She was surprised to find the cottage-door standing open, and when she went into the room, she had such a strange feeling that she said to herself:
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"Oh dear! How uneasy I feel today, and at other times I like being with grandmother so much."
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She called out: "Good morning," but received no answer; so she went to the bed and drew back the curtains. There lay her grandmother with her cap pulled far over her face, and looking very strange.
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"Oh! grandmother," she said, "what big ears you have!"
"The better to hear you with, my child," was the reply.
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"But, grandmother, what big eyes you have!" she said.
"The better to see you with, my dear."
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"But, grandmother, what large hands you have!"
"The better to hug you with."
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"Oh! but, grandmother, what a terrible big mouth you have!"
"The better to eat you with!"
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And scarcely had the wolf said this, than with one bound he was out of bed and swallowed up Little Red Riding Hood.*
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When the wolf had appeased his appetite, he lay down again in the bed, fell asleep and began to snore very loud.
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The huntsman was just passing the house, and thought to himself: "How the old woman is snoring! I must just see if she wants anything."
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So he went into the room, and when he came to the bed, he saw that the wolf was lying in it.
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"Do I find you here, you old sinner!"* said he.
"I have long sought you!"
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Then just as he was going to fire at him, it occurred to him that the wolf might have devoured the grandmother, and that she might still be saved, so he did not fire, but took a pair of scissors, and began to cut open the stomach of the sleeping wolf.*
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When he had made two snips, he saw the Little Red Riding Hood shining, and then he made two snips more, and the little girl sprang out, crying:
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"Ah, how frightened I have been! How dark it was inside the wolf's"; and after that the aged grandmother came out alive also, but scarcely able to breathe.
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Little Red Riding Hood, however, quickly fetched great stones with which they filled the wolf's belly, and when he awoke, he wanted to run away, but the stones were so heavy that he collapsed at once, and fell dead.
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Then all three were delighted. The huntsman drew off the wolf's skin and went home with it; the grandmother ate the cake and drank the wine which Little Red Riding Hood had brought, and revived, but Little Red Riding Hood thought to herself:
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"As long as I live, I will never by myself leave the path, to run into the wood, when my mother has forbidden me to do so."
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It was also related that once when Little Red Riding Hood was again taking cakes to the old grandmother, another wolf spoke to her, and tried to entice her from the path.
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Little Red Riding Hood, however, was on her guard, and went straight forward on her way, and told her grandmother that she had met the wolf, and that he had said "good morning" to her, but with such a wicked look in his eyes, that if they had not been on the public road she was certain he would have eaten her up.
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"Well," said the grandmother, "we will shut the door, that he may not come in."
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Soon afterwards the wolf knocked, and cried: "Open the door, grandmother, I am Little Red Riding Hood, and am bringing you some cakes."
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But they did not speak, or open the door, so the grey-beard stole twice or thrice round the house, and at last jumped on the roof, intending to wait until Little Red Riding Hood went home in the evening, and then to steal after her and devour her in the darkness.
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But the grandmother saw what was in his thoughts. In front of the house was a great stone trough, so she said to the child:
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"Take the pail, Little Red Riding Hood; I made some sausages yesterday, so carry the water in which I boiled them to the trough."
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Little Red Riding Hood carried until the great trough was quite full.
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Then the smell of the sausages reached the wolf, and he sniffed and peeped down, and at last stretched out his neck so far that he could no longer keep his footing, began to slip, and slipped down from the roof straight into the great trough, and was drowned.
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But Little Red Riding Hood went joyously home, and no one ever did anything to harm her again.
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