Monday, July 30, 2012

The little girl and the wolf

The story is about a lovely sweet girl who is loved by one and all. Everyone calls the girl Little Red Riding Hood as she always wears a riding hood made of red velvet, which was gifted to her by her grandmother.
One fine day, Little Red Riding Hood's mother packs a bottle of wine and a cake in a basket and asks her to take them to her sick grandmother. Before she leaves, her mother warns her not to talk to anyone on the way. Little Red Riding Hood promises her that she wouldn't and sets off to her grandmother's place, which was put up in the forest, half an hours walk from the village.
When Little Red Riding Hood enters the forest, she comes across a wolf, who plans to eat her up. So when the wolf asks her where she is off to, she answers him that she is on her way to see her grandmother, without suspecting the wolf. When the wolf asks her where her grandmother lives, Little Red Riding Hood innocently answers that too.
The wolf trots along with Little Red Riding Hood for sometime and tempts her to make a slow journey, asking her to enjoy the scenery. Little Red Riding Hood leaves the path and starts picking flowers and as she does so, she goes deeper and deeper into the forest. Meanwhile, the big bad wolf reaches grandmothers house and knocks the door. He enters the house and gobbles Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother. Then, he puts on the grandmothers clothes and night cap and lies down in her bed.
Little Red Riding Hood soon realizes that she is late and hurries to her grandmother's house. She reaches the house and finds the front door wide open. She makes her way towards the bed, to see her grandmother looking very strange.
"Grandmother, what big ears you have!" she asks.
"All the better to hear you with," the wolf replies.
"Grandmother, what big eyes you have!" she asks.
"All the better to see you with," the wolf replies.
"Grandmother, what big hands you have!" she asks.
"All the better to hold you with," the wolf replies.
"But grandmother, what big teeth you have!" she asks.
"All the better to eat you with," the wolf replies, and leaps out of the bed and swallows Little Red Riding Hood. After that, the wolf gets back to the bed and starts sleeping. After a while, a passing huntsman hears the loud snores and goes inside the house, to find a wolf sleeping on the bed. He immediately cuts open the wolf's stomach with a pair of scissors. Little Red Riding Hood pops out of the wolf's stomach, followed by her grandmother. They then fill the wolf's stomach with stones and sew it. The wolf wakes up and tries to run, but falls down dead instead.
The grandmother drinks the wine and eats the cake and feels much better and the story ends with Little Red Riding Hood promising her grandmother that she would never again leave the path when her mother has forbidden it.




 


Sunday, July 29, 2012

The Baron of Grogzwig



Grogzwig was a baron who lived in an old castle in Germany. Strange sounds and light effects within the castle were blamed on the ghost of a traveler who had been murdered by one of the baron’s ancestors.

 


Grogzwig lived a life of pleasure, happily hunting and drinking with his friends every day. However, in time he grew weary of his companions and yearned for excitement. He decides to marry a fellow baron’s daughter. The daughter offers no resistance.

No sooner is he married than his wife demands that he send away his friends. This is the first of many demands, and gradually the baron becomes a hen-pecked husband. They have twelve children. One of the daughters is sickly, which is a source of constant anxiety to her mother.

Grogzwig’s wealth diminishes, and he has no money left when his wife brings their thirteenth child into the world. He decides to commit suicide.

He is reflecting upon his life while smoking his pipe for the last time. Suddenly, a wrinkled creature appears before him, identifying himself as the Genius of Despair and Suicide. This creature uses a stake that is driven through its heart as a cane. He is in a hurry for the baron to off himself, for there are many people who want to commit suicide in these times—and so the creature’s schedule is rather busy. In fact, there is a man who wants to kill himself because he has too much money. The baron thinks this is stupid, and the creature says that it is no more stupid that killing yourself for having a lack of money.

The baron suddenly realizes that the creature is right. He decides he doesn’t want to kill himself. Though he doesn’t die a rich man years later, he dies happy
.

When the story concludes, the new coach has arrived.