One day an elephant went into the jungle and got lost…
He wandered aimlessly on all sides.
Until he found a hut in the middle of the jungle.
He was tired and hungry and decided to seek shelter and food there, so he knocked on the door three times with his trunk.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
It was opened by an old lady who, on seeing who it was, became so frightened…
OOOOH…!
Plunk! Plunk!
…that she went stampeding out the window.
The elephant thought that maybe she was late going to the market and gave it no importance.
He entered the hut with great difficulty…
RRIIIIP…!
…and he fell asleep on the floor, because he was terribly tired.
He had scarcely closed his eyes when a girl with a kind of leopard-skin cape and hood and a woven palm basket filled with fruit appeared at the door of the hut.
RAT TAT
As soon as she entered, she stood, staring fixedly at his eyes, because she was short-sighted and blind as a bat, and she said:
"Grandma, Grandma, what big eyes you have."
"All the better to see you."
"Grandma, Grandma, what big ears you have."
"All the better to hear you."
"Grandma, Grandma, what big teeth you have."
"All the better to eat you!"
And on saying this he opened his mouth and…
PRHHEEEEEE!
…let lose a deafening bellow.
The girl, terribly frightened, struck a blow to the elephant's trunk with the basket…
SMACK
…and she went out running and screaming like crazy. The elephant did not suffer even a scratch and could tranquilly eat the delicious fruit and honey that were in the basket.
OOOOH…!
Afterward he slept like a log without having to hear the hysterical cries and the impertinent questions of that girl and her grandmother.
ZZZZZZ
PRHHEEEEEEEE…!
The next day, rested and with a full belly, he managed to find the trial of the herd and reunite with them.
PRHHEEE!

Here is an African version of Little Red Riding Hood. Or is Little Red Riding Hood a European version of Little Black Riding Hood?


("Little Black Riding Hood", dins BECKETT, Sandra L.: Revisioning Red Riding Hood around the World. Detroit [EE.UU.]: Wayne State University Press, 2014, p. 171. Trad. Sandra L. Beckett)
 

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The wolf, the fearful and frightful wolf, was lurking in the woods when he saw a girl with a hood coming. His mouth began to water, his eyes were almost popping out of their sockets, but… there was something wrong with that girl. What was it? Oh, of course! Her hood! It was green.
"Where are you going, Little Green Riding Hood?" asked Mr. Ferocious, which was the name of the wolf.
"Duh, the same place as always, to my grandma's house to take her some lettuce, some spinach, and a cabbage."
"But cabbage isn't green, it's white, right?"
"Yes, but it's also a vegetable. You see?"
"I see now. And you haven't seen Little Red Riding Hood by chance?"
"Well, no. I'm off because I'm late," said Riding Hood, slightly stiltedly.
The ferocious and vicious animal remained there lurking, hidden behind some bushes, until another girl came along. This one was wearing a yellow riding hood.
"Where are you going, Little Yellow Riding Hood?"
"I'm going to see my grandma to take her some bananas, some fried eggs, and a little pineapple in syrup."
"What a strange menu!"
"Yes, but this is what it must be if you're Little Yellow Riding Hood. I'm off." She left so fast that she gave him no time to ask after her incarnadine colleague.
The surly and furry animal was still waiting when Little Blue Riding Hood appeared.
"What are you taking to your grandma?" asked the wolf directly, skipping the first part to be briefer.
"A little blue fish. Her cholesterol is through the roof."
"Oh, and you haven't seen Little Red Riding Hood, right?"
"Well, no. I'm off, as fish spoils in this heat."
And there the very carnivorous and redivorous animal continued to wait and wait, watching Little Riding Hoods pass by in the woods. And Little Brown Riding Hood went by, whom he did not even want to question, and then Little Purple Riding Hood, Little Light Blue Riding Hood, Little Navy Blue Riding Hood, Little Orange Riding Hood with her basket of mandarins, Little Pink Riding Hood with her little bows… But not a trace of the Red. What had happened to Little Red Riding Hood?
The wolf did not know, but Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother had gone on a trip to Mallorca with the retirees from her part of the forest. Of course, Riding them spent her time playing video games, loafing around, and occasionally arguing with her mother.
And the wolf? The say that this wolf had cobwebs in his stomach, because he was so single-minded that he ate only Red Riding Hoods.

("The Wolf and the Little Riding Hoods", dins BECKETT, Sandra L.: Revisioning Red Riding Hood around the World. Detroit [EE.UU.]: Wayne State University Press, 2014, p. 173-174. Trad. Sandra L. Beckett)
 

* * *

(A Mexican Tale, illustrated, adapted and translated by Ine Grewe from a Carles Cano's story, 2014. © Ine Grewe/Carles Cano)