Language through Literature

Le petit Chaperon rouge — Little Red Riding Hood


Charles Perrault · «Histoires ou contes du temps passé», 1697 · 683 words in French · the French shelf

Read «Le petit Chaperon rouge» in the room → Every word is glossed where it stands, the English is a tap away and never in your eyeline until you ask, and the whole tale needs no account.

How long «Le petit Chaperon rouge» is, and how hard

Length in French 683 running words · 36 sentences · about 3 printed pages
Time to read about 6 minutes at a learner's pace, with the glosses to hand
Different words 178 dictionary words, averaging 19.0 words a sentence
Words glossed 178 of 178 — every one that appears in the tale
Words that appear once 85 — 48%. A word met once is a word you will not learn from this text alone
Where it stands 1 of 8 by length in the French room

144 of this tale's own 178 words, most frequent first, carry 95% of it; 68 carry 80%. Hold those and the reading is close work rather than decoding. French glues its small words to the next one, and these counts take them apart the way a dictionary does: «l’» and «d’» are words of their own here, filed under «le» and «de».

Its chapters

The room reads «Le petit Chaperon rouge» in 4 scenes. The headings are the house's own; the sentence counts are the tale's.

SceneIn FrenchA line from itSentences
In the Village free Au village Va voir comment se porte ta mère-grand, car on m’a dit qu’elle était malade. 4
In the Wood free Dans le bois je m’y en vais par ce chemin-ci, et toi par ce chemin-là 8
Knock, Knock free Toc, toc Tire la chevillette, la bobinette cherra. 11
In the Bed free Dans le lit Ma mère-grand, que vous avez de grands bras ! 13

The tale, entire — French with English, sentence by sentence

Il était une fois une petite fille de village, la plus éveillée qu’on eût su voir : sa mère en était folle, et sa mère-grand plus folle encore.

Once upon a time there was a little village girl, the brightest, liveliest child you could ever have seen: her mother was mad about her, and her grandmother madder still.

Cette bonne femme lui fit faire un petit chaperon rouge qui lui seyait si bien, que partout on l’appelait le petit Chaperon rouge.

This good woman had a little red hood made for her, which suited her so well that everywhere she went she was called Little Red Riding Hood.

Un jour, sa mère ayant cuit et fait des galettes, lui dit : « Va voir comment se porte ta mère-grand, car on m’a dit qu’elle était malade.

One day her mother, having made and baked some cakes, said to her: “Go and see how your grandmother is, for I have been told that she is ill.

Porte-lui une galette et ce petit pot de beurre. »

Take her a cake and this little pot of butter.”

Le petit Chaperon rouge partit aussitôt pour aller chez sa mère-grand, qui demeurait dans un autre village.

Little Red Riding Hood set off at once to go to her grandmother, who lived in another village.

En passant dans un bois, elle rencontra compère le Loup, qui eut bien envie de la manger ; mais il n’osa, à cause de quelques bûcherons qui étaient dans la forêt.

As she was passing through a wood, she met Brother Wolf, who very much wanted to eat her; but he did not dare, because of some woodcutters who were in the forest.

Il lui demanda où elle allait.

He asked her where she was going.

La pauvre enfant, qui ne savait pas qu’il était dangereux de s’arrêter à écouter un loup, lui dit : Je vais voir ma mère-grand, et lui porter une galette, avec un petit pot de beurre, que ma mère lui envoie.

The poor child, who did not know that it is dangerous to stop and listen to a wolf, said to him: “I am going to see my grandmother, and to take her a cake, with a little pot of butter, that my mother is sending her.”

— Demeure-t-elle bien loin ? lui dit le loup.

“Does she live very far away?” said the wolf.

— Oh ! oui, dit le petit Chaperon rouge ; c’est par delà le moulin que vous voyez tout là-bas, à la première maison du village.

“Oh yes!” said Little Red Riding Hood; “it is beyond the mill that you see right over there, at the first house in the village.”

— Eh bien ! dit le Loup, je veux l’aller voir aussi : je m’y en vais par ce chemin-ci, et toi par ce chemin-là ; et nous verrons à qui plus tôt y sera.

“Well then,” said the Wolf, “I will go and see her too: I shall go by this path here, and you by that path there; and we shall see who gets there first.”

Le Loup se mit à courir de toute sa force par le chemin qui était le plus court, et la petite fille s’en alla par le chemin le plus long, s’amusant à cueillir des noisettes, à courir après des papillons, et à faire des bouquets des petites fleurs qu’elle rencontrait.

The Wolf began to run with all his might along the path that was shortest, and the little girl went off by the longest path, amusing herself by gathering hazelnuts, chasing butterflies, and making nosegays of the little flowers she came upon.

Le Loup ne fut pas longtemps à arriver à la maison de la mère-grand ; il heurte : toc, toc.

The Wolf was not long in reaching the grandmother’s house; he knocks: knock, knock.

— Qui est là ?

“Who is there?”

— C’est votre fille, le petit Chaperon rouge, dit le Loup en contrefaisant sa voix, qui vous apporte une galette et un petit pot de beurre, que ma mère vous envoie.

“It is your granddaughter, Little Red Riding Hood,” said the Wolf, disguising his voice, “who is bringing you a cake and a little pot of butter that my mother is sending you.”

— La bonne mère-grand, qui était dans son lit, à cause qu’elle se trouvait un peu mal, lui cria : Tire la chevillette, la bobinette cherra.

The good grandmother, who was in bed because she was feeling a little unwell, called out to him: “Pull the peg, and the latch will fall.”

— Le Loup tira la chevillette, et la porte s’ouvrit.

The Wolf pulled the peg, and the door opened.

Il se jeta sur la bonne femme, et la dévora en moins de rien, car il y avait plus de trois jours qu’il n’avait mangé.

He threw himself upon the good woman and devoured her in no time at all, for he had not eaten in more than three days.

Ensuite il ferma la porte, et s’alla coucher dans le lit de la mère-grand, en attendant le petit Chaperon rouge, qui, quelque temps après, vint heurter à la porte : toc, toc.

Then he shut the door and went and lay down in the grandmother’s bed, to wait for Little Red Riding Hood, who, some time later, came knocking at the door: knock, knock.

— Qui est là ?

“Who is there?”

— Le petit Chaperon rouge, qui entendit la grosse voix du Loup, eut peur d’abord, mais, croyant que sa mère-grand était enrhumée, répondit : C’est votre fille, le petit Chaperon rouge, qui vous apporte une galette et un petit pot de beurre, que ma mère vous envoie.

Little Red Riding Hood, hearing the Wolf’s gruff voice, was frightened at first, but, thinking that her grandmother had a cold, answered: “It is your granddaughter, Little Red Riding Hood, who is bringing you a cake and a little pot of butter that my mother is sending you.”

— Le Loup lui cria en adoucissant un peu sa voix : Tire la chevillette, la bobinette cherra.

The Wolf called out to her, softening his voice a little: “Pull the peg, and the latch will fall.”

— Le petit Chaperon rouge tira la chevillette, et la porte s’ouvrit.

Little Red Riding Hood pulled the peg, and the door opened.

Le Loup, la voyant entrer, lui dit en se cachant dans le lit, sous la couverture : Mets la galette et le petit pot de beurre sur la huche, et viens te coucher avec moi.

The Wolf, seeing her come in, said to her, hiding himself in the bed under the blanket: “Put the cake and the little pot of butter on the bread bin, and come and lie down with me.”

Le petit Chaperon rouge se déshabille, et va se mettre dans le lit, où elle fut bien étonnée de voir comment sa mère-grand était faite en son déshabillé.

Little Red Riding Hood undresses and goes to get into the bed, where she was very much astonished to see what her grandmother looked like in her nightclothes.

— Elle lui dit : Ma mère-grand, que vous avez de grands bras !

She said to her: “Grandmother, what big arms you have!”

— C’est pour mieux t’embrasser, ma fille !

“All the better to hug you with, my child!”

— Ma mère-grand, que vous avez de grandes jambes !

“Grandmother, what big legs you have!”

— C’est pour mieux courir, mon enfant !

“All the better to run with, my child!”

— Ma mère-grand, que vous avez de grandes oreilles !

“Grandmother, what big ears you have!”

— C’est pour mieux écouter, mon enfant !

“All the better to listen with, my child!”

— Ma mère-grand, que vous avez de grands yeux !

“Grandmother, what big eyes you have!”

— C’est pour mieux te voir, mon enfant !

“All the better to see you with, my child!”

— Ma mère-grand, que vous avez de grandes dents !

“Grandmother, what big teeth you have!”

— C’est pour te manger !

“They are to eat you with!”

Et, en disant ces mots, ce méchant Loup se jeta sur le petit Chaperon rouge, et la mangea.

And, saying these words, this wicked Wolf threw himself upon Little Red Riding Hood, and ate her up.

Shorter and longer in the same room

Les Fées — 860 wordsLe maître Chat ou le Chat botté — 1586 words

Every sentence, with its own page

Each of these is one sentence of «Le petit Chaperon rouge» in French, its English, a recording of it, and a gloss for every word in it — dictionary form and meaning.

All eight French tales · Charles Perrault · the shelf, counted

Free editorial texts and word lists are reference resources. Interactive learning starts with one beginner lesson, one opening story scene and one grammar discovery; a free account adds a second lesson. See what the subscription opens.