Little
Red Riding Hood
Once upon a time there lived in a
certain village a little country girl, the prettiest creature who was ever
seen. Her mother was excessively fond of her, and her grandmother doted on her
still more. This good woman had a little red riding hood made for her. It
suited the girl so extremely well that everybody called her Little Red Riding
Hood.
One day her mother, having made some
cakes, said to her, “Go, my dear, and see how your grandmother is doing, for I
hear she has been very ill. Take her a cake, and this little pot of butter.”
Little Red Riding Hood set out
immediately to go to her grandmother, who lived in another village.
As she was going through the wood,
Little Red Riding Hood’s eyes landed on some beautiful flowers growing deep in
the trees. She was not supposed to leave the path when she went through the
forest, but she thought that her grandmother would love the flowers. Besides,
she could hear chopping, which meant that the friendly woodcutter she often met
in the wood was nearby. She hurried over and began to pull the buds quickly
from the vine, thinking how cheerful they would make her grandmother.
But soon along came a great wolf. He
had a very great mind to eat her up, but he dared not, because he too heard the
chopping of the friendly woodcutter, who was not so friendly to child-eating
wolves. Instead he asked her where she was going. The poor child, who did not
know that it was dangerous to stay and talk to a wolf, said to him, “I am going
to see my grandmother and carry her a cake and a little pot of butter from my
mother.”
“Does she live far off?” said the
wolf.
“Oh I say,” answered Little Red
Riding Hood; “it is beyond that mill you see there, at the first house in the
village.”
“Well,” said the wolf to himself
with a cackle, “I’ll go and see her too. I’ll go this way and go you that, and
we shall see who will be there first.”
The wolf ran as fast as he could,
taking the shortest path, and the little girl took a roundabout way,
entertaining herself by gathering nuts, running after butterflies, and stopping
to chat with her friend the woodcutter. It was not long before the wolf arrived
at the old woman’s house. He knocked at the door: tap, tap.
“Who’s there?”
“Your grandchild, Little Red Riding
Hood,” replied the wolf, counterfeiting her voice; “who has brought you a cake
and a little pot of butter sent you by Mother.”
The good grandmother, who was in
bed, because she was still somewhat ill, cried out, “Pull the bobbin, and the
latch will go up.”
The wolf pulled the bobbin, and the
door opened, and then he immediately fell upon the good woman and ate her up in
a moment, for it been more than three days since he had eaten. He then shut the
door and got into the grandmother’s bed, expecting Little Red Riding Hood, who
came some time afterwards and knocked at the door: tap, tap.
“Who’s there?”
Little Red Riding Hood, hearing the
big voice of the wolf, was at first afraid; but believing her grandmother had a
cold and was hoarse, answered, “It is your grandchild Little Red Riding Hood,
who has brought you a cake and a little pot of butter Mother sends you.”
The wolf cried out to her, softening
his voice as much as he could, “Pull the bobbin, and the latch will go up.”
Little Red Riding Hood pulled the
bobbin, and the door opened.
The wolf, seeing her come in, said
to her, hiding himself under the bedclothes, “Put the cake and the little pot
of butter upon the stool, and come closer so I may hug you.”
Little Red Riding Hood walked toward
the bed. She was greatly amazed to see how her grandmother looked in her
nightclothes, and said to her, “Grandmother, what big arms you have!”
“All the better to hug you with, my
dear.” Little Red Riding Hood smiled, reassured, and reached out her arms to
her grandmother. Then she stopped.
“Grandmother, what big ears you
have!”
“All the better to hear with, my
child.” This made sense to Little Red Riding Hood, as her grandmother often had
quite a bit of trouble hearing her. She took another step forward and then
paused once more.
“Grandmother, what big eyes you
have!”
“All the better to see with, my
child.” Little Red Riding Hood noticed that her grandmother was not wearing her
glasses today. In fact, they were on the floor beside the bed, with one of the
lenses cracked. She picked them up and stepped up close to the bed, and the
wolf smiled in delight.
“Grandmother, what big teeth you
have!” said Little Red Riding Hood in sudden fear.
“All the better to eat you with!”
And at that the wolf sprang out of
bed at once on poor little Red Hood, and ate her up. When the wolf had
satisfied his appetite, he lay down again in the bed, quite pleased with
himself.
But Little Red Riding Hood’s friend
the woodcutter had heard her scream, and rushed toward her grandmother’s house.
He went into the room, and looked
into the bed; there lay the wolf. “Have I found you now, old rascal?” said he. “I’ve
long been looking for you.”
He was just going to take aim with
his gun, when he bethought himself, “Perhaps the wolf has only swallowed the poor
child, and she may yet be released.”
Therefore he did not shoot, but took
a knife and began to cut open the sleeping wolf’s belly. When he had made
several cuts, he saw a red hood gleam, and after one or two more cuts out
skipped Little Red Riding Hood, and cried, “Oh, how frightened I have been; it
was so dark in the wolf’s belly!”
Afterwards out came her grandmother,
still alive, but scarcely able to breathe. But Red Hood made haste and fetched
large stones, with which they filled the wolf’s belly, and when he woke he
wanted to jump up and run away, but the stones were so heavy that he fell on
the ground and soon died of a bad stomachache.
Now, they were all three merry. The
huntsman took off the wolf’s skin; Grandmother ate the cake and butter which Little
Red Riding Hood had brought, and became strong and well again; and Little Red
Riding Hood thought to herself that it would be some time before she ventured
into the trees again, or told a wolf her destination.
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