The Gunny Wolf

This is the story of "The Gunny Wolf." I found it on Utah State's campus. (Some sources spell it gunniwolf.) According to the sign, it was a story that was original told by slaves to their children, and then a teacher in Utah started telling it to her student. It's a great story to read out loud because there are sound effects. The gist of the story is a girl's father tells her not to go out the gate of their home. But when she's alone one day, she sees some beautiful flowers outside the gate, and she wants them for her father, so she begins picking them, and she keeps seeing another, more perfect flower than before, and she keeps getting further and further away. She begins singing when suddenly a wolf comes by--the gunny wolf!--and says, "please sing that sweet song again," and she's terrified, but she continues singing, until the wolf falls asleep, and then she starts tiptoeing home. He confronts her several times, and the same thing happens, until she reaches the gate and she's safe at home. "And she never went outside the gate alone again."

The story is addressing a couple points such as obeying one's parents, but also: girls should not go outside alone. Maybe it's because I was in Mormon country, but that's what I got from it. It also shows that the girl could defend herself though--she wasn't completely defenseless, since she could sing the wolf to sleep and get away. I would have gone outside the gate again after learning that I could do that. But I should stop analyzing the children's story. Not obeying one's parents could be a biblical reference to Adam and Eve and the apple, or it could just be a parent trying to get her children to obey her so she can keep them safe.