The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids

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"The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids" is a well-known Fairy Tale written down by the Brothers Grimm. The story has a few parallels with "Little Red Riding Hood" and "The Three Little Pigs".

A mother goat leaves her seven little kids home alone before she goes out to get some food. She warns them not to open the door for anyone, especially not The Big Bad Wolf. Soon enough, after she leaves, the wolf tries to get in. He pretends to be their mother, but is betrayed by his gruff voice. The wolf leaves and returns a little later, this time using a sweet, light voice to impersonate their mother. At first the seven little kids think it really is their mother, but then they ask her to stick her paw in front of the window (in some accounts they see it under a crack in the door) and notice his big, black feet. They refuse to open the door and the wolf leaves again, this time going to the bakery (in some versions, the miller) to whiten his paw in flour. He returns and fools the little kids because they see his white paw and think it's their mother. The wolf jumps into the house and gobbles up six of the seven kids. The youngest one is able to hide inside a large standing clock. Then the wolf goes outside and falls asleep against a tree.

When the mother goat returns, she discovers her house is a mess and finds her youngest kid inside the clock. He tells her what happened and they decide to go look for the wolf. They find him outside and the mother goat tells her youngest child to get a pair of scissors, a needle and some thread, with which they cut open the wolf's belly. The six goat children jump out, alive and well. Then the goats fill up the wolf's belly with rocks and the mother sews it back up again. The goats hide and the wolf wakes up, feeling thirsty. He goes to the well (in some versions, the river), but falls in and drowns under the weight of the rocks. And the goat family lived happily ever after.

Tropes used in The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids include:

• An Aesop: Don't let strangers in!
• Animal Talk
• Artistic License: Biology: Six goats swallowed alive? The mother who is able to perform surgery without anesthetics? Huge rocks put back into the belly? The wolf still being able to move after swallowing huge stones?
• The Big Bad Wolf
• Dark Is Evil: The wolf has black fur.
• Disappeared Dad: The father is never mentioned in the story. It seems mother goat is either a widow or a Truly Single Parent.
• Furry Confusion: Literally!
• Hide Your Children: Only one manages to hide.
• Just Eat Him
• Man in White: Or the wolf, for that matter.
• No Name Given: Nobody's name is mentioned.
• Once Upon a Time
• Paper-Thin Disguise: The wolf simply puts on a falsetto voice and whitens his paws in flour.
• Rule of Three: Only the third time he tries, the wolf manages to get in.
• Rule of Seven
• Scare'Em Straight
• Swallowed Whole: The kids.
• Unexplained Recovery
• Youngest Child Wins: Only the youngest kid can hide from the wolf and later tell the mother what happened.