Little Red

 

            Once, in a little village, there was a pretty young girl named Suzy. She was not known by most as Suzy, though, for in the village they called her "Little Red." Her mother called her one morning.

            "Yes mother?" she said.

            "You must go to your grandmother’s house, in the next village. She needs this pair of mittens i knitted for her," her mother said as cooked a dinner for two. Her mother explained to Little Red that she hurt her toe and could not accompany her. She also explained that Little Red should spend the night at grandmother’s since crossing the forest on the way back would be dangerous at night.

            "And you must beware the wolves in the forest! And do not stray from the path or you will get lost!"

            "Yes mother!" she exclaimed.

 

            Little Red put on her cape and got dressed

            She skipped and played into the dark forest.

            She picked the daffodils and marodils

            She said "I'll put these on the window sill!"

            She saw a bunny sitting in the patch

            Tried to chase it but she couldn't catch

            For the bunny was just much too fast.

 

            "Oh hello my dear that was quite a good run,"

            A cool silvery voice said, "Would you like to have some fun?"

            Little Red looked around, quite alarmed.

            And this she said to the voice she found:

            "Oh no! I'm here not for pleasure but for business

            And it wouldn’t be wise to wander far into the forest."

           

            "But you are already in the forest, deep," said he.

            Said she, "If I'm in trouble, no one shall come to rescue me.

            If you wanted to, you could do what you want with me."

            He smiled, "You know its true but what is it you do?

            You skip and play and wave...as if you've got all day."

           

            Little Red felt she had to hurry and so she said,

            "I am going to my grandmother’s house now

            I must be quick; it's in the next town --

            And, I shouldn't be talking to wolves anyhow."

           

            Down the path skipped Little Red.

            The wolf had ran on up ahead.

            The wolf, he knew the way--

            He had been there earlier that day.

           

            Little Red knocked on the door of the little house,

            It did not open but a voice announced,

            "Come in my dear, it is already late!

            Have a little red wine and there’s some food on the plate."

            "Oh, Grandma," she replied, "you know i love your food and wine.

            But you know, Grandma, I have not come here just to dine."

           

            In the bedroom there was a bed with furry sheets

            And in this room Grandma, the wolf, she meets.

            Little Red came near the wolf that was in the bed,

            "Would you like to see your mittens?" she said.

            "I would," said he, "but it seems I'm stuck in bed.

            And if you're tired, child, you can sleep with me instead."

 

            "Oh but with my cape and shoes, I will be much too hot"

            The wolf said, "So, Little Red, you should take them off."

            "Agreed," said she, "and dress and corset, take those off?"

            "Oh yes," said the wolf, "it's much too hot."

 

            Stockings, shoes -- those too she threw on the table

            And climbed into bed as soon as she was able.

            "Oh Grandma, you are so hairy!"

            "It keeps me warm and merry."

            "Oh Grandma, your nails are so long!"

            "Perfect for when an itch comes along."

            "Oh Grandma, your ears are so strange!"

            "My dear, you must be deranged."

            "Oh Grandma, your teeth look so wild!"

            "The better to eat you with, my child!"

            "Grandma please, I have to go!"

            "Yes, ok. Just don’t forget you're on a rope."

           

            The wolf tethered her and she went outside.

            She untied the rope, this she did on the sly.

            And Little Red ran off without a good-bye --

            But not before tethering a tree --

            So the wolf would not worry where she could be.

 

            A hunter saw Little Red running through the forest and, filled with horror, asked what had happened to her. “I was attacked by a wolf,” she said.

            The hunter then ran home and grabbed his big hunting knife. He chased the wolf through the forest until he cornered it by the river. The man and wolf fought for a moment and just when the man was tiring, he slashed the wolf’s belly and killed it.

 

---end---

 

ANALYSIS

 

My first reaction to reading the Delarue version (“The Story of Grandmother”) was shock at the level of perversion in it. The taking off of clothing, urinating outside, and drinking of blood was unexpected. It makes sense, though. It was in the oral tradition, which I relate to modern day TV news – say something shocking quick. I’m thinking the audience was a group of vulgar males. The plot had a lot of holes in it, such as the reasoning behind having Red give bread to her grandmother in the forest alone. There was the incident of the cat talking, the drinking of blood, and her not recognizing the wolf as the grandma. It was not realistic at all -- but I don’t think it mattered to the audience. It is much the same as modern day pornography – the lack of plot lines and whatnot. With my interpretation, I intended to fix these holes, [modestly] keep the [pornographic] oral tradition, but still keep the wolf/human ambiguity/transition.

 

I explain in detail:

 

Audience: The audience is a mature audience in the mood for a light, dirty tale.

 

Tone/Structure: I have kept very true to the oral tradition. The tone is light and fun, satirical, and teasing. The tale structure relates directly to the tone. It starts out in prose with a traditional (artificial) fairy tale tone –the choppy setting of the scene. Aside from the underlying plot (discussed next) it seems to be dignified and serious. Next is the rhymed poem. In some lines there is internal rhyme, but always there is end rhyme. This is to accentuate the playful mood between the two characters. It’s playful and fun. It takes away from the seriousness of the two’s relationship. Since fairy tales do not allow for much exposure of the character’s internal personality, I tried to hint at it with the structure and tone of the poem. It ends with prose and a serious tone to make the piece balanced and to hint at the secretive nature of their relationship. The prose puts an abrupt silencing to the rhythm and energy of the poem.

 

Plot: This entire plot is filled with sexual innuendo. There are really two plots: the first being the traditional Little Red. She goes out into the forest, meets the wolf, meets the wolf later, escapes, and meets the hunter. Obviously, this is the joke. The winked story. The real story is this: Mother is having a man over and wants to get Little Red out of the house. This is why she is cooking a dinner for two while telling Red to sleep over at grandmas. This is also the first hole that is fixed –why she is sent out alone. Little Red doesn’t mind because she knows the “wolf.” The wolf is actually a man – and quite an animal in the bed. She meets him in the forest. This is the tease.

 

She goes to his house, where they role play Grandma and Grandchild. Perverted, yes, but this meant for humor (in addition to perversion). This is the second hole that is fixed. She knows this is not her grandmother. It is the man she is sleeping with. She asks for advice on whether or not to undress, which he gives. He winks at her some humorous innuendo,”oh, it’s too hot.” The striptease. The man also behaves wolf-like in his dominating orders of telling her to get in the bed and take of her clothing. Later is the “Oh, Grandma” passage-- this is the discovery. This is more playful innuendo.

 

After, she runs outside, to urinate – or so she says. This is a hole I did not bother fixing. In oral tradition, the audience reaction is most important. I thought a girl tethered wandering naked through a forest would humor the audience. She meets a hunter. She lies about her nakedness, saying that a wolf had torn her clothes off. The hunter finds a random wolf and kills it.

 

Some plot elements:

Mittens: the putting on of grandma’s clothes by the wolf is replaced by the giving of mittens. He takes the mittens and she takes off her clothes after. Also, I wanted the mother to give the daughter something painfully useless to justify her going out in the woods alone. This is not much different than the giving of bread and the original character’s pointless quest.

 

Little Red: the reason why the town knows her as Little Red and not Suzy is a negative one. She is the village slut, and it is no accident I wrote “Have a little red wine and…” In the oral tradition, you can read this line as “Have a Little Red, wine, and…” which is a fun pun.

 

Bunny: just the chasing of something innocent. In some versions, the wolf had followed the innocent Red.

 

Daffodils and Marodils: just imagry of her frolicking in the forest. Marodils are not real flowers, I made that up.

 

Sexual Innuendo: I find this element to be the most important part of this piece. Without the innuendo, Little Red would loose the entertainment base the audience wants –a dirty little story.

I took great care to make sure that every piece of dialogue between the wolf and Little Red had some kind of innuendo. The excess of innuendo is not much different from the original Delarue version.

 

Conclusion: so, basically, I kept to the oral tradition, made the double meaning more pronounced, added some rhythm and kept this piece fun and perverted.