Those three pigs

I was reading The Three Little Pigs to Wren at bedtime. Mama pig sends the three little pigs out into the world to seek their fortune. It was the version in the pigs get eaten by the wolf rather than running for refuge to their brother's house. In the final 'scene' the brick-building pig sets a trap for the wolf who falls into a pot of boiling water and "the little pig ate him for dinner".

Wren found the story confusing.

Wren: Why does the Mama pig make them go away?

Me: Because they are grown up.

Wren: Don't send me away.

Me: No, if you are grown up I will give you some bricks.

Wren: No, you must build me a house...

Me: Well, we can build a house together.

Then I started thinking that even when kids are adults, I can't think of many people who send them on their way and say "seek your fortune". Perhaps that is going out of style. Anyway, Wren is not old enough and needed reassurance.

When we came to the part of the wolf being 'eaten' Wren worried about eating the wolf's fur.

Wren: It would be hairy.

Me: Yes, it would.

Wren: The wolf ate the other pigs?

Me: Yes... weird huh? Its like the little pig ate his brothers in the wolf.

Wren: The pigs didn't come out?

We had just read the story of Little Red Riding Hood in which the granny comes out of the wolf when the woodcutter cuts his head off (Wren said that was "Gross, don't show it to me"). It is odd. Perhaps the pigs had already been digested while Granny had been recently eaten.

All in all, it was a disturbing bedtime and I have told Wren that we can get a new book for tomorrow night.