THE WOLF AGAINST SEVEN GOAT'S YOUNG OFFSPRING

Once upon a time, there was an old goat who had seven young offspring and loved them as much as a mother would her children.

One day, she decided to walk into the jungle and get some food. So she summoned all seven to her and said:

'Dear children, I must go into the forest; be on guard against the wolf; if he enters, he will consume you all—skin, hair, and everything. The wretch frequently disguises himself, yet you will recognize him immediately by his gruff voice and black feet.

The children said, "Dear mother, we will take good care of ourselves; you may leave without any worries." Then the old one bleated and proceeded on her way, her mind at ease.

it was not long until someone knocked on the house door and said:

'Open the door, lovely children; your mother has returned with something for everyone of you.'

However, the harsh voice made the tiny kids realize it was the wolf.

'We will not open the door,' they wailed. 'You are not our mother. She has a gentle, beautiful voice, whereas your voice is gruff; you are the wolf!

The wolf then went to a shopkeeper and bought a large piece of chalk, which he ate and used to soften his voice. Then he returned, knocked on the door of the residence, and called:

'Open the door, darling children; your mother has arrived and brought something back for everyone of you.

But the wolf had pressed his black paws against the window, and the kids saw them and cried.

'We will not open the door because our mother does not have black feet like you; you are the wolf!'

Then the wolf went to a baker and said:

'I've wounded my feet; rub some dough on them for me.

After rubbing his feet, the baker hurried to the miller and said:

"Spread some white meal over my feet for me."

The miller thought to himself, 'The wolf wants to fool someone,' and refused; but the wolf said 'If you don't do it, I'll consume you.'

The miller became terrified and made his paws white for him. This is truly the way of mankind.

So, for the third time, the wretch walked to the house door, knocked, and said:

'Open the door for me, children; your beautiful little mother has returned home and brought something for each of you from the forest.'

The small children cried:

'First, show us your paws so we can determine if you are our darling little mother.'

Then he pushed his paws through the window, and when the youngsters realized they were white, they accepted everything he said and opened the door. But who should enter but the wolf!

They were afraid and wished to conceal themselves. One jumped under the table, the second under the bed, the third into the stove, the fourth into the kitchen, the fifth into the cabinet, the sixth beneath the washing-bowl, and the seventh into the clock-case. But the wolf located them all and gobbled them down his mouth one by one, with no ceremony. The youngest, who was in the clockcase, was the only one he couldn't find.

When the wolf had finished his meal, he got up, lay down under a tree in the lush meadow outside, and went to sleep. Soon afterwards, the elderly goat returned home from the wild.

Ah, what a sight she beheld! The house door hung wide open. The table, chairs, and benches were thrown down, the washing basin was shattered, and the quilts and pillows were removed from the bed. She searched for her children, but they were nowhere to be seen. She addressed them individually, but no one responded. Finally, when she got to the youngest, a faint voice cried:

'Dear mommy, I'm in the clock case.'

She pulled the child out, and it informed her that the wolf had arrived and devoured all the others. Then image how she sobbed for her impoverished children.

In her grief, she went outside, and the youngest child ran with her. When they arrived in the meadow, the wolf laid by a tree, snoring so loudly that the limbs shook. She stared at him from every angle and saw something moving and struggling in his gorged belly.

'Ah, heavens,' she said, 'is it possible that my dear children, whom he has eaten down for his supper, can still be alive?'

Then the kid had to rush home and collect scissors, a needle and thread, and the goat cut up the monster's guts, and hardly had she made one cut, one little kid stuck its head out, and when she had cut further, All six awoke one after the other, all alive and unharmed, for the monster had swallowed them whole in his desire.

What joy there was! They embraced their beloved mother and jumped like a tailor at his wedding. The mother, however, stated:

'Now go seek for some large stones, and we'll fill the nasty beast's stomach with them while he's sleeping.'

The seven children then dragged the stones as fast as they could into this stomach, and the mother stitched him up again in such hurry that he was completely unconscious and never moved.

When the wolf had had enough of sleeping, he stood up and decided to go to a well to drink because the stones in his stomach were making him thirsty. But as he began to walk and move around, the stones in his stomach bumped against one other and rattled. Then he cried:

"What is rumbling and tumbling against my poor bones?"

I assumed there were six kids, but it seemed like enormous stones.

When he reached the well and stooped over the water to drink, the hefty stones caused him to fall in, and he drowned terribly.

When the seven children saw that, they ran to the spot and wept out.

'The wolf has died! The wolf has died! They danced for delight around the well with their mother.