The Little Pink Pig And The Big Road
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ANIMAL STORIES
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Boys And Girls Bookshelf
BY JASMINE STONE VAN DRESSER
Once there was a little pink pig with five little spotted brothers and
sisters. They had a nice home in the wood lot with their mama, and a
nice yard with a little white fence around it. The little pigs were very
happy playing in the yard. They made mud pies and baked them in the sun.
One day the little pink pig asked his mama to let him go out of the gate
into t
e big road.
"You are too little and do not know enough yet," said his mama. "When
you grow bigger I shall teach you about the big road, and then you may
go. Now, be a good little pig, and run and play with your brothers and
sisters."
But the little pink pig would not play with his brothers and sisters. He
ran off in a corner by himself and would not make mud pies.
Pretty soon the milkman came in his wagon to bring the milk for dinner.
He carried it in and knocked at the back door, and poured it in a pail
for mama. Then he ran out as fast as he could and hopped up in his wagon
and drove away.
But he forgot to close the gate.
The little pink pig saw the gate was open, and he ran right out into the
big road.
"I will show my mama how much I know," he said. And he trotted down the
big road as fast as his little pink legs would carry him.
He had not gone very far when he saw a big black and white thing. The
black and white thing ran after the little pig, and rolled him over in
the dust.
The little pig squealed and squealed, and the black and white thing
rolled him and rolled him over, and kept saying "Bow wow!" But by and by
he turned and went away.
The little pig got up and tried to shake off the dust, but he couldn't
shake it all off. He wanted to go home, but he had rolled over and over
so much, that he couldn't tell where home was. So he ran into a
cornfield to hide, till he was sure the black and white thing was gone.
Pretty soon a man came along and found him in the cornfield and said:
"Hello, pink pig, are you eating my corn?"
"Oh, no!" said the little pig. "I would not eat your corn."
"Then you should keep out of my cornfield," said the man. "I will take
you home and shut you in a pen."
And he took the little pink pig home and shut him up in a pen.
"I do not want to be shut up. Please let me out," said the little pink
pig.
But the man did not let him out. It was not a nice pen, and the little
pig got all muddy and dirty in it. He wished he was at home in his own
little house with his mama, and his spotted brothers and sisters.
He ran round and round till he found a little hole in the fence. He was
such a tiny pig that he squeezed through the hole and got out, though he
had a hard time, for the buttons on his jacket got caught, and he could
hardly get loose. He did not know which way to go to find his home, but
he ran as fast as he could to get away from the pen.
He ran through a fence into a big place where there was plenty of grass.
There were some very big red things in there, and one saw the little pig
and ran after him.
"Oh, dear!" said the little pink pig (only he was not pink any more
because he was all covered with mud), "are you a big pig?"
The big red thing shook its head and said "Moo!" and tossed the little
pig up in the air. The little pig fell on the ground with a hard bump.
He lay still till the red thing went away. Then he got up and ran as
fast as he could.
He ran out in the road, and right into a black and white speckled thing
with two legs. The speckled thing puffed up and said "Squawk!"
The little pig ran as fast as he could because he thought the speckled
thing was chasing him. But it wasn't.
The little pig did not know where he was running, and he did not have
time to find out. The first thing he knew he almost ran into a lot of
two-legged things. They had big yellow mouths.
One of them said "Hiss-ss!" and ran out and nipped the little pig's hind
leg. The little pig squealed and ran the other way.
"Oh, dear!" he thought, "if I ever get back to my mama, I will never try
to go down the big road again, till she teaches me what these queer
things are."
Just then he found himself in front of his own little house with the
white fence around it. He ran into the house and told his mama
everything that had happened to him. "Oh, mama," he said, "what was the
black and white thing?"
"It was a dog," she said. "Dogs sometimes chase little pigs."
"Oh, mama," he said, "a man found me in his cornfield and put me in a
pen."
"You must keep out of cornfields," said mama. "People do not like pigs
in their cornfields."
"Oh, mama, what was the big red thing with sharp things on top of its
head?"
"It was a cow," said mama. "You should not go where cows are till you
are big enough to keep out of their way."
"Oh, mama, what was the speckled thing that puffed up and said
'Squawk?'"
"It was a hen," said mama. "She was not chasing you, she was only going
to the other side of the road."
"Oh, mama, what was the white thing that nipped me?" "It was a goose.
You should always keep away from them."
"Oh, mama, this is a big world, and there are lots of funny things in
it."
"Yes," said mama. "That is why it is best for little pigs not to go out
on the big road till they know more. You need not be afraid of anything
if you know what it is. You have learned a great deal today for such a
little pig, but if you are patient and wait till I teach you, you will
not have such a hard time. We shall walk out every day, and I will teach
you how a little pig can take care of himself all the time." Then she
put the little pig in the wash-tub, for he was all covered with mud, and
washed him nicely--and before long he was the little pink pig again.