“Good-morning, sir,” replied the little girl, with a courtesy.
“Where are you going so early, Red Riding-Hood?” he asked.
“To my grandmother, sir,” she replied. “Mother baked yesterday, and she has sent me with a piece of cake and a bottle of wine to her because she is sick, and it will make her stronger and do her good.”
“Where does your grandmother live, Red Riding-Hood?”
“About half a mile from here through the wood; her house stands under three large oak trees, near to the nut hedges; you would easily know it,” said Red Riding-Hood.
The wolf, when he heard this, thought to himself, “This little, delicate thing would be a sweet morsel for me at last, and taste nicer than her old grandmother, but she would not satisfy my hunger; I must make a meal of them both.”
Then he walked quietly on by the side of Red Riding-Hood till they came to a part of the wood where a number of flowers grew.
“See, Red Riding-Hood,” he said, “what pretty flowers are growing here; would you not like to rest and gather some? And don’t you hear how sweetly the birds are singing? You are walking on as steadily as if you were going to school, and it is much more pleasant here in the wood.”
Then Red Riding-Hood looked up and saw the dancing sunbeams shining between the trees and lighting up the beautiful flowers that grew all around her, and she thought, “If I were to take my grandmother a fresh nosegay, it would make her so pleased; it is early yet, and I have plenty of time.”
So she went out of her way into the wood to gather flowers. And when she had picked a few, she saw some more beautiful still at a little distance so she walked on further and further, till she was quite deep in the wood.