The Apple Dumpling and Other Stories for Young Boys and Girls | Page 7

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 any body 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 hers,
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, 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