"My, what big ears you have, grandma."

"The better to hear you with, my dear."

There are a few versions of this tale, but the original is usually attributed to the Brothers Grimm. One version has the wolf eating the grandmother (whole)after getting into the house (pretending to be Little Red Riding hood). He then waits disguised as grandma, and eats Little Red (whole)after she arrives. A hunter in the forest hears the commotion, runs in, kills the wolf and cuts open its stomach saving grandma and Little Red. Then they fill his stomach full of stones which kills him. (Over kill?) I'd think just cutting him open would have done the job, but I guess they wanted to make sure he got his just deserts. (Arf! Arf!)

Another version has Red saved by the hunter before getting eaten.

The tale makes the assertion that it's safer in the village than in the dark forest, or "don't wander off, see what happens."

Acrylic on stretched canvas 16"x20" SOLD Copyright Bill Reed 2007

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