It really was the neatest little cottage that ever was seen, and the
three bears who lived in it were the tidiest and best-behaved bears in
all that forest. For, of course, the cottage was in the middle of a
forest. Bears love quiet, shady places where there are plenty of trees
to climb. The cottage had a porch covered with honeysuckle, while roses
climbed up the walls and peeped into the lattice-windows.
[Illustration]
Now the three bears were not a bit like one another, for one was a
Great Big Bear, and one was a Middle-sized Bear, and one was a Tiny
Wee Bear. They kept the cottage very tidy, and every morning they made
the great big bed and the middle-sized bed, and the tiny wee bed, and
dusted the great big chair, and the middle-sized chair, and the tiny
wee chair before they sat down to breakfast.
One morning when the porridge was made and had been poured out into
the great big bowl, and the middle-sized bowl, and the tiny wee bowl,
it was so hot that the three bears went out for a walk in the wood, to
pass the time until it cooled. The Great Big Bear and the Middle-Sized
Bear walked along most properly, but the Tiny Wee Bear took his hoop
and bowled it along in front.
[Illustration]
Now that very morning it happened that Goldilocks lost her way in the
forest. She was a very pretty little girl, with hair like threads
of shining gold, and that is how she got her name. But she was very
self-willed, and fancied she knew better than her mother. That is how
she came to lose her way in the wood, for her mother had told her if
she wandered from the path she would not be able to find her way home
again.
But Goldilocks had tossed her head and paid no attention. And so it
happened that she wandered so far that she could not find her way back,
and arrived at the bears’ cottage that sunny morning just after they
had left it.
It was a fresh, cool morning, just the sort of morning that made
Goldilocks want her breakfast more than usual, for she had run out
before it was ready, and when she came to the pretty little cottage she
skipped for joy.
[Illustration]
“I am sure some kind person lives here, and will give me some bread and
milk,” she said to herself. And then she peeped through the open door.
“There does not seem to be any one at home,” she said anxiously. “But
oh, what a delicious smell of porridge!”
She could not wait another moment, but walked in and sat down in the
great big chair and took a spoonful of porridge out of the great big
bowl “Ugh!” she cried, making a face, “this is far too salt, and this
chair is much too hard!”
So she changed her seat and tried the middle-sized chair, and tasted
the porridge of the middle-sized bowl.
“Oh dear me! this has no salt at all,” she said, “and this chair is far
too soft.” And laying down the spoon she jumped up in a great hurry.
Then she tried the tiny wee chair and took a spoonful of the porridge
out of the tiny wee bowl.
[Illustration]
“This is simply delicious!” she cried, “and the little chair is just
right, too.”
And she ate and ate till she finished all the porridge out of the tiny
wee bowl! And the tiny little chair was so comfortable that she curled
herself up in it until suddenly the seat gave a crack and she fell
right through on to the floor.
Goldilocks picked herself up and looked round to see if she could find
a sofa to rest on, for she was now so sleepy she could scarcely keep
her eyes open. Then she saw a staircase, and she climbed up at once to
see if there was a bed in the room above. And sure enough in the room
upstairs she found three beds, standing side by side under the open
lattice-window where the roses peeped in.
[Illustration]
She threw herself at once on to the great big bed, but it was so
hard that she rolled off as quickly as she could. Then she tried the
middle-sized bed, but it was so soft that she sank right in and felt
quite smothered. So then she tried the tiny wee bed, and it was just
soft enough, and so deliciously comfortable that she curled herself up
on it with a big sigh of content, and went fast asleep in the twinkling
of an eye.
Presently home came the three bears from their walk, and they went to
the table to begin their breakfast.
“Who has been sitting in my chair?” growled the Great Big Bear in his
great big voice. For the cushion had been pulled all to one side.
“Who has been sitting in my chair?” said the Middle-sized Bear in her
middle-sized voice. For there was a large dent in the cushion where
Goldilocks had sat.
[Illustration]
“Who has been sitting in my chair, and broken it right through?” said
the Tiny Wee Bear in his tiny wee voice.
Meanwhile the Great Big Bear had been staring at his great big bowl of
porridge which had a spoon sticking in it.
“Who has been eating my porridge?” he growled in his great big voice.
“Who has been eating my porridge?” said the Middle-sized Bear in her
middle-sized voice.
“Who has been eating my porridge and eaten it all up?” cried the Tiny
Wee Bear in his tiny wee voice.
Then the three bears searched all round the room to see if they could
find out who had been there. Next they climbed up the stairs to look in
the bedroom.
But the moment the Great Big Bear saw his bed all rumpled and tossed
about he growled in his great big voice, “Who has been lying on my bed?”
“Who has been lying on my bed?” said the Middle-sized Bear in her
middle-sized voice.
“Who has been sleeping on my little bed, and lies here still?” cried
the Tiny Wee Bear in his tiny wee voice.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
Now, when the Great Big Bear spoke, Goldilocks dreamed of a
thunderstorm; and when the Middle-sized Bear spoke she dreamed that the
wind was making the roses nod. But when the Tiny Wee Bear cried out she
opened her eyes and was wide awake in a moment. She jumped up and ran
to the window, and, before the three bears could catch her, she jumped
out into the garden below. Then she ran through the wood as fast as she
could, and never stopped till she reached home. And you may be sure she
never went wandering into the wood again. So the Great Big Bear and
the Middle-sized Bear and the Tiny Wee Bear ate their porridge in peace
all the rest of their days.