Once upon a time there was
a hill, and on the hill there
was a pretty little house.
It had one little green
door, and four little windows
with green shutters,
and in it there lived
the pretty house
a rooster
A Cock
a mouse with a belt and A Mouse
| and A Little Red Hen | little red hen |
On another hill close by
there was another little
house. It was very ugly.
the ugly house
It had a door
that wouldn’t shut,
drawing of the house
and two broken windows,
and all the paint
was off the shutters
And in this house
there lived
four little foxes
one big fox and four little foxes
A BOLD BAD FOX
and FOUR BAD
LITTLE FOXES
four little foxes on a barrel
One morning these
four bad little foxes
four little foxes
| came to the big bad Fox and said: | the big bad fox |
“Oh, Father, we’re so
hungry!”
“We had nothing to eat
yesterday,” said one.
“And scarcely anything
the day before,” said another.
“And only half a chicken
the day before that,” said
the third.
“And only two little
ducks the day before that,”
said the fourth.
one big fox, four little foxes
The big bad Fox shook
his head for a long time,
for he was thinking.
fox leaning against the wall
At last he said in a
big gruff voice:
“On that hill over there
I see a house. And in that
house there lives a Cock.”
“And a Mouse,” screamed
two of the little foxes.
big fox points out house to little foxes
“And a little Red Hen,”
screamed the other two.
“And they are nice and fat,”
went on the big bad Fox.
“This very day, I’ll take my
great sack, and I will go up
that hill, and in at that door,
and into my sack I will put
the Cock, and the Mouse,
and the little Red Hen.”
| one little fox | “I’ll make a fire to roast the Cock,” said one little fox. |
| “I’ll put on the saucepan to boil the Hen,” said the second. | one little fox |
| “And I’ll get the frying pan to fry the Mouse,” said the third. | one little fox |
| one little fox | “And I’ll have the biggest helping when they are all cooked,” said the fourth, who was the greediest of all. |
So the four little foxes
jumped for joy, and the
big bad Fox went to get
his sack ready to start
upon his journey.
four little foxes dancing
the rooster
But what was happening
to the Cock and the Mouse,
and the little Red Hen, all
this time?
the mouse
Well, sad to say, the Cock and
the Mouse had both got out of
bed on the wrong side that
morning.
the rooster
the three at home
The Cock said the day was
too hot, and the Mouse grumbled
because it was too cold.
They came grumbling down
to the kitchen, where the good
little Red Hen, looking as bright
as a sunbeam, was bustling about.
“Who’ll get some sticks to
light the fire with?” she asked.
“I shan’t,” said the Cock.
“I shan’t,” said the Mouse.
“Then I’ll do it myself,” said
the little Red Hen.
So off she ran to get the sticks.
little red hen looks sad
“And now, who’ll fill
the kettle from the
spring?” she asked.
| the rooster | “I shan’t,” said the Cock. |
| “I shan’t,” said the Mouse. | the mouse |
“Then I’ll do it myself,”
said the little Red Hen.
And off she ran to
fill the kettle.
the little red hen
the little red hen carries water
“And who’ll get the
breakfast ready?” she
asked, as she put the
kettle on to boil.
hen brings the kettle home
| “I shan’t,” said the Cock. | the rooster speaks |
| the mouse runs away | “I shan’t,” said the Mouse. |
“I’ll do it myself,”
said the little Red Hen.
the messy breakfast table
All breakfast time the
Cock and the Mouse quarrelled
and grumbled. The
Cock upset the milk jug,
and the Mouse scattered
crumbs upon the floor
little red hen stands up
“Who’ll clear away the
breakfast?” asked the poor
little Red Hen, hoping
the mouse flings his hands up
they would soon leave
off being cross.
“I shan’t,” said the Cock.
“I shan’t,” said the Mouse.
“Then I’ll do it myself,”
said the little Red Hen.
So she cleared everything
away, swept up the crumbs,
and brushed up the fireplace.
hen cleans up
hen starts up stairs
“And now, who’ll help
me to make the beds?”
“I shan’t,” said the Cock.
“I shan’t,” said the Mouse.
mouse slinks off
hen at the top of the stairs
“Then I’ll do it myself,”
said the little Red Hen.
And she tripped away
upstairs.
But the lazy Cock and
Mouse each sat down in a
comfortable arm-chair by
the fire
the fireplace
and soon fell
fast asleep.
the mouse sleeps in a chair
the fox looks in the window
Now the bad Fox had
crept up the hill, and into
the garden, and if the Cock
and Mouse hadn’t been
asleep, they would have seen
his sharp eyes peeping in
at the window.
“Rat tat tat, Rat tat tat”, the Fox knocked at the door.
fox with a sack slung over his back
the mouse stands up
“Who can that be?” said the
Mouse, half opening his eyes.
“Go and look for yourself, if
you want to know,” said the
rude Cock
the mouse opens the door to the fox
“It’s the postman perhaps,”
thought the Mouse to himself,
“and he may have a letter
for me.” So without waiting to
see who it was, he lifted the
latch and opened the door.
As soon as he opened it
in jumped the big Fox, with
a cruel smile upon his face!
the fox with his sack
the mouse tries to run
“Oh! oh! oh!” squeaked the
Mouse as he tried to run up
the chimney.
“Doodle doodle do!” screamed
the Cock, as he jumped on the
back of the biggest
arm-chair
But the Fox only laughed,
and without more ado he
took the little Mouse by the
tail, and popped him into
the sack, and seized the
Cock by the neck and popped
him in too.
the fox looks up at the rooster
the hen comes running
Then the poor little Red
Hen came running down-stairs
to see what all the
noise was about,
and the Fox caught her
and put her into the sack
with the others.
the full sack
the hen jumps down to the fox
Then he took a long piece of
string out of his pocket, wound
it round and round and
round the mouth of
the sack, and tied it very
tight indeed.
the fox looks pleased with himself
After that he threw the sack
over his back and set off down
the hill.
the fox strolls away
“Oh! I wish I hadn’t been
so cross,” said the Cock, as
they went bumping about.
“Oh! I wish I hadn’t been
so lazy,” said the Mouse, wiping
his eyes with the tip of his tail.
“It’s never too late to mend,”
said the little Red Hen. “And
don’t be too sad.
sewing basket
See, here I have my little
work-bag, and in it there is
a pair of scissors, and a
little thimble, and a needle
and thread. Very soon you
will see what I am going
to do.”
Now the sun was very hot,
and soon Mr. Fox began to
feel his sack was heavy,
and at last he thought he
would lie down under a
tree and go to sleep for
a little while.
the fox in sunlight
the fox dozes under a tree
So he threw the sack down
with a big bump, and very
soon fell fast asleep.
Snore, snore, snore, went
the Fox.
the hen with her scissors
As soon as the little Red
Hen heard this, she took
out her scissors, and began
to snip a hole in the sack,
just large enough for the
Mouse to creep through.
“Quick,” she whispered to
the Mouse, “run as fast as you
can and bring back a stone
just as large as yourself.”
the mouse hauls a stone
Out scampered the Mouse,
and soon came back, dragging
the stone after him.
the mouse hauls a stone up the road
the mouse pushes a stone
“Push it in here,” said
the little Red Hen, and he
pushed it in in a twinkling.
Then the little Red Hen
snipped away the hole, till
it was large enough for the
Cock to get through.
“Quick,” she said, “run
and get a stone as big as
yourself.”
the rooster hurries away
Out flew the Cock, and
soon came back quite out
of breath, with a big stone,
which he pushed into the
sack too.
the rooster runs
Then the little Red Hen
popped out,
the hen races along
got a stone as big as
herself, and pushed it in.
Next she put on her thimble,
took out her needle and thread,
and sewed up the hole as
quickly as ever she could.
the hen sews up the sack
When it was done, the
Cock and the Mouse and
the little Red Hen ran home
very fast, shut the door
the hen and the rooster run quickly
after them, drew the bolts,
shut the shutters, and drew
down the blinds and felt
quite safe.
the mouse runs
all three run quickly
The bad Fox lay fast asleep
under the tree for some time,
but at last he woke up.
“Dear, dear,” he said, rubbing
his eyes and then looking at
the long shadows on the grass,
“how late it is getting. I must
hurry home.”
So the bad Fox went
grumbling and groaning
down the hill
the fox walks carrying his sack
till he came to the
stream.
Splash! In went one foot.
Splash! In went the other,
but the stones in the sack
were so heavy that at the
very next step down tumbled
Mr. Fox into a deep pool.
the fox is in the water
And then the fishes carried
him off to their fairy caves
and kept him a prisoner there,
so he was never seen again.
one fish
And the four greedy
little foxes had to go
to bed without any
supper.
four little foxes
the hen comfortable at home
But the Cock and the
Mouse never grumbled
again. They lit the fire,
filled the kettle, laid the
breakfast, and did all the
work, while the good little
Red Hen had a holiday, and
sat resting in the big arm-chair.
No foxes ever troubled
them again, and for all I
know they are still living
happily in the little house
with the green door and
green shutters, which stands
on the hill.
The End
