The musical opens with narration that tells of a beautiful Queen sitting by the window watching the falling snow and thinking to herself, "Would that if I had a daughter with skin as fair as that snow, with hair as black as the raven's crest and lips as red as cherry wine." Soon the Queen gave birth to a daughter who was the very essence of her wish, and she and the King named the princess Snow White. After the Queen died, the King became lonely, and after many years, he took a new Queen from the far-off land of Shi-tan so that Snow White would have a mother in her life.