Pagina 211 de 626

'But, grandmother, what big eyes you have!' she said.

'The better to see you with, my dear.'

'But, grandmother, what large hands you have!'

'The better to hug you with.'

'Oh! but, grandmother, what a terrible big mouth you have!'

'The better to eat you with!'

And scarcely had the wolf said this, than with one bound he was

out of bed and swallowed up Red-Cap.

When the wolf had appeased his appetite, he lay down again in the

bed, fell asleep and began to snore very loud. 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.' So he

went into the room, and when he came to the bed, he saw that the

wolf was lying in it. 'Do I find you here, you old sinner!' said

he. 'I have long sought you!' 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. When he had made two snips, he saw

the little Red-Cap shining, and then he made two snips more, and

the little girl sprang out, crying: 'Ah, how frightened I have

been! How dark it was inside the wolf'; and after that the aged

grandmother came out alive also, but scarcely able to breathe.