THE MALIGNED WOLF
Well, to begin at the beginning, you see, I’m really not the person you see here--I’m really a wolf; not any kind of special wolf, just a regular wolf who was, on the fateful day long ago, trying to be a good wolf.
The forest was my home, I lived in there and since it was my home, I cared about it. I tried to keep it neat and clean, safe; you know -- all those good things about the balance of nature and all.
It happened one sunny day while I was going about my business in the forest (let’s see, I was cleaning up some debris which a camper had left from the previous day) when I heard the sound of footsteps. I leaped behind a tree and saw a rather plain little girl coming down the trail carrying a basket. Now since my job is to keep the forest safe and clean and neat, it is important that I know what’s going on in the forest -- to keep undesirables out, and to make sure that my home remains a fit place for me and all my friends to live. I was suspicious of this little girl right away because aside from the basket she was carrying (which could hold all sorts of things), she was dressed funny -- all in red and her head covered so as to seem like she didn’t want people to know who she was. So naturally, I stopped to check her out. I asked who she was, where she was going, where she had come from, why she was traveling, and whatever. She gave me a song and dance about going to her grandmother’s house and that suspicious-looking basket containing lunch. I didn’t believe her at first, but as I listened further, she appeared to be a basically honest person, and harmless. But she was in my forest and she certainly looked suspicious with that strange get-up of hers and I was worried that having her prancing down the path looking like that might scare my friends and might even tempt a forest creature not as responsible and kind as I, to threaten her, thus threatening the safety of my forest. So I decided to teach her a lesson so she might learn how serious it is to prance (skipping I think she called it) through the forest unannounced and dressed funny.
I let her go on her way, but ran ahead to her grandmother’s house and when I saw the nice old woman, I explained my problem. Being a forest creature herself, seeing as she lived in a small clearing on the edge of the forest, she agreed that her granddaughter needed to learn a lesson which, obviously, the girl’s mother, who was the grandmother’s daughter, had failed to teach. The old woman agreed to stay out of sight until I called her. Actually, she hid under the bed.
When the girl came to the door, I invited her into the bedroom where I was in bed dressed like the grandmother. The girl came in all rosy cheeked and said something nasty about my big ears (which she had no business doing since I can’t do anything about my ears any more than you can.) Anyway, I’ve been insulted before so I took the hurt and made the best of it by suggesting that my big ears would help me to hear better. Now, I thought that was a neat thing to say in response to her insult because I thought it meant that I liked her and wanted to pay close attention to what she was saying. But what does she do? She makes another insulting crack about my bulging eyes. Imagine! Here’s a little girl who thought she was talking to her beloved grandmother and she makes two insulting cracks in a row. And after I tried to be nice when she insulted me the first time. Now you see how I was beginning to feel about this girl who had put on such a nice front, but apparently was a very nasty person. I was actually most concerned about the feelings of the grandmother who could hear all these insults from under that very bed! But I’ve made it my policy to turn the other cheek so I told her that my big eyes helped me to see her better. Wouldn’t you think that she would get the message that I’m not going to play her nasty put-down game? Not her!
My plan had been to talk with her for awhile and then carefully remove the grandmother clothing to show the girl that she simply must be more careful and alert. But her next insult got to me. I’ve got this problem with my teeth. My parents were poor wolves and never had the money to have good dentistry done on me so I’ve got kind of prominent teeth. And that little wench made an insulting crack about my large teeth. Okay. I’ve tried to be nice all along, but I’m sensitive about my large teeth. And her insult about my large teeth made me very angry. I know that I should have had better control, but that’s water under the bridge, as they say. Any, I leaped up from that insult and angrily growled that my teeth would help me to eat her better. Now let’s face it -- no wolf could ever eat a little girl -- everyone knows that and besides, you know me well enough by now to know that I’d never hurt anything. It’s just that I got very angry all of a sudden.
But the crazy little girl lost all touch with reality. She started running around screaming -- me chasing her to calm her down -- I’d already taken off the grandmother’s clothes, but that only seemed to make it worse. The grandmother, incidentally, never came out to help me. All of a sudden the door came crashing down -- some lumberjack destroyed the door with his axe as though there was a four alarm fire. I looked at him -- and then at that hysterical girl -- and all of a sudden it came clear what I was into. The lumberjack thought I was attacking the girl. Well, I could understand his violent intentions then so I turned to him to explain and just then he swung his axe, splitting me open right across the middle. The blow was so hard that I flew across the room and landed on the other side of the bed. About that time the grandmother finally got some wits about herself and she came out from under the bed. I lay there thinking that I ought not make any sudden moves because there was that axe still in the lumberjack’s hand, so I just lay still and they left the house, thinking I was dying. The grandmother never did tell them what was going on there. I’ve had a hard time forgiving her for that. But I didn’t die, although I was pretty sick for a long time. And now people all seem to think that I’m a mean, nasty guy. I’ve had to change my appearance and my job. I’d much rather be a wolf and return to my forest, but I can’t take that chance, as long as there are so many people who think I’m dangerous. Why even little children in school are taught that I’m mean and nasty. I’ve lost everything and just because I was trying to help, trying to keep my forest safe for everyone -- even that little girl.
Well, now you know my story and I feel getter already for telling you. It does seem to be better when I’m not carrying all that stuff around by myself. Thank you for listening.
Leif, Fern. “The Maligned Wolf”. Individual Development: Creativity. California: Education Improvement Associates, 1974.
NAME:______
QAR QUESTIONS FOR “THE MALIGNED WOLF”
DIRECTIONS:
1. Determine which strategy is being used for each question and write
A, B, C or D in the blank before the question.
A. Right There B. Think & Search C. Author & YouD. On Your Own
2. Answer the questions.
QUESTIONS:
_____ 1. What was the wolf’s job?
_____ 2. How could the wolf and Little Red Riding Hood tell the same story in such very different ways?
_____ 3. How did the wolf’s opinion of Little Red Riding Hood change over time?
_____ 4. How many times did Little Red Riding Hood insult the wolf?
_____ 5. Describe 3 characteristics of the wolf’s personality.
_____ 6. Why did the wolf have prominent teeth?
_____ 7. How does this story relate to teamwork?
_____ 8. What is the moral of the story?
_____ 9. How has the wolf’s reputation changed?
_____10. What lesson was the wolf trying to teach Little Red Riding Hood?