The Story Of The Three Bears
:
Favorite Fairy Tales
Once upon a time there were Three Bears, who lived together in a house
of their own in a wood. One of them was a Little, Small, Wee Bear; and
one was a Middle-sized Bear, and the other was a Great, Huge Bear.
They had each a pot for their porridge, a little pot for the Little,
Small, Wee Bear; and a middle-sized pot for the Middle Bear; and a
great pot for the Great, Huge Bear. And they had each a chair to sit
in; a li
tle chair for the Little, Small, Wee Bear; and a middle-sized
chair for the Middle Bear; and a great chair for the Great, Huge Bear.
And they had each a bed to sleep in; a little bed for the Little,
Small, Wee Bear; and a middle-sized bed for the Middle Bear; and a
great bed for the Great, Huge Bear.
One day, after they had made the porridge for their breakfast, and
poured it into their porridge-pots, they walked out into the wood
while the porridge was cooling, that they might not burn their mouths
by beginning too soon to eat it. And while they were walking a little
old woman came to the house. She could not have been a good, honest
old woman; for, first, she looked in at the window, and then she
peeped in at the key-hole; and, seeing nobody in the house, she lifted
the latch. The door was not fastened, because the bears were good
bears, who did nobody any harm, and never suspected that anybody would
harm them. So the little old woman opened the door and went in, and
well pleased she was when she saw the porridge on the table. If she
had been a good little old woman she would have waited till the bears
came home, and then, perhaps, they would have asked her to breakfast;
for they were good bears--a little rough or so, as the manner of bears
is, but for all that very good-natured and hospitable. But she was an
impudent, bad old woman, and set about helping herself.
So first she tasted the porridge of the Great, Huge Bear, and that was
too hot for her; and she said a bad word about that. And then she
tasted the porridge of the Middle Bear, and that was too cold for her;
and she said a bad word about that, too. And then she went to the
porridge of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, and tasted that, and that was
neither too hot nor too cold, but just right, and she liked it so well
that she ate it all up; but the naughty old woman said a bad word
about the little porridge-pot, because it did not hold enough for her.
Then the little old woman sate down in the chair of the Great, Huge
Bear, and that was too hard for her. And then she sate down in the
chair of the Middle Bear, and that was too soft for her. And then she
sate down in the chair of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, and that was
neither too hard nor too soft, but just right. So she seated herself
in it, and there she sate till the bottom of the chair came out, and
down came she, plump upon the ground. And the naughty old woman said a
wicked word about that, too.
Then the little old woman went up-stairs into the bedchamber in which
the three bears slept. And first she lay down upon the bed of the
Great, Huge Bear; but that was too high at the head for her. And next
she lay down upon the bed of the Middle Bear; and that was too high at
the foot for her. And then she lay down upon the bed of the Little,
Small, Wee Bear; and that was neither too high at the head nor at the
foot, but just right. So she covered herself up comfortably, and lay
there till she fell fast asleep.
By this time the three bears thought their porridge would be cool
enough, so they came home to breakfast. Now the little old woman had
left the spoon of the Great, Huge Bear standing in his porridge.
"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN AT MY PORRIDGE!"
said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice. And when
the Middle Bear looked at his, he saw that the spoon was standing in
it, too. They were wooden spoons; if they had been silver ones the
naughty old woman would have put them in her pocket.
"Somebody Has Been At My Porridge!"
said the Middle Bear, in his middle voice.
Then the Little, Small, Wee Bear looked at his, and there was the
spoon in the porridge-pot, but the porridge was all gone.
"Somebody has been at my porridge, and has eaten it all
up!"
said the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice.
Upon this the three bears, seeing that some one had entered their
house, and eaten up the Little, Small, Wee Bear's breakfast, began to
look about them. Now the little old woman had not put the hard cushion
straight when she rose from the chair of the Great, Huge Bear.
"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY CHAIR!"
said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice.
And the little old woman had squatted down the soft cushion of the
Middle Bear.
"Somebody Has Been Sitting In My Chair!"
said the Middle Bear, in his middle voice.
And you know what the little old woman had done to the third chair.
"Somebody has been sitting in my chair, and has sate
the bottom of it out!"
said the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice.
Then the three bears thought it necessary that they should make
further search, so they went up-stairs into their bedchamber. Now the
little old woman had pulled the pillow of the Great, Huge Bear out of
its place.
"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN LYING IN MY BED!"
said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice.
And the little old woman had pulled the bolster of the Middle Bear
out of its place.
"Somebody Has Been Lying in My Bed!"
said the Middle Bear, in his middle voice.
And when the Little, Small, Wee Bear came to look at his bed, there
was the bolster in its place, and the pillow in its place upon the
bolster, and upon the pillow was the little old woman's ugly, dirty
head--which was not in its place, for she had no business there.
"Somebody has been lying in my bed--and here she is!"
said the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice.
her at once]
The little old woman had heard in her sleep the great, rough, gruff
voice of the Great, Huge Bear; but she was so fast asleep that it was
no more to her than the roaring of wind or the rumbling of thunder.
And she had heard the middle voice of the Middle Bear, but it was
only as if she had heard some one speaking in a dream. But when she
heard the little, small, wee voice of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, it
was so sharp and so shrill that it awakened her at once. Up she
started; and when she saw the Three Bears on one side of the bed she
tumbled herself out at the other and ran to the window. Now the window
was open, because the bears, like good, tidy bears as they were,
always opened their bedchamber window when they got up in the morning.
Out the little old woman jumped; and whether she broke her neck in the
fall, or ran into the wood and was lost there, or found her way out of
the wood and was taken up by the constable and sent to the House of
Correction for a vagrant as she was, I cannot tell. But the Three
Bears never saw anything more of her.
From "The Green Fairy Book," edited by Andrew Lang, by
the courtesy of Longmans, Green & Co.