The history of little Red Riding Hood It was widely spread from Europe in tales written by Charles Perrault and later by the Brothers Grimm. The latter, more popular, was known for softening the details that originally depicted carnage.
The narrative originated in the northern Alps and featured some very cruel images, including scenes of cannibalism. In them, the girl was tricked into eating her grandmother's body before being killed. Check out the two best-known — and least explicit — versions of the story.
“Le Petit Chaperon Rouge”, by Charles Perrault
The first version to be recorded was in 1697, making the story reach Europe. The French writer removed the strong images that indicated sex and cannibalism.
In the edition by Perrault, a great name in fairy tales, the grandmother orders a red hat made for the girl, which fits so well that she cannot take it off, earning her the nickname Little Red Riding Hood.
The mother asks the child to take a cake and butter to the sick elderly woman and, on the way to the neighboring village, she meets Mr. Wolf, who makes her reveal the location of her grandmother's house. The animal tells Little Red to take the long way to give the villain time to arrive first and eat Grandma.
“He pounced on the good woman and devoured her in a second, as he had not eaten for more than three days. Then he closed the door and lay down on his grandmother's bed, waiting for Little Red Riding Hood,” the story quotes.
After a while, the child arrives at the house and the Wolf, in disguise, invites her to lie in bed with him. Soon after, he also devours her.
Some scholars point out that this version tells a story about rape, assuming that the Wolf is a seducer who roams French salons ready to attack unsuspecting girls.
“Little Red Cap”, Brothers Grimm
In 1857, the writers Jacob and Wilhelm, renowned for having dedicated themselves to recording several fables during their career, further softened the tale to pass them on to children in their books.
In their story, Little Riding Hood gets a red velvet hood and also gets his nickname because the piece served him well.
On the way to take cakes and a bottle of wine to his sick grandmother, which would take around an hour, he met the Wolf and informed him of the elderly woman's address. The two walked together until the villain drew Little Red's attention to the flowers on the path, who was distracted to pick up a bouquet for the matriarch while the animal ran ahead to get to the house.
When she remembered where she was going, the girl ran to her grandmother's house and slept with the disguised Wolf, who devoured her.
A local hunter who was passing by the place heard the animal snoring after two meals and decided to go in to see if the lady was okay. When he saw the villain sleeping, instead of killing him, he decided to open his belly while he slept to try to save the victims.
“After a few scissors, he saw a red cap. A few more, and the girl jumped out, screaming: 'Ah, I was so scared! How dark it was in the wolf's belly”, wrote the Grimms. The three placed stones in the Wolf's stomach. When he woke up, he tried to get up and fell dead under the weight of the rocks.
In the end, the grandmother eats what her granddaughter had taken and recovers, while Little Red learns never to deviate from the path taught by adults.
Source: CNN Brasil
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