According to our research, the story of “The Tale of the Tiger Grandmother” and the earliest story that is recognizable as that of Little Red Riding Hood were written down within the same time period, towards the end of the 17th Century. Although the commonly accepted first version of what is now known as “Little Red Riding Hood” is a French tale, “Le Petit Chaperon Rouge,” in an effort to keep this project more closely associated with the class, we decided to compare “The Tale of the Tiger Grandmother,” to the version of Red Riding Hood recorded by the Grimm Brothers almost two hundred years later titled “Little Red-Cap.”
There are some obvious differences between the two stories, the biggest one being their antagonists. While both Little Red-cap and the children from “Tiger Grandmother” both face off with animals that try to deceive them, Red-cap faces a Wolf while the siblings face a Tiger. Red-cap is also alone on her journey through the woods, while the two siblings have each other, which reminds me of the dynamic between Hansel and Gretel in their own fairy tale.
I think that it is really interesting to note that in the Chinese story, the Tiger seems to be considerably more successful than the Wolf is in the Grimm recording. While the Tiger is able to divert the two siblings from their intended path, the Wolf only tries to momentarily delay her, putting off the confrontation until Little Red-cap arrives her Grandmother’s house. The Tiger consistently displays more intelligence than the Wolf, successfully tricking her prey enough that they are comfortable spending the night with her, while the Wolf opts for the less subtle approach of eating Little Red-cap when she starts asking too many questions. (Grimm 134) The Tiger is also able to somewhat accomplish her goal; she eats the brother before the sister realizes what is happening, while the Wolf, upon eating Little Red-cap, decides to take a nap and is promptly split open by a Huntsman, saving the girl and her grandmother. (134) It is interesting that despite the Brothers Grimm’s current reputation for having dark and macabre endings, the Grimm version of the story has a happy one, especially when you consider that the original French story ends after the Wolf eats the girl. (Perrault)
The endings of these two stories differ, offering their readers almost completely separate morals. Both endings revolve around their title characters, showing totally different focuses for each story. “The Tale of the Tiger Grandmother” ends with the surviving girl being unceremoniously rescued. The final paragraph focuses on the Tiger, who leads other tigers to the tree the girl was hiding in and attempts to offer her to them. When the other beasts discover only the girl’s clothing, they turn on the old woman, eating her. In “Little Red-cap” the final aspect of the story focuses on Red-cap and her grandmother fending off a second wolf. (Grimm 135) Using their experience from dealing with the first one, Red is able to avoid the wolf’s distraction and go straight to her grandmother’s to warn her. When the wolf tries to get into the grandmother’s house, using the same trick as the last one: pretending to be Little Red-cap, the two lock the door. Eventually, they are able to kill it by taking advantage of its hunger. (135)
In Grimm, the moral seems to be that if one learns from their mistakes, they will be able to avoid making the same mistakes over and over again. It places the emphasis on Little Red-cap and her grandmother, while “The Tale of the Tiger Grandmother’s” moral exclusively emphasizes the Tiger. The moral of that story is that “to trouble the world by deception and deceit, is eventually self-defeating.” The contrast between these two morals shows that although there are similarities between these two cultural tales, they serve very different cultural roles. “The Tale of the Tiger Grandmother” warns its readers not to lie or trick, while “Little Red-cap” teaches children the importance of learning from mistakes.
Citations
Grimm, Jacob. “Little Red-Cap.” Grimm's Fairy Tales, Translated by Lucy Crane, edited by Wilhelm Grimm, D. Lothrop Company Washington Street Opposite Bromfield, 0AD, pp. 132–135.
Perrault, Charles. “Little Red Riding Hood.” Perrault: Little Red Riding Hood, www.pitt.edu/~dash/perrault02.html.
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