Chapter III: Preparation

The story now tells us how the wolf finally got into the house and what he did there.

How do you think the wolf succeeded in deceiving the goats? How did he change his voice? Do you wish to hear what the wolf next did?

What do you think he did? He made his voice soft and loving like that of the mother goat. Do you think he could make his feet like hers? How could he?

Let us hear what he did with his feet.

Narration.

THE WOLF IN THE HOUSE.

The wolf did not know now what to do. Presently he thought, “I will go to the baker.” So to the baker he went and said, “I have hurt my feet; put some dough on them.” The baker felt sorry for the wolf and put some dough on his feet.

Then the wolf ran to the miller and in a rough voice said, “Strew some white flour on my feet.” The miller, thinking the naughty wolf was going to deceive some one, did not want to do it. But the wolf said, “If you do not do so at once, I will eat you.” This made the miller afraid. So he powdered the wolf’s feet with flour.

This done, the wolf went a third time to the door of the house and said softly, “Open the door for me, dear children. It is your mother. I have come back and brought each one of you something nice to eat.”

But the little goats still remembered what their mother had said and called out, “Show us your feet and we shall know whether you are our mother or not.” The wolf put his feet in the window as before. Now, when the little goats saw that the feet were white, they thought that it was really their dear mother and opened the door.

But who should walk in but the wicked wolf! The little goats were terribly frightened and each one ran to hide himself as best he could. One ran under the table, the second hid in the bed, a third jumped into the oven, a fourth slipped into the cupboard, a fifth hid in the back kitchen among the pots and pans, a sixth hid under the wash-tub, and the seventh hid in the clock case. But the wolf found them all and ate them one after the other,--all but the youngest that hid in the clock case. He did not find him.

Then he said to himself, “Well, well! I am tired. I must have a nap.” And he went out into the green meadow and lay down to sleep under a tree by a little brook.

Model Treatment.

1. What did the wolf say to the baker? What to the miller? How were the goats deceived? Where did each one hide? Which one was saved?

Reproduction from beginning.

2. Tell what the baker does? The miller? Have you seen a mill where flour is made?

How is flour made? What grains are used to make flour? What grains have you seen growing? What name do we give to the persons that raise grain for us?

3. Tell why the baker put dough on the wolf’s feet? Why did the miller put flour on? Had the wolf really hurt his feet? Describe the wolf’s conduct. What do you think of him?