Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Once upon a time there were Three Bears, who lived together in a 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.

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The number three makes an excellent structure for a story. Like The Three Little Pigs, Goldilocks and the Three Bears is one of those tales that stays rooted in the mind never to be forgotten.

As usual, we have turned to Andrew Lang for our classic text – this one comes from his Green Fairy Book. But Andrew Lang devotees will notice that we have made one big change to his version. It concerns the heroine of the tale, and we thought that most of our listeners would expect her to be presented the way we have done, and probably children will like her best in tihs guise too (we think so, anyway). If you are curious, you can read theAndrew Lang original here.

The Pondlife Introduction finds Bertie and Tim the Tadpole playing I Spy Something Green.

Read by Natasha.

See PRC Fairytales & Rules of Three

Duration 13 Minutes.

Once upon a time there were Three Bears, who lived together in a 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 girl came into the house. This little girl golden curls that tumbled down her back to her waist, and everyone called her by Goldilocks. Goldilocks had been walking through the woods on the way to visit her grandmother, but she had taken a shortcut and lost her way. After wondering around the woods for a very long time, and starting to despair of ever see her grandmamma or her parents again, she came across a little house. She was very relieved, because she was certain that whoever lived in the house would help her. You see, she did not know that the house belonged to the Three Bears.

Goldilocks went up to the house and knocked on the door, but nobody answered. After a while, she looked through the window and saw the porridge on the table that the bears had made for their breakfast. She said to herself, “Oh how I wish I could eat some of that porridge! I’m so very hungry.”

Now perhaps Goldilocks should 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 Goldilocks did something rather naughty. She tried the latch on the door of the house and found that it was open – because you see the bears didn’t expect that anyone would come along and steal their porridge, and so they hadn’t bothered to lock the door of the house when they went out. Goldilocks went inside. First she tasted the porridge of the Great, Huge Bear, and that was too hot for her; And then she tasted the porridge of the Middle Bear; and that was too cold for her; and she. 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.

Then the little Goldilocks sat down in the chair of the Great, Huge Bear, and that was too hard for her. And then she sat down in the chair of the Middle Bear, and that was too soft for her. And then she sat down in the chair of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, and that was neither too hard nor too soft, but just right. So she sat till the bottom of the chair came out, and down came she, plump upon the ground. And the naughty little girl laughed out loud.

Then Goldilocks 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 naughty Goldilocks 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 gruff voice. And when the Middle Bear looked at his, he saw that the spoon was standing in it too. ‘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 all up_!’
said the Little, Small Wee Bear, in his little, small wee voice.

Upon this the three bears, seeing that some one had entered their house, and eaten up the Little, Small, Wee Bear’s breakfast, began to look about them. Now Goldilocks had not put the hard cushion straight when she rose from the chair of the Great, Huge Bear. ‘SOMEBODY HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY CHAIR!’ said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice.

And the little girl had squished down the soft cushion of the Middle Bear.
‘Somebody Has Been Sitting In My Chair!’

said the Middle Bear, in his middle voice.

And you know what the naughty little girl had done to the third chair.
‘_Somebody has been sitting in my chair, and has sat the bottom of it out_!’ said the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice.

Then the three bears thought that they should look the house more, so they went up stairs into their bed-room. Now Goldilocks had pulled the pillow of the Great, Huge Bear out of its place.

‘SOMEBODY HAS BEEN LYING IN MY BED!’

said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice. And Goldilocks had pulled the bed cover of the Middle Bear out of its place.