35　LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD
小红帽

I

In a pleasant place there once lived a little girl. She was as pretty and sweet as a rose.

Her mother loved her very much. Her grandmother said the little one was the joy of her heart.

Her grandmother made her a little red hood. It was so pretty that the little girl would wear no other head dress. So she was called Little Red Riding Hood.

One day her mother baked a cake and made some fresh butter.

“Come, Little Red Riding Hood,” she said. “Take this cake and butter to your grandmother. Be sure not to stop on the way.”

Little Red Riding Hood was a good child. She liked to be of use to her mother and her dear old grandmother. She put the butter and cake in a basket. Then she started to her grandmother’s cottage on the other side of the wood.

II

As she came to the wood, Little Red Riding Hood met a wolf.

“Good morning, Little Red Riding Hood,” he said.

He was a bad, cruel wolf and he would have liked to eat the little girl then and there. But some men were cutting wood nearby, and he thought they might kill him in turn.

“Good morning, Mr. Wolf,” said Little Red Riding Hood. She did not know how bad he was and was not afraid of him. She did not remember that she was not to stop on the way.

“Where are you going so early this bright morning?” asked the wolf.

“I am going to my grandmother’s,” said Little Red Riding Hood, “to take her some cake and butter.”

“And where does your grandmother live?” asked the wolf.

“Down by the mill on the other side of the wood,” said the little girl. “Her cottage is under the three big oak trees.”

“I think I will go to see her, too,” said the wolf. “I’ll go this way and you go that, and we’ll see which of us will get there first.”

III

The wolf knew well that he had taken the best way.

He ran through the woods and in a little while came to the grandmother’s cottage.

He knocked at the door with his paw. No one came.

He knocked again. All was still in the cottage. Then he put up his paw and opened the door.

There was no one in the cottage. The grandmother had gone out early in the morning. She had left her cap and nightgown on the bed.

“Good,” said the wolf. “I know what I’ll do.”

He shut the door and put on the grandmother’s cap and night gown and got into the bed.

He laughed to himself as he thought what a trick he would play.

IV

All this time Little Red Riding Hood was on her way through the wood.

She stopped to listen to the sweet music of the birds; she picked some strawberries for her grandmother, and some flowers that grew by the way. A wasp buzzed about her head and lighted on her flowers.

“Eat as much as you like,” she said, “but do not hurt me.” He buzzed and buzzed and soon flew away.

Then a little bird came and ate some of her strawberries.

“Take all you want, pretty bird,” said Little Red Riding Hood. “There will still be left all that grandmother and I shall want.” “Peep, peep!” sang the bird as he flew away.

Then she came upon an old woman who was looking for water cresses.

“Let me fill your basket,” Little Red Riding Hood said.

The old woman said, “Thank you, my dear. If you see the Green Huntsman on your way, tell him from me that there is game in the wind.”

V

Little Red Riding Hood looked all about for the Green Huntsman. She had never seen him nor even heard of him before.

At last she came to a pond of water so green that you would have taken it for grass.

She had gone that way many times, but she had never seen the pond before. There stood a huntsman dressed in green. He was looking at some birds flying over his head.

“Good morning, Mr. Huntsman,” said Little Red Riding Hood. “The water cress woman asked me to tell you from her that there is game in the wind.”

The huntsman put his ear to the ground and listened a while. Then he put the string on his bow and took out an arrow.

VI

At last Little Red Riding Hood came to her grandmother’s cottage and knocked at the door.

“Who is there?” cried the wolf.

He tried to speak like the grandmother, but his hoarse voice made Little Red Riding Hood start. She said to herself, “Poor grandmother must have a bad cold.”

“It is I, Little Red Riding Hood,” she said. “I have come to see you and to bring you some cake and butter.”

“Pull the string and the latch will fly up and the door will come open,” said the wolf.

Little Red Riding Hood did as she was told, and went into the cottage.

“Put down the cake and butter, my dear,” said the wolf; “then come and sit down beside me.”

VII

Little Red Riding Hood put down her basket and went to the bedside.

“Why, grandmother,” she said, “how hoarse you are! ”

“Only a cold, my dear, only a cold,” said the wolf.

“And, grandmother, what long ears you have!”

“The better to hear you, my dear.”

“But, grandmother, what great eyes you have!”

“The better to see you, my dear.”

“But, grandmother, what long arms you have!”

“The better to hug you, my dear.”

“But, grandmother, what big teeth you have!”

“The better to eat you up!” said the wolf.

He was just going to spring upon poor Little Red Riding Hood, when a wasp flew into the room and stung him.

The wolf gave a cry, and a little bird outside said, “Peep, peep!”

This told the Green Huntsman it was time to let his arrow fly, and the wolf was killed then and there.

一

一位小姑娘生活在一个美丽的地方。她长得像玫瑰花那么甜美。

妈妈很爱她，外婆说小姑娘是妈妈的心头宝。

外婆给她做了顶非常漂亮的小红帽，小姑娘喜欢得不得了，除了它别的帽子都不愿意戴。所以人们常称她小红帽。

一天，妈妈烤了个蛋糕，准备了些黄油。

“过来，小红帽，”她说，“把蛋糕和黄油送到外婆那里去。千万别在路上玩啊。”

小红帽是个听话的孩子，喜欢给妈妈和亲爱的老外婆做些力所能及的事情。她把黄油和蛋糕放进篮子里，然后就出发前往树林另一边的外婆家去了。

二

走进树林后，小红帽遇到了一只狼。

“早上好，小红帽。”他说。

他是只非常凶狠残暴的狼，当时就想把小姑娘吃了。可附近有人在伐木，他担心自己反而会被工人们杀掉。

“早上好，狼先生。”小红帽回答。她不知道狼有多坏，所以一点也不害怕。不过她忘了自己不应该在路上耽搁的。

“这么好的天气，你一大清早去哪里呀？”狼问。

“去外婆家，”小红帽回答，“我给她带了些蛋糕和黄油。”

“你外婆住在哪里呀？”狼又问。

“在树林另一边，在磨坊下面。”小姑娘说，“她的小屋就在三棵大橡树旁。”

“我也想去看看她，”狼说，“我会走这边，你走那边吧，我们看看谁先到。”

三

当然，狼挑选的是一条更近的路。

他一溜烟穿过森林，很快就来到了外婆的小屋前。

他用爪子敲敲门，没人答应。

他又敲了敲，小屋里还是一片寂静，于是他举起爪子推开了门。

原来屋子里没有人，外婆一大早就出去了。她把睡衣睡帽都留在了床上。

“太棒了，”狼说，“我知道该怎么做了。”

他关上门，戴上外婆的睡帽，穿上睡衣，然后在床上躺了下来。

想着自己的诡计，他得意地笑了。

四

而这时小红帽还在树林里呢。

她时不时停下来听听小鸟动人的歌声，或者给外婆采摘路边生长的草莓和野花什么的。

一只黄蜂在她头上飞来飞去，最后落在她手中的野花上。

“请随便吃吧，”她说，“但是请别伤害我。”黄蜂嗡嗡地飞了几圈，很快就走了。

接着又来了一只小鸟，吃了她几颗草莓。

“请随便吃吧，可爱的小鸟。”小红帽说，“剩下的够我和外婆吃了。”小鸟叽叽喳喳地唱着歌飞走了。

后来她又遇到一位采水芹菜的老奶奶。

“我来帮你。”小红帽说。

老奶奶说：“谢谢你，亲爱的。如果你在路上遇到猎人格林，请帮我告诉他，风里有猎物的味道。”

五

小红帽到处找猎人格林，可她以前从没听说过他，也没见过他。

最后她来到一个池塘边，池塘里的水像草儿一样碧绿。

她在那个陌生的小池塘旁绕了好几圈，突然看到不远处站着一名穿绿衣服的猎人，正盯着头顶上飞来飞去的鸟儿。

“早上好，猎人先生。”小红帽说，“采水芹的老奶奶让我告诉你，风里有猎物的味道。”

猎人把耳朵贴在地上听了一会，然后给弓上好弦，拔出了一支箭。

六

小红帽终于来到外婆的小屋前，她敲了敲门。

“是谁呀？”狼大声说。

他试着模仿外婆的声音，但那沙哑的嗓门还是把小红帽吓了一跳。她对自己说：“可怜的外婆一定是得了重感冒。”

然后她回答：“是我，小红帽。我来看您，还给您带来了蛋糕和黄油。”

“拉拉绳子，门闩就会自己松开了。”狼说。

于是小红帽照做了，门打开后她走进了小屋。

“把蛋糕和黄油放下吧，亲爱的。”狼说，“过来，坐到我身边来。”

七

小红帽放下篮子，走到了床边。

“哎呀外婆，”她说，“你的声音可真沙哑啊！”

“我感冒了，亲爱的，只是感冒而已。”狼说。

“外婆，你的耳朵怎么那么长！”

“这样才能听得更清楚啊，亲爱的。”

“外婆，你的眼睛怎么那么大！”

“这样才能看得更清楚啊，亲爱的。”

“外婆，你的胳膊怎么那么长！”

“这样才能好好拥抱你啊，亲爱的。”

“可是外婆，你的牙怎么那么大！”

“这样才能把你吃掉！”狼说。

他正要扑向小红帽，突然一只黄蜂飞进屋子蛰了他一下。

狼疼得大叫，只听一只小鸟在外面大喊：“叽叽！叽叽！”

猎人格林知道狩猎的时候到了，狼当场就被箭射死在床上。