<P> The origins of the Little Red Riding Hood story can be traced to versions from various European countries and more than likely preceding the 17th century, of which several exist, some significantly different from the currently known, Grimms - inspired version . It was told by French peasants in the 10th century and recorded by the cathedral schoolmaster Egbert of Liege . In Italy, the Little Red Riding Hood was told by peasants in the fourteenth century, where a number of versions exist, including La finta nonna (The False Grandmother), written among others by Italo Calvino in the Italian Folktales collection . It has also been called "The Story of Grandmother". It is also possible that this early tale has roots in very similar East Asian tales (e.g. "Grandaunt Tiger"). </P> <P> These early variations of the tale, do differ from the currently known version in several ways . The antagonist is not always a wolf, but sometimes an ogre, vampire, or a' bzou' (werewolf), making these tales relevant to the werewolf - trials (similar to witch trials) of the time (e.g. the trial of Peter Stumpp). The wolf usually leaves the grandmother's blood and meat for the girl to eat, who then unwittingly cannibalizes her own grandmother . Furthermore, the wolf was also known to ask her to remove her clothing and toss it into the fire . In some versions, the wolf eats the girl after she gets into bed with him, and the story ends there . In others, she sees through his disguise and tries to escape, complaining to her "grandmother" that she needs to defecate and would not wish to do so in the bed . The wolf reluctantly lets her go, tied to a piece of string so she does not get away . However, the girl slips the string over something else and runs off . In these stories she escapes with no help from any male or older female figure, instead using her own cunning, or in some versions the help of a younger boy who she happens to run into . Sometimes, though more rarely, the red hood is even non-existent . </P> <P> In other tellings of the story, the wolf chases after Little Red Riding Hood . She escapes with the help of some laundresses, who spread a sheet taut over a river so she may escape . When the wolf follows Red over the bridge of cloth, the sheet is released and the wolf drowns in the river . And in another version the wolf is pushed into the fire, while he is preparing the meat of the grandmother to be eaten by the girl . </P> <P> The earliest known printed version was known as Le Petit Chaperon Rouge and may have had its origins in 17th - century French folklore . It was included in the collection Tales and Stories of the Past with Morals . Tales of Mother Goose (Histoires et contes du temps passé, avec des moralités . Contes de ma mère l'Oye), in 1697, by Charles Perrault . As the title implies, this version is both more sinister and more overtly moralized than the later ones . The redness of the hood, which has been given symbolic significance in many interpretations of the tale, was a detail introduced by Perrault . </P>

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