Children Stories - The Wolf And The Seven Little Goats

Very few cases have arisen in this country in which the genuineness of handwriting was the chief contention, and in which such momentous interests were at stake, as in the case of the forged "Morey-Garfield Letter." It was such as to arouse ... Read more of A FAMOUS FORGERY at Handwriting Analysis.ca

Informational

Privacy

Featured Stories

The Little Robber Girl
The Boy Who Cried Wolf

The Wolf And The Seven Little Goats

from Stories To Read Or Tell From Fairy Tales And Folklore

There was once an old goat who had seven little ones, and was as fond of
them as ever mother was of her children. One day she had to go into the
wood to fetch food for them, so she called them all round her.

"Dear children," said she, "I am going out into the wood; and while I am
gone, be on your guard against the wolf, for if he were once to get inside
he would eat you up, skin, bones, and all. The wretch often disguises
himself, but he may always be known by his hoarse voice and black paws."

"Dear mother," answered the kids, "you need not be afraid, we will take
good care of ourselves." And the mother bleated good-bye, and went on her
way with an easy mind.

It was not long before some one came knocking at the house-door, and crying
out, "Open the door, my dear children, your mother is come back, and has
brought each of you something."

But the little kids knew it was the wolf by the hoarse voice.

"We will not open the door," cried they; "you are not our mother, she has a
delicate and sweet voice, and your voice is hoarse; you must be the wolf."

Then off went the wolf to a shop and bought a big lump of chalk, and ate it
up to make his voice soft. And then he came back, knocked at the
house-door, and cried, "Open the door, my dear children, your mother is
here, and has brought each of you something."

But the wolf had put up his black paws against the window, and the kids
seeing this, cried out, "We will not open the door; our mother has no black
paws like you; you must be the wolf."

The wolf then ran to a baker.

"Baker," said he, "I am hurt in the foot; pray spread some dough over the
place."

And when the baker had plastered his feet, he ran to the miller.

"Miller," said he, "strew me some white meal over my paws." But the miller
refused, thinking the wolf must be meaning harm to some one.

"If you don't do it," cried the wolf, "I'll eat you up!"

And the miller was afraid and did as he was told. And that just shows what
men are.

And now came the rogue the third time to the door and knocked. "Open,
children!" cried he. "Your dear mother has come home, and brought you each
something from the wood."

"First show us your paws," said the kids, "so that we may know if you are
really our mother or not."

And he put up his paws against the window, and when they saw that they were
white, all seemed right, and they opened the door; and when he was inside
they saw it was the wolf, and they were terrified and tried to hide
themselves. One ran under the table, the second got into the bed, the third
into the oven, the fourth in the kitchen, the fifth in the cupboard, the
sixth under the sink, and the seventh in the clock-case. But the wolf found
them all, and gave them short shrift; one after the other he swallowed
down, all but the youngest, who was hid in the clock-case. And so the wolf,
having got what he wanted, strolled forth into the green meadows, and
laying himself down under a tree, he fell asleep.

Not long after, the mother goat came back from the wood; and oh! what a
sight met her eyes! the door was standing wide open, table, chairs, and
stools, all thrown about, dishes broken, quilt and pillows torn off the
bed. She sought her children, they were nowhere to be found. She called to
each of them by name, but nobody answered, until she came to the name of
the youngest.

"Here I am, mother," a little voice cried, "here, in the clock-case."

And so she helped him out, and heard how the wolf had come, and eaten all
the rest. And you may think how she cried for the loss of her dear
children. At last in her grief she wandered out of doors, and the
youngest kid with her; and when they came into the meadow, there they saw
the wolf lying under a tree, snoring so that the branches shook. The mother
goat looked at him carefully on all sides and she noticed how something
inside his body was moving and struggling.

"Dear me!" thought she, "can it be that my poor children that he devoured
for his evening meal are still alive?" And she sent the little kid back to
the house for a pair of shears, and needle, and thread. Then she cut the
wolf's body open, and no sooner had she made one snip than out came the
head of one of the kids, and then another snip, and then one after the
other of the six little kids all jumped out alive and well, for in his
greediness the rogue had swallowed them down whole. How delightful this
was! so they comforted their dear mother and hopped about like tailors at a
wedding.

"Now fetch some good hard stones," said the mother, "and we will fill his
body with them, as he lies asleep."

And so they fetched some in all haste, and put them inside him, and the
mother sewed him up so quickly again that he was none the wiser.

When the wolf at last awoke, and got up, the stones inside him made him
feel very thirsty, and as he was going to the brook to drink, they struck
and rattled one against another. And so he cried out:

"What is this I feel inside me
Knocking hard against my bones?
How should such a thing betide me!
They were kids, and now they're stones."

So he came to the brook, and stooped to drink, but the heavy stones weighed
him down, so he fell over into the water and was drowned. And when the
seven little kids saw it they came up running.

"The wolf is dead, the wolf is dead!" they cried, and taking hands, they
danced with their mother all about the place.

Next: The Tale Of The Snow And The Steeple
Previous: The Old Hag's Long Leather Bag

Report
Privacy

SHARE

BOOKMARK

Viewed: 631

Featured Stories

Categories

The Wolf And The Seven Little Goats