There was once a little girl who went for a walk in
the forest and got lost. She tried to find her way home,
but could not, and at last she came to a little house in
the forest.
The door was open and she peeped in. There was
nobody at home, so she went in.
This house really belonged to three bears. The
Father Bear was a great big, shaggy bear. The Mother
Bear was a middling bear. And the Baby Bear was a
tiny little bear, and his name was Misha.
All the bears were out for a walk in the forest.
There were only two rooms in the house — one was
the dining-room, and the other the bedroom. The little
girl went first into the dining-room, and there she saw
three basins of soup, standing on the table. The first
was a great big basin; it belonged to the Father Bear.
The second was a middling basin; it belonged to the
Mother Bear. And the third was a tiny little blue basin; it belonged to Misha, the Baby Bear. Next to each basin
was a spoon: a great big spoon, and a middling spoon,
and a tiny little spoon.
The little girl picked up the great big spoon and took
a taste from the great big basin; then she picked up the
middling spoon and took a taste from the middling
basin; then she picked up the tiny little spoon and took
a taste from the tiny little blue basin, and she liked
Misha’s soup best of all.
Feeling rather tired, the little girl looked round and
saw three chairs: a great big chair, a middling chair,
and a tiny little chair with a little blue cushion on it.
She tried to get on to the great big chair but she fell off it; then she sat on the middling chair and didn’t feel
very comfortable, so she tried the tiny little chair, and it
was so comfortable that she dapped her hands, and
picked up the tiny little blue basin and began eating.
When she had eaten up all the soup, she swung
backwards and forwards on the chair, till it broke, and
she fell down ori the floor.
She got up again, picked up the tiny little chair and
went into the next room. There stood three beds: a great big bed, and a middling bed, and a tiny little bed.
First she lay down on the great big bed, hut it was too
wide for her, then she lay down on the middling bed,
and it was too high. And then she lay down on the tiny
little bed, and it was just right for her, so she fell fast
asleep. Soon the bears came home, very hungry, to their
dinner. The Great Big Father Bear picked up his basin,
looked into it, and said in his great big voice:
‘‘WHO’S BEEN TASTING MY SOUP?”
And the Middling Mother Bear looked into her
basin, and said in her middling voice:
“WHO’S BEEN TASTING MY SOUP?”
And Misha, the l iny Little Baby Bear, looked at his
empty basin and squeaked in his tiny little voice:
“WHO’S BEEN TASTING MY SOUP AND GOBBLED IT ALL
UP?”
Then the Great Big Father Bear looked at his chair
and roared in his great big voice:
“WHO’S BEEN SITTING ON MY CHAIR AND
MOVED IT OUT OF PLACE?”
And the Middling Mother Bear looked at her chair
and grumbled in her middling voice:
“WHO’S BEEN SITTING ON MY CHAIR AND MOVED
IT OUT OF PLACE?”
And the Tiny Little Baby Bear looked at his broken
chair and squeaked in his tiny little voice:
“WHO’S BEEN SITTING ON MY CHAIR AND BROKEN IT TO
PIECES?”
Then the three bears went into the bedroom.
The Great Big Bear roared in his
great big
voice :
“WHO’S BEEN LYING ON MY BED AND CRUM-
PLED IT UP?”
And the Middling Bear grumbled in her middling
voice :
“WHO’S BEEN LYING ON MY BED AND CRUMPLED
IT UP?”
And the Tiny Little Bear stood on a stool to get into
his bed and squeaked in lias tiny little voice:
“WHO’S BEEN LYING ON MY BED?”
And suddenly he saw the little girl asleep there and
squeaked out again, at the top of his tiny little voice:
“There she is! Hold her! Hold her! There she is!
Hold her! Oh, oh!”
He was just going to bite her when the little girl
opened her eyes, and saw t he Three Bears, and ran to
the window. The window was open and she jumped
out and ran away. And the 1’hree Bears couldn’t catch
her up.
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