Grimms' Fairy Tales

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house, and called: 'Open the door, dear children, your mother is here
and has brought something back with her for each of you.' But the wolf
had laid his black paws against the window, and the children saw them
and cried: 'We will not open the door, our mother has not black feet
like you: you are the wolf!' Then the wolf ran to a baker and said: 'I
have hurt my feet, rub some dough over them for me.' And when the baker
had rubbed his feet over, he ran to the miller and said: 'Strew some
white meal over my feet for me.' The miller thought to himself: 'The
wolf wants to deceive someone,' and refused; but the wolf said: 'If you
will not do it, I will devour you.' Then the miller was afraid, and made
his paws white for him. Truly, this is the way of mankind.

So now the wretch went for the third time to the house-door, knocked at
it and said: 'Open the door for me, children, your dear little mother
has come home, and has brought every one of you something back from the
forest with her.' The little kids cried: 'First show us your paws that
we may know if you are our dear little mother.' Then he put his paws