Chapter 22
Chapter 22 of Grimm's Fairy Tales, retold in one-syllable words. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Grimm's Fairy Tales, retold in one-syllable words, by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Little Red Cap Once on a time, there was on a farm, close to a small town,
a girl who was as sweet a child as there is in the whole world. Her mother, of course, had a great deal of love for her, and her grandmother was still more fond of her. The good dame made for her, one day, a bright red hood. It was just the right size for her, and it made her look so sweet that they gave her the name of Little Redcap. One day, when her mother had made some cheesecakes, she said to her,
Go, my child, and see how your grandmother does, for I hear she is ill. Take her some of these cakes and a pat of butter. Little Redcap, with a small basket on her arm, in which were the cakes her mother had made, and the pad of butter, set out straight for her grandmother's house, which was in a small town not far from where little Redcap's mother had her home. As she went through a wood, which lay in
her road, she met a large wolf, which had a great mind to eat her up, but did not dare to for fear of some men, who were at work at a tree, which they had to cut down in the wood, not far from where little Redcap and the wolf were. The wolf spoke to her and told her he would like to know where she meant to go with her basket. The child, who did not know that it was not wise to stop and speak to a wolf, and said, I am on my way to see my grandmother. My mother gave me these cakes and
this pad of butter to take to her, for we have heard that she is ill. Does she live a great way off? said the wolf. Oh yes, said little redcap. The mill that you see there hides her house from us. It is the first house in the town. Well, said the wolf, we will have a race. I will take this way and you may take that. We will see which will be there first. The wolf set out at full speed and ran as fast as he could all the way. The way he took was not much more than half as long as the
way little Redcap took, and as she went on, from time to time she knelt down on the ground to pick up nuts. Then she would run to try and catch the young hares that ran near her, and she made a gay bunch of wild pinks. The wolf got first to the house of the grandmother and gave a loud knock at the door. Who is there? said a voice in the house. It is little Redcap, said the wolf, and he tried to make his great gruff voice sound like the sweet voice of the child.
I have brought you a small pat of butter and some nice cheesecakes that mother has just made, for she heard that you were ill. The good old dame, who was ill in bed, cried out, Pull the string and the latch will fly up. The wolf gave a hard pull at the string, and up went the latch.
He went in and up to the poor old grandmother's room, sprang on the bed and ate her up in a trice, for it was three days since he had had a meal. The wolf put on the good old dame's nightcap and dress, shut the door of the room and then lay down in the bed to wait for little Redcap. He had not been long in bed when she came to the house.
Tap, tap. Who is there? cried he. At first she was full of fear when she heard the gruff voice of the wolf, but she thought it might be that her grandmother had a cold, so she said, It is I, it is little Redcap.
Mother has sent you some cheesecakes and a small pad of butter. The wolf made his voice as soft as he could, and he cried out, Pull the string and the latch will fly up. Little Redcap gave a pull to the string and up went the latch. When she came upstairs to her grandmother's room, the wolf kept quite hid in the bed.
Then he tried to speak as if he were ill and quite weak, and said, Put the basket on the stool, my dear, and take off your clothes and come to me in the bed. Little Redcap, who at all times did just as she was bid, at once took off her clothes and went to bed. But when she came to see the wolf nearby, she thought her grandmother did not look like herself at all. Dear me, Grandmother, she said, what great big arms you have got.
The better to hug you, my child, said the wolf. But, Grandmother, said Redcap, what great big ears you have got. The better to hear you, my child, said the wolf. But then, Grandmother, what great big eyes you have got, said Redcap. The better to see you, my child, said the wolf.
And, oh, Grandmother, what great big teeth you've got, said the poor child, who by this time was full of fear. The better to eat you up, said the wolf with a fierce growl And with one leap he sprang out of the bed, seized little redcap And was about to eat her up, when a shot was heard, and the wolf fell dead
A hunter who had come that way heard the voices in the house And looked through the window in time to see the danger the child was in In a trice he had aimed and fired his gun, and thus little redcap's life was saved End of chapter 22
