Chương Chương 24 · THE STORY OF THE THREE BEARS

. 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 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 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 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 farther

search; so they went up stairs into their bed-chamber. 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 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 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.

Southey.