第 七 章 · The Wolf and the Seven Kids

The Wolf and the Seven Kids

There was once an old Nanny-goat who had seven Kids, and she was just

as fond of them as a mother of her children. One day she was going

into the woods to fetch some food for them, so she called them all up

to her, and said--

'My dear children, I am going out into the woods. Beware of the Wolf!

If once he gets into the house, he will eat you up, skin, and hair,

and all. The rascal often disguises himself, but you will know him by

his rough voice and his black feet.'

The Kids said, 'Oh, we will be very careful, dear mother. You may be

quite happy about us.'

Bleating tenderly, the old Goat went off to her work. Before long,

some one knocked at the door, and cried--

'Open the door, dear children! Your mother has come back and brought

something for each of you.'

But the Kids knew quite well by the voice that it was the Wolf.

'We won't open the door,' they cried. 'You are not our mother. She has

a soft gentle voice; but yours is rough, and we are quite sure that

you are the Wolf.'

So he went away to a shop and bought a lump of chalk, which he ate,

and it made his voice quite soft. He went back, knocked at the door

again, and cried--

'Open the door, dear children. Your mother has come back and brought

something for each of you.'

But the Wolf had put one of his paws on the window sill, where the

Kids saw it, and cried--

'We won't open the door. Our mother has not got a black foot as you

have; you are the Wolf.'

Then the Wolf ran to a Baker, and said, 'I have bruised my foot;

please put some dough on it.' And when the Baker had put some dough on

his foot, he ran to the Miller and said, 'Strew some flour on my

foot.'

The Miller thought, 'The old Wolf is going to take somebody in,' and

refused.

But the Wolf said, 'If you don't do it, I will eat you up.'

So the Miller was frightened, and whitened his paws. People are like

that, you know.

Now the wretch went for the third time to the door, and knocked, and

said--

'Open the door, children. Your dear mother has come home, and has

brought something for each of you out of the wood.'

The Kids cried, 'Show us your feet first, that we may be sure you are

our mother.'

He put his paws on the window sill, and when they saw that they were

white, they believed all he said, and opened the door.

Alas! It was the Wolf who walked in. They were terrified, and tried to

hide themselves. One ran under the table, the second jumped into bed,

the third into the oven, the fourth ran into the kitchen, the fifth

got into the cupboard, the sixth into the wash-tub, and the seventh

hid in the tall clock-case. But the Wolf found them all but one, and

made short work of them. He swallowed one after the other, except the

youngest one in the clock-case, whom he did not find. When he had

satisfied his appetite, he took himself off, and lay down in a meadow

outside, where he soon fell asleep.

Not long after the old Nanny-goat came back from the woods. Oh! what a

terrible sight met her eyes! The house door was wide open, table,

chairs, and benches were overturned, the washing bowl was smashed to

atoms, the covers and pillows torn from the bed. She searched all over

the house for her children, but nowhere were they to be found. She

called them by name, one by one, but no one answered. At last, when

she came to the youngest, a tiny voice cried:

'I am here, dear mother, hidden in the clock-case.'

She brought him out, and he told her that the Wolf had come and

devoured all the others.

You may imagine how she wept over her children.

At last, in her grief, she went out, and the youngest Kid ran by her

side. When they went into the meadow, there lay the Wolf under a tree,

making the branches shake with his snores. They examined him from

every side, and they could plainly see movements within his distended

body.

'Ah, heavens!' thought the Goat, 'is it possible that my poor children

whom he ate for his supper, should be still alive?'

She sent the Kid running to the house to fetch scissors, needles, and

thread. Then she cut a hole in the monster's side, and, hardly had she

begun, when a Kid popped out its head, and as soon as the hole was big

enough, all six jumped out, one after the other, all alive, and

without having suffered the least injury, for, in his greed, the

monster had swallowed them whole. You may imagine the mother's joy.

She hugged them, and skipped about like a tailor on his wedding day.

At last she said:

'Go and fetch some big stones, children, and we will fill up the

brute's body while he is asleep.'

Then the seven Kids brought a lot of stones, as fast as they could

carry them, and stuffed the Wolf with them till he could hold no more.

The old mother quickly sewed him up, without his having noticed

anything, or even moved.

At last, when the Wolf had had his sleep out, he got up, and, as the

stones made him feel very thirsty, he wanted to go to a spring to

drink. But as soon as he moved the stones began to roll about and

rattle inside him. Then he cried--

'What's the rumbling and tumbling

That sets my stomach grumbling?

I thought 'twas six Kids, flesh and bones,

Now find it's nought but rolling stones.'

[Illustration: {The Seven Kids and their mother capered and danced

round the spring in their joy.}]

When he reached the spring, and stooped over the water to drink, the

heavy stones dragged him down, and he was drowned miserably.

When the seven Kids saw what had happened, they came running up, and

cried aloud--'The Wolf is dead, the Wolf is dead!' and they and their

mother capered and danced round the spring in their joy.