Be there before she gets
up; go quietly and carefully."
The grandmother lived far away in the wood, a long walk from the
village, and as Little Red-Cap came among the trees she met a Wolf; but
she did not know what a wicked animal it was, and so she was not at all
frightened. "Good morning, Little Red-Cap," he said.
"Thank you, Mr. Wolf," said she.
"Where are you going so early, Little Red-Cap?"
"To my grandmother's," she answered.
"And what are you carrying in that basket?"
"Some wine and meat," she replied. "We baked the meat yesterday, so that
grandmother, who is very weak, might have a nice strengthening meal."
"And where does your grandmother live?" asked the Wolf.
"Oh, quite twenty minutes walk further in the forest. The cottage stands
under three great oak trees; and close by are some nut bushes, by which
you will at once know it."
The Wolf was thinking to himself, "She is a nice tender thing, and will
taste better than the old woman; I must act cleverly, that I may make a
meal of both."
[Illustration: THE VALIANT LITTLE TAILOR.]
Presently he came up again to Little Red-Cap, and said, "Just look at
the beautiful flowers which grow around you; why do you not look about
you? I believe you don't hear how sweetly the birds are singing. You
walk as if you were going to school; see how cheerful everything is
about you in the forest.
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