THE STORY OF THE THREE BEARS
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 little 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 Girl
called Goldenlocks came to the house. First she looked in at the window, and
then she peeped in at the keyhole; and seeing nobody in the house, she turned
the handle of the door. 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 Goldenlocks opened the door, and went in; and well pleased she was
when she saw the porridge on the table. If she had been a thoughtful little
Girl, 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 the porridge looked tempting, and she set about helping
herself.
So first she tasted the porridge of the Great,
Huge Bear, and that was too hot for her. And then she tasted the porridge of
the Middle Bear, and that was too cold for her. 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.
Then Goldenlocks sat down in the chair of the
Great, Huge Bear, and that was too hard for her. And then she sat down in the
chair of the Middle Bear, and that was too soft for her. And then she sat 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 sat till
the bottom of the chair came out, and down she came plump upon the ground.
Then Goldenlocks went upstairs 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 Goldenlocks
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 hers, she saw that the spoon was standing in it too.
"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN AT MY PORRIDGE!" said
the Middle Bear, in her 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 someone had
entered their house, and eaten up the Little, Small, Wee Bear's breakfast,
began to look about them. Now Goldenlocks 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 Goldenlocks had squatted down the soft cushion
of the Middle Bear.
"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY CHAIR!"
said the Middle Bear, in her middle voice.
And you know what Goldenlocks had done to the
third chair.
"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY CHAIR, AND
HAS SAT THE BOTTOM OUT OF IT!" said the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his
little, small, wee voice.
Then the Three Bears thought it necessary that
they should make farther search; so they went upstairs into their bedchamber.
Now Goldenlocks 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 Goldenlocks had pulled the bolster of the
Middle Bear out of its place.
"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN LYING IN MY BED!"
said the Middle Bear, in her 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 head of Goldenlocks—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.
Goldenlocks had heard in her sleep the great,
rough, gruff voice of the Great, Huge Bear, and the middle voice of the Middle
Bear, but it was only as if she had heard someone 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 Goldenlocks jumped, and ran away as fast as she
could run—never looking behind her; and what happened to her afterwards I
cannot tell. But the Three Bears never saw anything more of her.
