Fairytales Archive

A She-Goat, leaving her house one morning to look for food, told her Kid to bolt the door, and to open to no one who did not give as a password, “A plague on the Wolf, and all his tribe.” A Wolf who was lurking about, unseen by the Goat, heard her words, and when she was gone, came and tapped at the door, and imitating her voice, said, “A plague on the Wolf, and all his tribe.” He made sure that the door would be opened at once; but the Kid, whose suspicions were aroused, replied: “Show me your beard and I will let you in at once.”

Moral: Double proof is surest.