Once upon a time there was a dear little girl who was loved by everyone who looked at her, but most of all by her grandmother, and there was nothing that she would not have given to the child. She even gave the little girl a little cap of red velvet, which suited her so well that she would never wear anything else, and so she was always called Little Red Riding Hood.

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One day her mother said to her, "Come, Little Red Riding Hood, here is a piece of cake and a bottle of tea. Take them to your grandmother, she is ill and weak, and they will do her good. Set out before it gets hot, and when you are going, walk nicely and quietly and do not run off the path, or you may fall and break the bottle, and then your grandmother will get nothing. And when you go into her room, don't forget to say,  ‘Good Morning’."

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The grandmother lived out in the wood, half a league from the village, and just as Little Red Riding Hood entered the wood, a wolf met her. Little Red Riding Hood did not know what a wicked creature he was, and was not at all afraid of him.

 

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

 

"Thank you kindly, Mr Wolf."

 

"Where are you going, Little Red Riding Hood?"

 

“I am going to see my grandmother.”

 

"And what have you got in your apron?"

 

"Cake and tea. Yesterday was baking-day, so poor sick grandmother is to have something good, to make her stronger."

 

"Where does your grandmother live, Little Red Riding Hood?"

 

“It is beyond that mill you see there”.

 

The wolf thought to himself, "What a tender young creature. What a nice plump mouthful, she will be better to eat than the old woman. I must act craftily, so as to catch both." So he walked for a short time by the side of Little Red Riding Hood, and then he said, "See Little Red Riding Hood, how pretty the flowers are about here. Why do you not look round. I believe, too, that you do not hear how sweetly the little birds are singing. You walk gravely along as if you were going to school, while everything else out here in the wood is merry."

 

And as little Red Riding Hood looked away to enjoy the merry woods, the wolf slipped down a shortcut and rushed to grandma’s house.

 

He knocked at the door.

 

Tap, tap, tap.

 

“Who’s there?” asked a frail voice from inside.

 

“Your grandchild, Little Red Riding Hood,” replied the wolf, faking her voice.

 

The good grandmother called out, “Pull the string, and the latch will go up.”

 

The wolf pulled the string and the door opened, and then he immediately fell upon the good woman and ate her up in a moment.

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, tap.

 

“Who’s there?”

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“It is your grandchild, Little Red Riding Hood.”

 

The wolf cried out, “Pull the string, and the latch will go up.”

 

Little Red Riding Hood pulled the string, and the door opened.

 

She walked a little way into the small room and only stopped when she saw the strange figure in the bed. She didn’t know that it was the big bad wolf in disguise, but she knew that her grandmother looked a bit different.

 

“Grandmother, what big arms you have!”

 

“All the better to hug you with, my dear.”

 

“Grandmother, what big ears you have!”

 

“All the better to hear you with, my child.”

 

“Grandmother, what big eyes you have!”

 

“All the better to see you with, my child.”

 

“Grandmother, what big teeth you have got!”

 

“All the better to eat you up with.”

 

The wolf leaped at the startled little Red Riding Hood, but he became tangled in the bed sheet. He snarled as he tried to release himself.

 

A passing woodsman heard the noise and came to see what was happening. He hit the entangled wolf with his axe, causing the creature to release grandma and run into the woods yelping, leaving them alone to enjoy the tea and cake in peace.