Once upon a time . . . a Mother Goat lived in a pretty little house with
her seven kids. Mother often had to leave home to do the shopping, and on that
fateful day, she had given her children the usual warnings, before setting off
to market.
"You mustn't open the door to anyone. Don't forget, there's a wicked wolf
lurking about here. It's black, with horrible paws and a nasty deep voice. If
it knocks, keep the door tightly shut!" Mother Goat's words were wise indeed,
for as she was telling one of her neighbours about her fears, the wolf
disguised as a peasant was hiding close by, listening to every word.
"Good! Very good!" said the wolf to himself."If the goat goes market, I'II
drop by her house and gobble the kids!' Then,trying not to look too
conspicuous, the wolf hurried along to the goat's house. There, he threw off
his disguise. He then growled in a deep voice: "Open the door! Open the door!
It's Mother! I've just come back from market! Open the door!" When the kids
heard the deep voice, they remembered their mother's warning. From behind the
barred door, they said to the wolf: "We know who you are! You're the wolf! Our
mother has a sweet gentle voice, not a deep nasty one like yours! Go away!
We'll never open the door to you!"
And though the wolf banged furiously on the door, the kids, though
trembling with terror, refused to let him into the house, and so the door
remained shut. Then the wolf had a brainwave. He dashed off to the baker's and
got a big cake dripping with honey. He hoped this would sweeten his voice. And
in fact, after eating it, his voice didn't sound quite so deep. Over and over
again, he practised imitating Mother Goat's voice. You see, he'd heard it in
the woods. When he felt certain he could easily be mistaken for Mother Goat
herself, he rushed back to the house and the seven kids.
