Chương Chương 18 · 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

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 keyhole; 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 she came,

plump upon the ground. And the naughty old Woman said a wicked word

about that too.

Then the little old Woman went upstairs into the bed-chamber 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 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 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.

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.