Today, I’m going to tell you a classic Grimm’s fairy tale, “The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats”. It’s the story of how a cunning wolf tricks seven young goats, and how they unite to defeat the villain. Not only is this story interesting, it also teaches us some important life lessons.
Mother Goat’s advice: it’s most important to protect yourself
Once upon a time, there was a female goat who gave birth to seven cute little goats and loved her children very much. One day, she needed to go into the forest to find food, so she called the seven little goats to her side and said to them earnestly, “Children, when I go out, you must be careful and never let the wolf into the house! If it gets in, it will eat you all. Although it sometimes disguises itself as something else, you can recognise it by its voice and claws. The wolf’s voice is raspy and its paws are black.”
The little goats listened to their mother’s words and replied in unison, “Don’t worry, Mum, we’ll be careful!” The mother goat then went out the door feeling reassured.
The wolf’s first attempt: a failed deception
It wasn’t long before there was a knock at the door and a voice shouting, “Children, open the door! It’s Mum, I’m home!”
The kids looked out of the window and saw that it was a wolf! They immediately shouted back, “You’re not our mother! Our mother’s voice is nice, not as hoarse as yours!”
The wolf heard this and thought to itself, “It seems that my voice has been revealed.” So it ran to a grocery store, bought a large piece of glue, and ate it. This made its voice a little thinner and softer. Then it went back to the goat’s house, knocked again, and called out in a softer voice, “Children, open the door quickly! It’s your mother, and I’ve found lots of delicious things!”
The kids couldn’t believe it, and when they looked closely at the wolf’s paws, they saw that they were black. They shouted together, “Your paws are black! Our mother doesn’t have such black paws!”
The wolf’s second disguise: a successful deception
This time, the wolf knew that he had to change the color of his paws. He went to the miller and asked for help, lying that he had accidentally soiled his paws. The kind miller, who had no suspicions, gave the wolf some white flour to sprinkle on his feet. The wolf’s paws thus looked white.
The third time, the wolf went to the goat’s house and said in a gentle voice, “Children, open the door quickly! This time it really is me, your mother!”
The little goats were happy to see that the wolf’s paws were white and thought it really was their mother. So they happily opened the door. But as soon as the cunning wolf entered the house, he swallowed the six little goats whole! Only the youngest goat, who had cleverly hidden in the clock box, escaped.
After the wolf had eaten his fill, he left the goat house contentedly and lay down under a big tree to sleep.
The ewe’s return: grief and action
When the ewe returned home, she found the door open and the room in a mess. She called anxiously for her children’s names, but only heard a faint voice coming from the bell box. It turned out that the youngest goat had hidden in the bell box and the wolf had not found it. It cried and told its mother what had happened.
After hearing this, the ewe was heartbroken. But she quickly calmed down and decided to find a way to save her children. She took scissors and sewing thread and went to the forest with the youngest goat. There they found the sleeping wolf.
The mother goat carefully cut open the wolf’s stomach with the scissors, and six baby goats jumped out one after the other! They were all alive and just a little bit scared. The mother goat let out a sigh of relief and said to her children, “Go and find some big stones, we’re going to teach this bad guy a lesson!”
The seven kids quickly dragged a lot of stones and stuffed them into the wolf’s belly as hard as they could. Then the mother goat quickly sewed up the wolf’s belly. The whole time, the wolf was so fast asleep that he didn’t notice anything unusual at all.
The wolf’s end: eating the bitter fruit of his own actions
Soon afterwards, the wolf woke up. Feeling thirsty, he got up and walked over to the well to drink. However, when it bent down near the edge, the heavy stones in its stomach pulled it straight into the well. The wolf struggled a few times, but eventually drowned.
The female goat and the seven kids were overjoyed to see this. They hugged each other tightly and celebrated their victory. From then on, they were even more vigilant and never trusted strangers again.
A lesson for children: be wary of unknown dangers
Dear children, this story teaches us to be vigilant when dealing with strangers or things we don’t know. Just like the little goats, even if the wolf is well disguised, we can judge whether it is trustworthy by paying attention to the details (such as its voice and claws).
In life, we may encounter similar situations, such as strangers offering you sweets, inviting you to play, or pretending to know your family. These can all be dangerous signs. Remember, never trust strangers easily, and don’t follow them to unfamiliar places.
This story also reminds us that when in trouble, we should think calmly and work together to solve the problem with our own wisdom, just like the mother goat and her kids. Only in this way can we protect ourselves and our family from harm.
I hope everyone can learn from this story how to better protect themselves!
