Good evening dear ones and welcome to tonight's reading of the Little Red Riding Hood or Little Red Cap as this is the Brothers Grimm version.
So taking a moment now to make yourself comfortable in your bed,
Stretching out your arms above your head and pointing and flexing your feet,
Stretching out your legs and your calf muscles and taking a big yawn,
Signaling to your body that it is time to relax,
Letting your nervous system rest,
Taking some deep breaths in and out,
Arriving in this moment knowing that there's nothing more for you to do today,
That you are allowed to rest now and when you're ready we will begin our story about Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.
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.
Once she gave her a little cap of red velvet which suited her so well that she would never wear anything else.
So she was always called Little Red Cap.
One day her mother said to her,
Come Little Red Cap,
Here is a piece of cake and a bottle of wine,
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 and don't peep into every corner before you do it.
I will take great care,
Said Little Red Cap to her mother and gave her hand on it.
The grandmother lived out in the wood,
Half a league from the village and just as Little Red Cap entered the wood a wolf met her.
Red Cap did not know what a wicked creature he was and was not at all afraid of him.
Good day Little Red Cap,
Said he.
Thank you kindly wolf,
Wither away so early Little Red Cap,
To my grandmothers.
What have you got in your apron?
Cake and wine,
Yesterday was baking day so poor sick grandmother is to have something good to make her stronger.
And where does your grandmother live Little Red Cap?
A good quarter of a league farther on in the wood,
Her house stands under a large oak tree,
The nut trees are just below.
You surely must know it,
Replied Little Red Cap.
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 of them.
So he walked for a short time by the side of Little Red Cap and then he said,
See Little Red Cap how pretty the flowers are about here,
Why do you not look around?
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 out here in the wood is merry.
Little Red Cap raised her eyes and when she saw the sunbeams dancing here and there through the trees and pretty flowers growing everywhere,
She thought,
Suppose I take grandmother a fresh nose game,
That would please her too.
It is so early in the day that I shall still get there in good time.
And so she ran from the path into the wood to look for flowers and whenever she had picked one,
She fancied that she saw a still prettier one farther on and ran after it and so got deeper and deeper into the wood.
Meanwhile,
The wolf ran straight to the grandmother's house and knocked at the door.
Who is there?
Little Red Cap replied the wolf.
She is bringing cake and wine,
Open the door,
Lift the latch,
Called out the grandmother.
I am too weak and cannot get up.
The wolf lifted the latch,
The door flew open and without saying a word,
He went straight to the grandmother's bed and devoured her.
Then he put on her clothes,
Dressed himself in her cap,
Laid himself in bed and drew the curtains.
Little Red Cap,
However,
Had been running about picking flowers.
However,
Had been running about picking flowers and when she had gathered so many that she could carry no more,
She remembered her grandmother and set out on the way to her.
She was surprised to find the cottage door standing open and when she went into the room,
She had such a strange feeling that she said to herself,
Oh dear,
How uneasy I feel today and at other times I like being with grandmother so much.
She called out good morning but received no answer,
So she went to the bed and drew back the curtains.
There lay her grandmother with her cap pulled far over her face and looking very strange.
Oh grandmother,
She said,
What big ears you have,
All the better to hear you with my child,
Was the reply.
But grandmother,
What big eyes you have,
She said,
All the better to see you with my dear.
But grandmother,
What large hands you have,
All the better to hug you with my dear.
Oh but grandmother,
What a terrible big mouth you have,
All the better to eat you with and scarcely had the wolf said this than with one bound he was out of bed and swallowed up red cap.
When the wolf had appeased his appetite,
He lay down again in the bed,
Fell asleep and began to snore very loudly.
The huntsman was just passing the house and thought to himself,
How the old woman is snoring,
I must just see if she wants anything.
So he went into the room and when he came to the bed,
He saw that the wolf was lying in it.
Do I find thee here thou old sinner,
Said he.
I have long sought thee out.
Then just as he was going to fire at him,
It occurred to him that the wolf might have devoured the grandmother and that she might still be saved.
So he did not fire,
But took a pair of scissors and began to cut open the stomach of the sleeping wolf.
When he had made two snips,
He saw the little red cap shining and then he made two snips more and the little girl sprang out crying,
How frightened I have been,
How dark it was inside the wolf.
And after that,
The aged grandmother came out alive also,
But scarcely able to breathe.
Red cap however,
Quickly fetched great stones with which they filled the wolf's body and when he awoke,
He wanted to run away,
But the stones were so heavy that he fell down at once and fell dead.
All three were delighted.
The huntsman drew off the wolf's skin and went home with it and the grandmother ate the cake and drank the wine which red cap had brought.
Red cap thought to herself,
As long as I live,
I will never by myself leave the path to run into the wood where my mother has forbidden me to do so.
It is also related that once when red cap was again taking cakes to the old grandmother,
Another wolf spoke to her and tried to entice her from the path.
Red cap however,
Was on her guard and went straight forward on her way and told her grandmother that she had met the wolf and that he had said good morning,
But that such a wicked look in his eyes that if they had not been on the public road,
She was certain he would have eaten her up.
Well,
Said the grandmother,
We will shut the door that he may not come in.
Soon afterwards,
The wolf nodded and cried,
Open the door grandmother,
I am little red cap and I am fetching you some cakes,
But they did not speak or open the door.
So the grey beard stole twice or thrice around the house and at last jumped on the roof,
Intending to wait until red cap went home in the evening and then to steal after her and devour her in the darkness.
But the grandmother saw what was in his thoughts.
In front of the house was a great stone trough,
So she said to the child,
Take the pail red cap,
I made some sausages yesterday,
So carry the water in which I boiled them to the trough.
Red cap carried until the great trough was quite full.
Then the smell of sausages reached the wolf and he sniffed and peeped down and at last stretched out his neck so far that he could no longer keep his footing and he began to slip and he slipped down from the roof straight into the great trough and was drowned.
But red cap went joyously home and she never did anything to harm anyone.
