Little Red Riding Hood

Little Red Riding Hood

Brothers Grimm · faithful family retelling

There was once a dear little girl whose grandmother gave her a hood of red velvet. She wore it so often that everyone called her Little Red Riding Hood.

One morning her mother gave her a basket with cake and wine. “Take these to Grandmother. Keep to the path, and do not run, or you may fall and break the bottle.”

Grandmother lived half an hour away, deep in the woods. Before long a wolf met the child. She did not know what a wicked creature he was, so she was not afraid.

“Where are you going so early?” he asked. Red Riding Hood told him everything—even where Grandmother lived. The wolf looked at the flowers beneath the trees and said, “How pretty the forest is! Why not gather a bouquet?”

As the child wandered from the path, the wolf ran straight to the cottage. He knocked, imitated the girl’s voice, and told Grandmother he had brought cake and wine. The sick old woman called for him to lift the latch. He sprang inside and swallowed her whole.

Then he put on her nightgown and cap, drew the curtains, and climbed into bed.

When Red Riding Hood arrived, she found the door open. The room felt strange. She went to the bed and drew back the curtain.

“Grandmother, what big ears you have.” “The better to hear you with.”

“What big eyes you have.” “The better to see you with.”

“What big hands you have.” “The better to catch you with.”

“But Grandmother, what a terrible big mouth you have!”

“The better to eat you with!” The wolf leapt from the bed and swallowed her whole. Then he fell asleep and snored so loudly that a huntsman passing outside heard him.

The huntsman entered and saw the wolf. He raised his gun, but then thought Grandmother might still be alive. With scissors he cut open the sleeping wolf’s belly. Out came Red Riding Hood, then Grandmother, both alive.

They filled the wolf’s belly with heavy stones and sewed it shut. When he woke, he tried to flee, but the stones dragged him down and he fell dead. The huntsman took the wolf’s skin, Grandmother ate the cake and drank the wine, and Red Riding Hood thought, “As long as I live, I will never leave the path when Mother has forbidden it.”