I suppose the endings would have been happier with a woodsman hacking the wolf to death with his axe, and with Hansel and Gretel pushing the witch alive into the oven...? [More]
I suppose as long as we're talking fantasy fiction for children, The Times doesn't want any competition...
[Via Michael G]
It would be a federal crime to kill a wolf with an axe. The only way to avoid criminality when confronted by Canis lupus is to retreat, call 911 and allow an armed tactical team from the Fish and Wildlife Service to handle the situation.
ReplyDeleteYour government thanks you for your cooperation in contributing to the well being of Mother Gaia.
Woodsman hacking the wolf to death? That's not the version I learned as a kid.
ReplyDeleteIn my version, the woodsman cut the wolf open to free Grandma, and no mention of the wolf's death was made. IOW, we can imply he disemboweled a living animal to save a human.
And we're to believe Grandma stopping (not killing) the wolf and his predatory advances with a 12-gauge is more violent and gruesome than the original?
All kinds of variations out there--including the wolf eating both Grandma and Red with no happy ending, or the huntsman skinning the wolf -- or cutting open its belly to free Red and Granny and then filling it with stones then luring it to water where it drowns. All that's missing to really give 'em apoplexy is hunting the damn thing down from a helicopter.
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