later, Lily-White married one of the prince's brothers, who also was a prince and lived nearby in a splendid castle. Again, they celebrated a large wedding and there was joy all over again. From then on, they all lived peacefully and contentedly, and neither princes nor commoners needed to fear the evil dwarfs ever again, because they had all, without exception, been destroyed.