Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf

Brother Grimm

Once upon a time there was a little girl whom everyone liked very much, but most of all her grandmother. She could give this child anything. Once she gave her a little red bonnet, which suited her so well that she never wanted to wear anything else. She was therefore called Red Riding Hood.

One day her mother said to her “Come Little Red Riding Hood, here is a piece of the freshly baked cake and a bottle of wine. Take them to your grandmother, she is a little sick and it would do her good. Go before it gets too hot. Walk carefully and don't leave the road or you could fall and break the bottle. When you enter her room, don't forget to say good morning before running around every corner.”

"I'll be careful," said Little Red Riding Hood to her mother and set off.

Grandma lived out in the forest far from the village where Red Riding Hood lived. Just as Little Red Riding Hood entered the forest, a wolf met her. Little Red Riding Hood did not know what kind of strange figure it was and was not at all afraid of him.

"Good day, little Red Riding Hood, how are you my little friend," he said.

"Thank you, I'm fine," replied Little Red Riding Hood.

"Where are you going so early?"

"To my grandmother."

"What do you have in the basket?" asked the wolf.

"Cake and wine. Yesterday was baking day and my poor sick grandmother will get something good so she gets better."

"Where does your grandmother live?", asked the wolf.

"She lives a good way into the forest. Her house stands under three large oak trees. You probably know that," replied Little Red Riding Hood.

"What a tender little creature," thought the wolf. "What a nice, full mouth piece she will be. She will be much better than the old woman. I have to be cunning so I can catch both of them.” So the wolf walked for a while by Little Red Riding Hood's side and then said: “Look how beautiful flowers grow around here. Shouldn't you take a look around, listen to the birds and pick a bouquet of flowers for your grandmother?

Little Red Riding Hood looked around and when she saw the sun's rays dancing among the treetops and beautiful flowers growing everywhere, she thought: "Maybe I should pick a bouquet for grandma." That would surely make her happy. It's so early in the day, so I'll get to her in plenty of time." So she left the road and ran into the forest to pick flowers. Once she picked a flower, she thought she saw an even more beautiful flower further into the forest. In this way she got further and further into the forest.

Meanwhile, the wolf ran straight to the grandmother's house and knocked on the door.

"Who's there?" cried the grandmother.

"It's Little Red Riding Hood," answered the wolf. "I'm here with cake and wine."

"Lift the latch and you can open the door," cried the grandmother, "I'm too weak to stand up."

The wolf lifted the catch and the door opened. Without saying a word, he went straight to the grandmother's bed and devoured her. Then he put on her clothes, put on her nightcap, got into bed and pulled the bed curtains.

Meanwhile, Little Red Riding Hood had been running around the forest picking flowers. When she had picked so many that she could carry no more, she suddenly remembered her grandmother and hurried off to her.

She was surprised to see that the front door was open and as she entered the cabin, she had a strange feeling that everything was not as it should be.

She shouted: "Good morning", but got no answer. She then walked over to the bed and pulled back the drapes. There she saw her grandmother with her night cap pulled down over her face and she looked very strange.

"Grandmother!" she said, "What strange ears you have!"

"The better I hear you, my child," was the reply.

"But grandma, what big eyes you have," she said.

"The better I see you, my friend".

"But Grandma, what big hands you have!"

"The better I can hug you."

"But such an awfully big mouth you have!"

"The easier it is to eat you."

When the wolf had said this, he was quickly out of bed and swallowed little Red Riding Hood in one gulp.

Now the wolf had satisfied its hunger and lay down on the bed again. Soon he fell asleep and started snoring loudly. A hunter then passed by the house and thought to himself: "That old woman was snoring very loudly. Best to see if she wants anything”.

So he went into the cabin and when he got to the bed he saw that it was the wolf lying in it. "What are you doing here, you old sinner," he said. "I've been looking for you for a long time!"

Just as he was about to shoot him, it hit him that the wolf might have devoured the old woman, but that she might still be able to be saved. He then lowered the rifle, retrieved a pair of scissors and began to cut open the belly of the sleeping wolf.

When he made a couple of clips, he saw Little Red Riding Hood and after a few more clips, the girl ran out and cried: "Oh, how scared I was and how dark it was inside the wolf".

After a while, the old grandmother also came out alive, but so terrified that she could hardly breathe. Little Red Riding Hood ran out and fetched large stones, which they filled the wolf's stomach with. When he then awoke, he wanted to run away, but the stones were so heavy that he could not bear it and fell down dead.

All three were now at peace. The hunter took the skin from the wolf and went home with it. The grandmother ate the cake and drank the wine that Little Red Riding Hood had brought with her. Little Red Riding Hood thought to herself: "As long as I live, I shall never leave the road and run alone into the forest, when mother forbade me to do so."

It has also been told that once when Little Red Riding Hood was once again going to bring cookies to her old grandmother, another wolf came up to her and tried to get her to leave the road. However, Little Red Riding Hood was on her guard and continued straight to her grandmother. When she arrived, she told her grandmother that she met a wolf that greeted her. It had looked at her with such a strange look, so she was sure that if she hadn't been on a public road, it would have surely eaten her.
"Oh then," said the grandmother, "we'd better close the door so he can't get in."

Soon after, the wolf knocked on the door and shouted: "Open the door grandma, it's Little Red Riding Hood and I've brought you some cookies".

But they kept quiet and did not open the door. The wolf circled the house a couple of three laps and then jumped onto the roof to wait for Little Red Riding Hood to return home for the evening. Then he would sneak up on her under cover of darkness to catch and eat her.

However, the grandmother understood what the wolf intended to do. In front of the house stood a large stone pot, so she said: "Get the bucket, little Red Riding Hood. I made some sausages yesterday. Carry the water I boiled them in to the pot”. Little Red Riding Hood filled the pot with water until it was completely full.

When the wolf smelled sausage from the pot, he sniffed and crept down to the edge of the roof. He stretched his neck so far that he lost his footing, slipped off the roof and fell straight into the pot and drowned.

But Little Red Riding Hood went home in a cheerful mood and no one ever tried to hurt her again.