KidLit Forum

Brothers Grimm’s version

There was once a little girl, who was adored by everyone, especially by her grandmother, who gave her a red hood. The girl loved it so much, she wore it all the time, and therefore she was called Little Red Riding Hood. One day, she was sent by her mother to the grandma’s house to give her some cakes and wine. The mother warned her not to stray from the path as she would break the bottle of wine and she would not have anything to give to grandma. The girl promised to do so, but on her way through the woods she met a wolf. After they carry a conversation, the wolf tricks the girl into going to pick flowers for her grandma, but as she does so, the wolf gets to grandma’s place first and instantly eats her. By the time she realizes the wolf tricked her, she rushes to grandma’s place only to find out that the wolf is impersonating her. The wolf eats the little girl and falls asleep. A woodsman passes by and hears the snoring of the wolf. He enters the house and cuts open the wolf’s belly, releasing the girl and her grandma alive. They fill up the wolf’s belly with stones and when he wakes up, not being able to move, he drops dead. The girl then promises to herself (and to us, readers – especially children) to always do as you are told and not do forbidden things.

Charles Perrault’s version

In Charles Perrault’s version, the story goes on pretty much the same, with some exceptions though. In this version, Little Red Riding Hood carries to her grandma some custards and a little pot of butter, whereas in the Grimm’s version, she carries cakes and wine. I don’t really know how some butter, custards or cakes and wine for that matter are supposed to make the grandma feel better if she’s ill, but hey... no questions asked. After she meets the wolf in the woods, they kind of make it a competition of who can arrive to grandma’s place first. The wolf arrives first at grandma’s place though and he eats her. Another element of novelty, which is omitted in Grimm’s version, is the fact that the wolf actually invites Little Red Riding Hood into his bed. The girl, obedient this time (but not obedient to when her mother warned her not to stray from the path), takes off her clothes and gets into the bed with the supposed “grandma”. The story ends with the little girl getting eaten by the wolf.

OK, you gave two good summaries and...? If you expected your colleagues to comment and reveal the difference, I guess you should have made this invitation clear.