Little Red Riding Hood

Once upon a time there was a dear little girl whom everyone loved just for the sight of her — but no one loved her more than her grandmother, who could never think of enough gifts to give the child. Once she gave her a little cap of red velvet, and it suited her so well that she would never wear anything else, so everyone came to call her Little Red Riding Hood.

One day her mother said to her, "Come, Little Red Riding Hood. Here is a piece of cake and a bottle of wine. Take them to your grandmother, for she is ill and weak, and they will do her good. Go before it grows hot, and walk nicely and quietly, and don't run off the path or you might fall and break the bottle, and then your grandmother will have nothing at all. And when you get to her room, remember to say good morning, and don't go poking into every corner first."

"I'll do everything just right," said Little Red Riding Hood, and she gave her mother her hand on it.

Her grandmother lived out in the wood, half an hour from the village. And no sooner had Little Red Riding Hood stepped among the trees than she met a wolf. She did not know what a wicked creature he was, so she was not at all afraid.

"Good day, Little Red Riding Hood," said he.

"Thank you kindly, wolf."

"Where are you off to so early?"

"To my grandmother's."

"What's that you're carrying?"

"Cake and wine. We baked yesterday, and my poor grandmother is ill, so this will help her grow strong."

"And where does your grandmother live, Little Red Riding Hood?"

"A good quarter of an hour further into the wood, under the three big oak trees. You surely know the place, with the hedge of hazel bushes just below."

The wolf thought to himself, *What a tender little morsel. She'll taste even better than the old woman — I must be clever, and have them both.* So he walked beside her a while, and then he said, "Little Red Riding Hood, just look at the pretty flowers around you. Why don't you look about? I don't think you even hear how sweetly the birds are singing. You walk along as if you were off to school, and it's so merry here in the wood."

Little Red Riding Hood lifted her eyes, and when she saw the sunlight dancing through the branches, and flowers everywhere she looked, she thought, *If I bring grandmother a fresh bunch of flowers, that will please her too. It's still so early — I'll have plenty of time.* So she left the path and went into the wood to pick flowers. And each time she picked one, she thought she saw a prettier one a little further on, and so she wandered deeper and deeper into the trees.

But the wolf went straight to the grandmother's house and knocked at the door.

"Who's there?"

"It's Little Red Riding Hood," said the wolf, "bringing cake and wine. Open the door."

"Just lift the latch," the grandmother called. "I'm too weak to get up."

The wolf lifted the latch, the door swung open, and without a word he went straight to the old woman's bed and swallowed her whole. Then he put on her nightclothes, tied her cap over his head, climbed into her bed, and drew the curtains close.

Meanwhile Little Red Riding Hood had gone on gathering flowers until she could carry no more. Then she remembered her grandmother and hurried on her way. She was surprised to find the door standing wide open, and when she stepped inside, everything felt so strange that she thought, *Oh dear, how uneasy I feel today, when usually I love visiting grandmother so much.* She called out, "Good morning!" but no one answered. So she went to the bed and drew back the curtains. There lay her grandmother, with her cap pulled low over her face, looking very strange indeed.

"Oh, grandmother, what big ears you have."

"The better to hear you with, my dear."

"Oh, grandmother, what big eyes you have."

"The better to see you with."

"Oh, grandmother, what big hands you have."

"The better to grab you with!"

"But grandmother, what a terribly big mouth you have!"

"The better to eat you with!"

And no sooner had he said it than the wolf leaped from the bed and swallowed Little Red Riding Hood too.

His hunger satisfied, the wolf climbed back into the bed, fell fast asleep, and began to snore, very loud. Just then a huntsman happened to be passing the house, and he thought, *How that old woman snores — I had better look in and see that all is well.* So he stepped inside, and when he came to the bed, there lay the wolf. "So I've found you at last, you old sinner," he said. "I've been looking for you a long time." He raised his gun to shoot, but then it struck him that the wolf might have swallowed the grandmother whole, and that she might still be saved. So instead he carefully opened up the sleeping wolf, who never stirred at all. In a moment there was a flash of red, and Little Red Riding Hood sprang out, crying, "Oh, how frightened I was! It was so dark in there!" And then out came the old grandmother too, still alive, though badly shaken. Little Red Riding Hood ran quickly and fetched some large stones, and together they filled the wolf up with them. When he woke and tried to bound away, the stones were so heavy that he fell down at once and died.

Then all three were glad. The huntsman took the wolf's skin and went home with it. The grandmother ate the cake and drank the wine that Little Red Riding Hood had brought, and soon felt strong again. And Little Red Riding Hood said to herself, "Never again will I wander off the path into the wood, when my mother has told me not to."

It is also told that once, when Little Red Riding Hood was again carrying baked things to her grandmother, another wolf spoke to her and tried to lure her from the path. But this time she was on her guard, and walked straight on, and when she reached her grandmother's house she told her all about it — how the wolf had wished her good day, but looked at her so wickedly that if they hadn't been out on the open road, she felt sure he would have eaten her up.

"Come," said the grandmother, "we'll lock the door, so he can't get in." Sure enough, before long the wolf knocked and called, "Open up, grandmother, it's Little Red Riding Hood, bringing you something good." But they kept very still and did not answer. So the wolf prowled around the house, and at last climbed up onto the roof, meaning to wait until Little Red Riding Hood set off home in the evening, and then creep after her in the dark.

But the grandmother guessed what he was planning. There stood a great stone trough in front of the house, and she said, "Little Red Riding Hood, take the pail — yesterday I boiled some sausages, so carry that water out and empty it into the trough." Little Red Riding Hood carried pail after pail until the great trough was quite full, and the rich smell of the sausages drifted up to the wolf on the roof. He sniffed, and stretched his neck further and further to catch the scent, until at last he lost his footing entirely, slid right off the roof, and tumbled straight down into the trough below, where he drowned.

And Little Red Riding Hood went home glad and safe, and after that, no one ever did her any harm again.