The Three Bears

: ANIMAL STORIES
: Boys And Girls Bookshelf

Once upon a time there were three bears who lived in a castle in a great

wood. One of them was a great big bear, and one was a middling bear, and

one was a little bear. And in the same wood there was a fox who lived

all alone; his name was Scrapefoot. Scrapefoot was very much afraid of

the bears, but for all that he wanted very much to know all about them.

And one day as he went through the wood he found himself near the Bears'
>
Castle, and he wondered whether he could get into the castle. He looked

all about him everywhere, and he could not see any one. So he came up

very quietly, till at last he came up to the door of the castle, and he

tried whether he could open it. Yes! the door was not locked, and he

opened it just a little way, and put his nose in and looked, and he

could not see any one. So then he opened it a little way farther, and

put one paw in, and then another paw, and another and another, and then

he was all in the Bears' Castle. He found he was in a great hall with

three chairs in it--one big, one middling, and one little chair; and he

thought he would like to sit down and rest and look about him; so he sat

down on the big chair. But he found it so hard and uncomfortable that it

made his bones ache, and he jumped down at once and got into the

middling chair, and he turned round and round in it, but he couldn't

make himself comfortable. So then he went to the little chair and sat

down in it, and it was so soft and warm and comfortable that Scrapefoot

was quite happy; but all at once it broke to pieces under him and he

couldn't put it together again! So he got up and began to look about him

again, and on one table he saw three saucers, of which one was very big,

one was middling, one was quite a little saucer. Scrapefoot was very

thirsty, and he began to drink out of the big saucer. But he only just

tasted the milk in the big saucer, which was so sour and so nasty that

he would not taste another drop of it. Then he tried the middling

saucer, and he drank a little of that. He tried two or three mouthfuls,

but it was not nice, and then he left it and went to the little saucer,

and the milk in the little saucer was so sweet and so nice that he went

on drinking it till it was all gone.



Then Scrapefoot thought he would like to go upstairs; and he listened

and he could not hear any one. So upstairs he went, and he found a great

room with three beds in it; one was a big bed, and one was a middling

bed, and one was a little white bed; and he climbed up into the big bed,

but it was so hard and lumpy and uncomfortable that he jumped down again

at once, and tried the middling bed. That was rather better, but he

could not get comfortable in it, so after turning about a little while

he got up and went to the little bed; and that was so soft and so warm

and so nice that he fell fast asleep at once.



And after a time the Bears came home, and when they got into the hall

the big Bear went to his chair and said, "Who's been sitting in my

chair?" and the middling Bear said, "Who's been sitting in my chair?"

and the little Bear said, "Who's been sitting in my chair and has broken

it all to pieces?" And then they went to have their milk, and the big

bear said, "Who's been drinking my milk?" and the middling Bear said,

"Who's been drinking my milk?" And the little Bear said, "Who's been

drinking my milk and has drunk it all up?" Then they went upstairs and

into the bedroom, and the big Bear said, "Who's been sleeping in my

bed?" and the middling Bear said, "Who's been sleeping in my bed?" and

the little Bear said, "Who's been sleeping in my bed?--and see here he

is!" So then the Bears came and wondered what they should do with him;

and the big Bear said, "Let's hang him!" and then the middling Bear

said, "Let's drown him!" and then the little Bear said, "Let's throw him

out of the window." And then the Bears took him to the window, and the

big Bear took two legs on one side and the middling Bear took two legs

on the other side, and they swung him backwards and forwards, backwards

and forwards, and out of the window. Poor Scrapefoot was so frightened,

and he thought every bone in his body must be broken. But he got up and

first shook one leg--no, that was not broken; and then another, and that

was not broken; and another and another, and then he wagged his tail and

found there were no bones broken. So then he galloped off home as fast

as he could go, and never went near the Bears' Castle again.



[M] From "More English Fairy Tales," edited by Joseph Jacobs. Used by

permission of the publishers, G. P. Putnam's Sons.



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