fairy tales

The Little Red Hen

Fairy tale ONCE ON a time, in a cozy little house, a little red hen lived with her chickens. The little red hen worked very hard taking care of her house and her family. She was a happy little hen, and she sang happy songs as she did her chores.

The little red hen had three friends—a goose, an ox, and a pig—who lived very near her. Every day she watched her three friends playing, but the little red hen didn't have time to play. She was too busy with her chickens and her house.

The little red hen started each day early in the morning. First she cooked breakfast for all her chickens. Then she made the beds and tended her garden. She cooked the meals, washed the clothes, and scrubbed the floors. She worked hard from morning till night.

But her three lazy friends—the goose, the ox, and the pig—never seemed to work at all. They went for long walks in the sunshine, lay about in the soft grass, and spent their time reading stories and playing games.One sunny day the little red hen was outside working in her garden. She was scratching around for food and found some grains of wheat where she was pulling some weeds. She noticed,

"Who will plant these grains so that they will grow?" the little red hen asked her three friends.

"Not I," said the goose.

"Not I," said the ox.

"Not I," said the pig.

"Then I will do it myself," said the little red hen.

The little red hen planted the grains of wheat. Soon the wheat grew up and became yellow and ripe. The little red hen looked at the growing wheat and asked, "Who will help me tend this wheat?"

"Not I," said the goose.

"Not I," said the ox.

"Not I," said the pig.

"Then I will do it myself," said the little red hen to her three friends. That was exactly what she did.

The days went by, and the little red hen worked very hard farming the wheat. She carefully planted the grains in a neat straight row and watered the field and hoed the ground and pulled the weeds. Finally the wheat was ripe and ready to be cut and harvested.

The little red hen showed her crop to her friends and asked, "Who will help me cut and thresh all of this wheat?"

"Not I," said the goose.

"Not I," said the ox.

"Not I," said the pig.

"Then I will do it myself," said the little red hen.

The little red hen worked from morning to night cutting the golden wheat with a scythe in her beak and threshing it with her wings. When she finished harvesting all of the wheat, she put the wheat carefully into her bag and loaded it onto her wagon.

The little red hen looked at the wagon filled with wheat and asked, "Who will help me take the wheat to the miller so that he can grind the wheat into flour?"

"Not I," said the goose.

"Not I," said the ox.

"Not I," said the pig.

"Then I will do it myself," said the little red hen to her three friends.

The little red hen walked a long way into the village. The what she did. She did not complain once, though the wheat was heavy while she pulled her wagon of wheat behind her.

When she got to the village, she went to see the miller. "Will you grind this wheat into flour for me?" asked the little red hen.

"Yes, surely," said the miller. "This wheat will make enough good flour for bread for all your chickens."

The miller ground the wheat into fine flour and put it in a sack. Happily the little red hen set out for home in her wagon, for now she had a large sack of flour to make bread.

When the little red hen came back to her house, her three lazy friends were waiting for her. She showed them the flour.

"Now I shall bake some bread from the flour," said the little red hen. "Who will help me bake the bread?"

"Not I," said the goose.

"Not I," said the ox.

"Not I," said the pig.

"Then I will do it myself," said the little red hen, but she began wonder if the three of them were true friends.

All the same, when the bread was baked and smelled delicious, the little red hen asked, "Who will help me eat the fresh tasty bread?"

"I will!" said the goose.

"I will!" said the ox.

"I will!" said the pig.

They all would help her that way!

"I am quite sure you would, but listen to this: I found the wheat. I planted the wheat. I tended the wheat. I harvested the wheat. I took the wheat to be ground into flour. And I made the bread.

All these things I did by myself. Now my chickens and I will eat the bread all by ourselves!"

And that was exactly what she did. "Cluck! Cluck!" She called her chickens to help her. They came and eagerly ate the bread with her. There was nothing left for the others.