A father of 7 daughters goes to the woods and finds 7 wild duck eggs. Selfishly, he shares them only with his wife. The next morning, a daughter asks the mom what shes cooking and the mom says eggs, and that she will give her one if she does not tell her sisters. This happens with all 7 sisters, and the father is furious there are none left. He asks if they want to go to grandmas house, but he really plans to leave them in the woods to be eaten by wolves. The older daughters saw through his ploy, but the younger did not and agreed to go. He abandoned them, and they were left to seek shelter.
They found a cave behind a boulder, lit inside with many jewels owned unknown to them by a fox and a wolf. The two sisters settled to sleep on the two golden beds. When the fox and wolf returned home, the wolf swore he smelled human flesh but the fox said this was nonsense since they locked up the cave too well. They settled down to sleep near the fire. When the girls woke, they were terrified of the animals. They stoked the fire and put the boulder back, locking them inside to burn to death.
The daughters lived in the cave for a few days, and when the father started to miss them he went looking for them. He found them and the jewels, brought them home, and they became a happy family.
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After thoughts
I chose this one because the title reminded me of the first Lovecraft story I read, The Beast in the Cave. It was honestly a let down, and I guess the girls get their murderous nature from their father. The wolf/grandma element made me think of red riding hood. Then you have a little bit of goldilocks thrown in, sleeping in someone else's bed. I don't like the ending, where the only message I can find is the opposite of the Beatles song, becoming "money can buy me love". Why didn't the older sisters warn the little sisters? Why were the little sisters so quick to forgive their father? How was the mom too stupid to see what was happening in her house? What a horrible family.
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