The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids

Once upon a time, there was an old goat who had seven little kids. She loved them just as a mother loves her children. One day, she wanted to go into the forest to find some food.

So she called all seven to her and said, “Dear children, I have to go into the forest. Be careful of the wolf—if he comes in, he will eat you all, skin and hair and everything.

That villain often disguises himself, but you will know him right away by his rough voice and his black feet.” The kids said, “Dear mother, we will be careful. You can go without worrying.” Then the old goat bleated and went on her way, feeling at ease.

It wasn’t long before someone knocked at the house door and called, “Open the door, dear children; your mother is here, and has brought something back for each of you.” But the little kids knew it was the wolf by his rough voice. “We won’t open the door,” they cried.

“You are not our mother. She has a soft, gentle voice, but your voice is rough—you are the wolf!” Then the wolf went to a shopkeeper and bought a big lump of chalk. He ate it and made his voice soft.

Then he came back, knocked at the door, and called, “Open the door, dear children, your mother is here and has brought something back for each of you.” But the wolf had put his black paws against the window. The children saw them and cried, “We will not open the door.

Our mother does not have black feet like you. You are the wolf!” Then the wolf ran to a baker and said, “I have hurt my feet—rub some dough over them for me.” When the baker had rubbed his feet, he ran to the miller and said, “Sprinkle some white flour over my feet for me.” The miller thought, “The wolf is trying to trick someone,” and refused.

But the wolf said, “If you don’t do it, I will eat you.” Then the miller was afraid and made his paws white. Truly, people are like that.

So now the wretch went to the house door for the third time. He knocked and said, “Open the door for me, children. Your dear little mother has come home and has brought something from the forest for each of you.” The little kids cried, “First show us your paws so we can see if you are our dear little mother.” Then he put his paws through the window.

When the kids saw they were white, they believed everything he said and opened the door. But who came in? The wolf! They were terrified and tried to hide. One jumped under the table, the second into the bed, the third into the stove, the fourth into the kitchen, the fifth into the cupboard, the sixth under the washbasin, and the seventh into the clock case.

But the wolf found them all and didn’t waste any time—one after another he swallowed them down his throat. The youngest, who was in the clock case, was the only one he did not find.

When the wolf had satisfied his appetite, he left, lay down under a tree in the green meadow, and began to sleep.

Soon after, the old goat came home from the forest. Ah! What a sight she saw! The house door stood wide open. The table, chairs, and benches were knocked over. The washbasin lay broken in pieces. The quilts and pillows were pulled off the bed.

She looked for her children, but they were nowhere to be found. She called them one by one by name, but no one answered. At last, when she came to the youngest, a soft voice cried, “Dear mother, I am in the clock case.” She took the kid out, and it told her that the wolf had come and eaten all the others.

You can imagine how she wept over her poor children.

At last, in her grief, she went outside, and the youngest kid ran with her. When they came to the meadow, there lay the wolf by the tree, snoring so loudly that the branches shook. She looked at him carefully and saw that something was moving and struggling in his full belly.

“Oh, heavens,” she said, “is it possible that my poor children, whom he has swallowed for his supper, are still alive?” Then the kid had to run home and fetch scissors, a needle, and thread. The goat cut open the monster’s stomach.

As soon as she made one cut, one little kid stuck its head out. When she cut further, all six jumped out one after another. They were all still alive and had not been hurt at all, because in his greed the monster had swallowed them whole. What joy!

They hugged their dear mother and jumped like a sailor at his wedding. But the mother said, “Now go find some big stones. We will fill the wicked beast’s stomach with them while he is still asleep.” Then the seven kids dragged the stones as fast as they could and put as many as they could into his stomach.

The mother sewed him up quickly, so he didn’t notice anything and never stirred.

When the wolf finally woke up, he got on his legs. The stones in his stomach made him very thirsty, so he wanted to go to a well to drink. But when he began to walk, the stones in his stomach knocked against each other and rattled. Then he cried out:

“What rumbles and tumbles Against my poor bones? I thought it was six kids, But it’s nothing but big stones.”

When he got to the well and leaned over the water to drink, the heavy stones made him fall in. There was no help—he had to drown miserably. When the seven kids saw that, they came running and shouted, “The wolf is dead! The wolf is dead!” And they danced for joy around the well with their mother.