" Hello, mummy!" " Hello, darling." " Any presents for me?" " A surprise." " What?" " You know!" " No I don't, what?" " Where is she?" "Did she miss tea again?" "She said she had tummy-ache so she's sulking in her room." " It's her age." " She's a pest!" "So were you once!" "Now go and wake her." "Pest, pest!" "I want you to have a word with her." "Well, I have." "I've tried..." "I've been upstairs to see her..." " Yes, but not..." " She always tells me I don't understand her." " Oh, that's ridiculous." " Well, she's right." "Go away!" "They want you downstairs!" "You have to come out sometime, you can't sulk in there forever!" "Open the door!" "Open it!" "You've been at my lipstick too, haven't you!" "Pest!" "What makes you so different anyway!" "Buck Teeth!" "Come on out, pest!" "It's not because I want you, either, it's because Mummy wants you!" "Pest, pest, pest!" "Say goodbye to your sister now, so you'll never forget her." "Stay with me, child." "Chew on this." "It'll keep your mind off things." "Man that is born of a woman has but a short time to live and is full of misery" "He cometh up and is cut down like a flower he fleeth as it were a shadow, and never continueth in one stay." "In the midst of life we are in death." "For as much as it hath pleased Almighty God of his great mercy to take on to himself the soul of our dear sister here departed" "we therefore commit her body to the ground earth to earth ashes to ashes dust to dust" "Your poor sister, all alone in the wood, and nobody there to save her!" "Poor little lamb!" "Why couldn't she save herself?" "You don't know these things, you're only a child!" "Daddy..." "There, there, pet." "Shall I take her home with me tonight?" "Her mother's in no fit state to look after her." "Come, pet." "I want to stay with Mummy." "Mummy's not well." "Just for tonight." "Come, child, come with me." "It's a long way through the wood, but safe by daylight." "Safe if you keep to the path..." "There's lots more of these in the wood, if you know where to look!" "Berries!" "Don't stray from the path, girl!" "Did you not hear what I told you?" "Once you stray from the path you're lost entirely!" "The wild beasts know no mercy." "They wait for us in the wood, in the shadow, and once you put a foot wrong they POUNCE!" "There, there, my precious." "Don't take on so." "It's something you have to learn, otherwise you'll end up like your poor dear sister!" "Granny, can I have one?" "I can't see why not." "You've got a lot to learn, child." "Never stray from the path, never eat a windfall apple... and never trust a man whose eyebrows meet!" "The best winter wool, pet, woven across the valley so good, so soft I thought I'd knit a shawl for your sister." "But now, you know what I'll do?" " What, Gran?" " I'll make one for you!" "A very special shawl for a very special lady." "Soft as a kitten." "There's something I should tell you." "Yes?" "But maybe you're too young." "Tell me, Gran!" "Too young to understand." "Oh, go on, Gran, tell me!" "Maybe no child is ever too young." "A wolf may be more than he seems." "He may come in many disguises." "What's that?" "The wolf that ate your sister was hairy on the outside." "But when she died she went straight to Heaven." "The worst kind of wolves are hairy on the inside, and when they bite you, they drag you with them to Hell!" "What do you mean, hairy on the inside?" "Like a furry coat?" "Hush now, foolish child, and listen." "Once upon a time there was a Woman in the village, and she married a travelling man..." "They've all gone now." "It's a shame your people missed the wedding." "Maybe it is and maybe it isn't." "My brother's idea of a joke!" "Why are you staring like that?" "Because I've never seen anything like you before." "Don't they have girls where you come from?" "None like you." "Come out of the shadows." "Let me see you, my love." "Are all travelling men as handsome as you?" "So you think I'm handsome?" "The first thing I noticed about you was the way your eyebrows meet." "Does that spoil me then?" "Come to me and I'll tell you." "My dear?" "I must just... go out into the yard for a moment..." "Why ever for?" "Call of nature." "So she waited... and she waited... and she waited again." "Surely he's been gone a long time?" "No!" "It can't be!" "He upped and ran, that's all." "It was in his blood." "Wasn't he a travelling man?" "Anything?" "Not a hair nor a hide of him." "Nor a footprint." "What's that, might I ask?" "I told you I heard a wolf last night!" "They came and took him while he was making water, when a man is at his most defenseless." "Murderers!" "They're murderers!" "But she was a young thing and cheerful of temperament" "and she found another husband not too shy to piss in a pot!" "And they lived happily ever after!" "Indeed they did not!" "First time passed, happily enough." "What a mess!" "Oh, don't start!" "Shut up!" "Here." "Time passed, and she gave him children." "And that was a bad time for wolves, those years, oh yes!" "Not a sheep or a cow was safe." "But for herself all went right as a trivet until... one winter's night..." "My God..." "I'm starving." "Do you want something to eat?" "Didn't you hear me the first time!" "Where did these three spring from?" "Out of my belly!" "Your children..." "but not my children!" "Whore!" "Adulteress!" "You hoped I'd never come back!" "I thought the wolves had taken you!" "Better a wolf than a whore!" "If I were wolf once more, I'd teach this whore a lesson!" "He looks just the same... as the day I married him!" "I'd never let a man strike me." "Oh, they're nice as pie until they've had their way with you." "But once the bloom is gone, oh, the beast comes out." "When the wolves, though when the real wolves... when the real wolves mate, do the dogs beat the bitches afterward?" "Animals!" "All wild animals!" "Well, that's enough wool for tonight." "Bedtime." "What about a kiss for Granny?" "Don't I deserve a kiss for my story?" "The best of all girls!" "Of course you won't stay a young girl much longer." "Your mummy and daddy will need all the help they can get." "Just grow wise, learn all that you can, now that your sister is gone." "Caught!" "Caught who, you snotty-nosed ragamuffin?" "I caught Rosaleen!" "Oh no, nobody catches my little princess!" "Come along, my child." "There's too much food now there's just the three of us." "Don't grieve." "Least said soonest mended." "Rosaleen!" "Shall we play now?" "Play what?" "A game!" "I know a good game." "Close your eyes." "Now, come to me." "Closer, closer." "Come on." "Closer." "There!" "Now what?" "Olly olly, can't catch me!" "Mummy..." "Yes, pet?" " Does he hurt you?" " Does who hurt me?" "Does Daddy hurt you..." "when he..." "No, not at all." "It sounds like..." "Like what?" "Like the beasts Granny talked about." "You pay too much attention to your Granny." "She knows a lot, but she doesn't know everything." "And if there's a beast in men, it meets its match in women too." "Understand me?" "Get up and fetch me some water." "Rosaleen!" "Yes?" "I've brought you a little present." "What kind of present?" "I thought maybe you'd take a walk with me in the wood, on Sunday after the service." "Just a little walk, Rosaleen." "Why should I?" "I thought maybe you'd want to." "I'd have to ask." "Tell your mother I'll be with you." "And we won't stray from the path!" "They're the best of all roses..." "fit for the grave of a princess." "They came off my best rose tree!" "Why can't Mommy grow roses like that?" "It's a question of a green thumb, she lacks that." "No hand at pastry, either!" "Good morning, Father!" "Good morning!" "They say that priests' bastards often turn into wolves as they grow older!" "What do you mean?" "If the child is born on Christmas Day." "If he's born feet first he'll be the one, if he's born feet first and his eyebrows meet in the middle!" "Oh yes... very bad!" "One day he'll meet the Devil in the wood..." "Now use it wisely!" "Waste not, want not!" "No!" "No!" "That's a horrid story!" "I didn't like it at all." "It's not a story, child, but God's own truth." "So if you should spy on a naked man in the wood, run as if the Devil himself were after you!" "The Devil's one thing, but a priest making babies is another!" "I don't think our priest would have it in him." "You can't trust anyone, least of all a priest!" "He's not called Father for nothing!" "And don't bother to whisper, he's deaf as a post!" "There, isn't that lovely?" "All we need is a nice border and fringe." "See how soft it feels!" "Soft as snow!" "Red as a berry!" "Red as blood." "Old fool, want to brain me!" "What's he up to in the tree, the old monkey!" "Father, are you climbing up to Heaven and chopping the rungs of the ladder after you?" "Watch what you're doing!" "Can you hear me?" "Don't make so much clamour in the garden of God's house, you irreverent old woman!" " I heard every word!" " Well, what a silly game!" "Someone's got to do it!" "Someone's got to cut away the old wood." "Even evergreens need pruning!" "Daddy, leave her be!" "He only asked me to walk with him." " What's wrong with that?" " All the same, I don't know." "It's not as if..." "Ah, where's the harm in it, he's our neighbour's son, she's known him since she was a baby." "She still is a baby." " So was our Alice once." " She'll be gone soon enough, she's so pretty." "What is it they say, it's not losing a daughter, it's gaining a son?" "Stop teasing me, he only asked me to walk with him!" "Well, one thing leads to another." "Isaiah, Chapter 11, Verses 6 to 8" "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;" "and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together;" "and a little child shall lead them." "And the cow and the bear shall feed;" "their young ones shall lie down together:" "and the lion shall eat straw like the ox." "And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice ' den." "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain:" "for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea." "That's my boy!" "Don't stray from the path!" " When do you have to be back, Rosaleen?" " Soon." "Why are you so crabby today?" "I thought you wanted to come!" "So what if I did?" "Well, you should..." "What should I?" " Well, you know..." " I don't know." "Look!" "Pretty, but not as pretty as you!" " Wasn't that nice?" " No." "What's wrong, Rosaleen?" "Don't you like me?" "Oh no, I like you." "I like you well enough." "Well why won't you kiss me?" "You're afraid, aren't you?" "I'm not afraid!" "Well?" "That wasn't very good." " Give me another!" " Have to catch me first!" "Rosaleen!" "Where are you?" "Oh Jesus!" "Wolf!" "Wolf!" "Wolf...!" "Where's my daughter?" "What have you done with my daughter?" "She ran away from me!" " Get your hands off him!" " Rosaleen!" "Don't you hit my boy!" "Your son left my only daughter to the mercy of the wolves!" "A daughter's one thing, a heifer's another!" "I'll cool you off!" "My darling!" "Where have you been?" "And in such a state!" "Look, Mummy." "Take care, won't you?" "And take this." "No." "This is all these beasts understand." "Kill them before they kill you." "Keep close!" "There was once a village so plagued by the beasts they drew one up in the bucket of the well!" "Hush your antique gossip unless you want the wolves to hear it!" "You're such a big girl now, aren't you?" "Come on, hold still!" "There you are, big girl!" "Just be careful of those boys if they take you in the wood again." "What boys?" "Clowns are what the village boys are!" "Your Granny spoils you..." "makes you think you're something special." "That red shawl!" "If you think the wolves are big now you should have seen them when I were a lad!" "Monsters they was..." "that's the truth!" "Veritable monsters." "Big as a man...bigger!" "When will Daddy have done with the killing?" "When the beast is dead, and not until the beast is dead." "We won't live quiet until then." "Be winter soon." "Hard winter." "A hard winter brings out the wolves." "Thank God we're safe indoors!" "We must hide in the trees!" "BOY!" "Quickly!" "Douse the lights!" "Into the trees!" "Quietly!" "Granny says wolves may not always be what they seem." "How can a wolf be worse than it already is?" "Not worse, but different." "Maybe it isn't the wolf's fault, Mummy." "Maybe..." "Maybe what?" "Maybe once upon a time..." "Are you going to tell me a story?" "Maybe I am." "Go on then !" "Once upon a time..." "there was a Woman in the valley." "And the son of the big house did her a terrible wrong." "So she came to his wedding, to put wrong to right." "My dear, she was a beautiful thing." "No one would have suspected a thing." "Ladies and gentlemen, a toast!" " To the bride ...and groom!" " To the bride and groom!" "Come on, lad, kiss the girl!" "With pleasure!" "A taste of what's to come!" "Well done, sir!" "Very good!" "So, I wasn't good enough for you." "I was, once..." "Once upon a time..." "Don't you remember?" "Don't you?" "The wolves in the forest are more decent!" "Absolutely horrible!" "Where did you hear a story like that?" "It's not a story, but God's honest truth!" "Granny told me." "And after that, the Woman made the wolves come to sing to her and the baby at night." "Made them come and serenade her." "But what pleasure could there be in that?" "Listening to a lot of wolves!" "Don't we have to do it all the time?" "The pleasure would come from knowing the power that she had." "Daddy, the wolf!" "Praise be to God!" "When I cut it off the carcass for a trophy, it was the forepaw... the forepaw of the biggest wolf I ever saw." "The wolf that killed our Alice?" "Aye, may be." "When I cut it with the knife it was a forepaw, I swear, of a grizzle giant wolf... and then before my very eyes..." "Whose is it, Daddy?" "Is it someone you knew?" "What do I know whose hand it is!" "All I know is what I see." "Get it out!" "Was it a man or a wolf you killed?" "When I killed it it was a wolf, and it turned into a man." "Seeing is believing." "Is it?" "What about... touching?" "Get it out!" "Whatever it is, now it's dead meat!" "Do we bury it or burn it, Daddy?" "You're besotted with that old lady, and her old wives' tales." "Maybe you shouldn't go." "Daddy killed the great wolf." "I'll be safe in the forest now, Mummy." "Mind you don't stray, and take something to protect yourself with." "How about a knife?" "You're not afraid of anything, are you?" "You're a fearless child, I'll say that." "I suppose your Granny will ask you to stay the night." "You always were her favorite." "Of course I'll stay the night if she asks me it'd be rude not to." "She is my grandmother, and she may not have a kind word for you, but she's always been good to me." "She's all alone out there, Mummy." "Maybe you're right and maybe you're not." "Give her that from me." "And don't stray now, Rosaleen!" "I trust you." " You won't be lucky twice." " I promise." "Rosaleen!" "Where are you going?" "To see my Granny." "It's a long ways through the woods!" "Let me come with you you'd be safe with me!" "Go into the woods with you?" "After what happened last time?" "Let me come, I'll protect you!" "No." "I've got this to protect me." "Miss?" "Where did you spring from?" "Did I scare you?" "I am sorry." "At least you have your clothes on." "Huntsman, are you?" "Lost your horse?" "Lost my horse and lost my companions, young lady." "And lost your way too." "I do believe I just found it." "I say, do you think you could spare me a drink out of that?" "It's for my Granny." "I know the very place up the way for a picnic!" "I have the most remarkable object in my pocket." "That means I never lose my way in the woods." "In your pocket, you say?" "This object goes everywhere with me that is, whenever I wear my trousers." "Go on, bite it." "Don't you know how strong that stuff is?" "A man in our village keeps a still..." "he's the reddest nose you ever saw." "He tells lies, too." "Like you." "I don't believe there is such a thing." "Seeing is believing." "The little needle always points north, no matter where I go, so I always know exactly where I am." "I don't believe it, even though I see it." "It was this compass that brought me safe through the wood." "But you lost your way in the wood." "But I found you." "Are you sorry?" "I'm not sorry." "They're clowns, the village boys." "Well, then." "But don't you know you should never leave the path?" "I just got onto the path." "I was perfectly safe before." "Aren't you afraid of the wolves?" "Why should I be frightened of wolves?" "You must know the worse wolves are hairy on the inside." "Old wives' tales!" "Peasant superstition!" "What, a bright young girl..." "pretty, intelligent girl like you believing in werewolves!" "But my Granny said that..." "For believing in old wives' tales, you... deserve... to be... punished!" "I'll show you I'm not afraid of the wolves, Rosaleen." "I'll make a bet with you." "I'll bet you anything you like that I get to your Granny's house before you do." "How?" "Because..." "I'll use my compass to help me cross the country while you trudge along the dreary path!" "Bet me your compass." "Bet me your heart's desire." "And if I lose?" "You can... give me... a kiss!" "Here!" "take my hat as a token of good will." "Wear it, until we meet again." "Who is it?" "Only your granddaughter." "Lift up the latch and walk in." "God save us!" "Get you back to Hell from which you came!" "I don't come from Hell." "I came from the forest." "What have you done with my granddaughter?" "Nothing she didn't want!" "Who's there?" "Only your granddaughter." "Lift up the latch and walk in." "So." "You got here before me just as you said you would." "I did." "Where's my Granny?" "Gone out to the woodpile, to fetch more logs." "A real gentleman would never let an old lady go out, not on a night like this." "She won't be long." "She's not there." "Is that all you left of her?" "Your kind can't stomach hair, can you even if the worst wolves are hairy on the inside!" "What do you know about my kind?" "My Granny told me plenty!" "Are you very much afraid?" "It wouldn't do me much good to be afraid, would it?" "What big eyes you have!" "All the better to see you with." "They say seeing is believing, but I'd never swear to it." "You must be wet through." "Why don't you take off your shawl?" "What should I do with it?" "Into the fire, you won't need it again." "Your kind can't stomach clothes either." "Who's come to sing us carols then?" "Only my companions, darling." "I love the company of wolves." "Look out of the window and you'll see them." "Poor creatures." "It's freezing cold out there, no wonder they howl so." " Are you sorry for them?" " Yes." "And for you too!" "You're a bold fearless girl, aren't you?" "And now you must give me back my gun, my dear." "Are you our kind, or their kind?" "Not one kind or the other." "Both." "Then where do you live?" "In our world, or in theirs?" "I come and go between them." "My home is nowhere." "Are you only a man when you dress that way like Granny said?" "My, what big arms you have." "All the better to hug you with." "Well... perhaps... you did win your bet, didn't you you gentleman, you fine gentleman." "They say the Prince of Darkness is a gentleman." "And as it turns out, they're right:" "A fine gentleman." "Gentlemen always keep their promises." "Do ladies keep their promises?" "Indeed I won my bet." "So now, you owe me..." "I remember." "...a kiss." "Will you be honourable and pay me, or not?" "Jesus, what big teeth you have!" "All the better to eat you with." "I'm sorry." "I never knew a wolf could cry." "Leaving you, are they?" "You'll be all alone." "I'll tell you a story of a wounded wolf..." "Once upon a time when the village was asleep a she-wolf came, from the world below" "to the world above." "She meant no harm to anyone, but someone meant harm to her." "So she ran... and she ran and she ran again..." "Who's there?" "This is holy ground!" "Can you speak, my child?" "Are you God's work, or the Devil's?" "Oh, what do I care whose work you are you poor, speechless creature?" "It will heal... in time." "And the wound did heal for she was just a girl after all who had strayed from the path in the forest and remembered what she'd found there." "So back through the forest she ran and ran to the well, and the village, from whence she came..." "She crept inside, to the world below ..." "And that's all I'll tell you, because that's all I know." "Rosaleen!" "No!" "Don't shoot!" "Don't shoot!" "Rosaleen!" "Little girls, this seems to say:" "Never stop upon your way;" "Never trust a stranger friend" "No one knows how it will end." "As you're pretty, so be wise" "Wolves may lurk in every guise" "Now, as then, 'tis simple truth:" "Sweetest tongue hides sharpest tooth."