Golden Hair and the Three Bears
Once upon a time there were three bears who lived in a little house in the forest.
There was the great huge father bear and the middle-sized mother bear and the tiny baby bear.
One morning the mother bear made the porridge for their breakfast and poured it into their bowls
to cool, a great big bowl for the father bear and a middle-sized bowl for the mother bear and a
little wee bowl for the baby bear.
"Now, my dears," said the father bear, we will go for a walk while our porridge is cooling."
So the great huge father bear and the middle-sized mother bear and the tiny baby bear all went
for a walk in the woods.
Near the woods where the bears lived there lived a little girl whose hair was so yellow that she
was called "Golden Hair." She loved to gather the flowers that grew among the grass and under
the trees.
On this morning she said to her mother, "Please, mother, let me go and gather some flowers, they
are so beautiful to-day."
"If you will not go into the deep woods, you may go," said her mother.
"No, I will not go far," said Golden Hair, but she was a very thoughtless little girl, and she went
on and on, gathering flowers, until she had a great bunch, as many as her hands could hold, but
when she looked up she was in the heart of the deep woods. No one answered when she called,
and she ran on and on, until she was too tired to run any farther.
Just then she saw a little house not far away among the trees. "Some one here will surely tell me
the way home," said the little girl, and she ran to the little house and knocked on the door.
No one answered, so Golden Hair opened the door and walked in. On the table she saw three
bowls of porridge. She was very hungry, so she ran to the table and tasted the porridge in the
great big bowl, but it was very salty; then she tasted the porridge in the middle-sized bowl, but
that was too sweet; so she tasted the porridge in the little wee bowl, and that was just right, and
she ate and she ate until the porridge was all gone.
She looked around the room and she saw three chairs, a great huge chair and a middle-sized chair
and a little wee chair. First she sat down in the great huge chair, but that was too high for her;
and then she sat down in the middle-sized chair, but that was too low for her; so then she sat
down in the little wee chair, and that was just right, and she rocked and she rocked until she fell
over and broke the chair.
Then Golden Hair thought she would go upstairs and see what there might be up there. There she
saw three beds, a great huge bed and a middle-sized bed and a little wee bed. First she lay down
on the great huge bed, but that was too hard for her; so then she lay down on the middle-sized
bed, but that was too soft for her; so then she tried the little wee bed, and that was so comfortable
that before she knew it she was fast asleep.
Just then the three bears who lived in the house came home from their walk. Seeing the door
open, they hurried in.
"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN EATING MY PORRIDGE!" growled the great huge bear.
"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN EATING MY PORRIDGE!" snarled the middle-sized bear.
"Somebody has been at my porridge and eaten it all up!" cried the little wee bear.
Then the bears looked around to see who had been in their house.
"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY CHAIR!" growled the great huge bear.
"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY CHAIR!" snarled the middle-sized bear.
"Somebody has been sitting in my chair and broke it to pieces!" cried the little wee bear.
Then the bears decided to go upstairs to look for the intruder. The great huge bear went first, and
the middle-sized bear came next, and last of all came the little wee bear.
"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN LYING ON MY BED!" growled the great huge bear.
"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN LYING ON MY BED!" snarled the middle-sized bear.
"Somebody has been lying on my bed," cried the little wee bear, "and here she is!"
Now the voice of the great huge bear had sounded to Golden Hair like thunder; and the voice of
the middle-sized bear had sounded like the wind in the tree tops; but the voice of the little wee
bear was so shrill that it woke her up.
When she opened her eyes and saw the three bears looking angrily at her she was so frightened
that she rolled off the bed on the farther side and, running to the window, she jumped out.
On and on she ran until finally she came to the path that led to her home. When she reached her
home she was so tired she could hardly tell her mother what a naughty child she had been, and
she never again strayed into the heart of the deep woods where the bears lived.
from The Story Teller's Book
by Alice O'Grady, 1912