Once upon a time, in a cozy little cottage in the middle of the forest, there lived three little bears. One of them was called Benny, the smallest bear, who had bright blue eyes and a very cheerful character. The other was Bella, the only girl of the three bears. She was tidy and good-natured. The third bear was Bobo, the biggest and strongest of the three. He had a friendly face and loved his little bear friends more than anything in the world.
Now, these three little bears live together like a happy family. They had three bear-sized chairs waiting for them in their little house. There was a table in the middle of the room, and on it stood three bowls filled with steaming porridge. It was porridge from the new milk that pretty little Bobo put at the cow and cream off the milk the next morning.
“I’m sure to break my chair sitting on it if I touch my porridge now,” said little Benny with a sigh.
“Let us wait a little,” said big Bobo. “The woods are cool and shady.”
So all three bears went for a walk in the forest. While they were gone, along came a wicked concealed wolf. He tried to get through the door, but it was locked. For the three little bears were out for the whole day. The Wolf laid himself down at the foot of a tree near by, and waited for the bears to come back. This Wolf, besides being a cunning thief, had a very bad character.
At last the little bears came home and pushed open the door. The first thing they tried was to find from which bowl the milk white and soft they had gotten was the milk they had given their cow to drink, this morning. Then they saw their chairs had been broken. That malicious Wolf had climbed on on of the chairs. The moment their backs were turned the Wolf came in, and sat down on the chair, and instantly broke his back off and had tumbles head over heels on to the ground.
“I tell you, my dear Benny, that Wolf came here while we were out, and stole,” said big Bobo.
They searched every corner of the house, and suddenly Benny bawled out, “The milk white and soft in my bowl is not there! The wolf has eaten it all up.”
Indeed, the Wolf, taking advantage of the absence of the little bears and of his clever nose, had stolen the milk white and soft, more than half the porridge in Benny’s two little bowls. Then Bobo opened the door, and all three of the little bears began to chase the Wolf.
Now, the Wolf, who was marching equality was fat and therefore very heavy, was not so swift of foot as the three little bears. However, instead of turning round and running, because three little bears came chasing after him, he marched quietly on. At last the three little bears came to a place where they had never passed before, and all the trees were stuck full of long sharp thorns. The Wolf did not notice them in the least. Naturally he could not bear running among thorns, but still he kept straight on.
“Let us follow, and we shall perhaps get at the thorns,” said Bella the tidy little bear.
“That is just what I wanted to propose,” said big Bobo.
So they all three of them pushed on after the Wolf, and little Benny first reached when Bobo came afterwards on his hind irons, butcharmed with thorns, and dragged the thorn tree after him. Then that Wolf could not move, and little Benny was soon down upon the Wolf, and tore at his flanks. This, all the others made haste, and quickly caught up to him. Wolf well tore Benny’s piece out of his ear, but he made him pay dearly for it. Then they all three fell to and gave him his quietus quietly where he lay. So the brave little bears had defeated the Wolf that day, but the Wolf’s corpse lay where he was slain. So they had their break clearly that afternoon from milk white and soft.
The Wolf escaped severals but this was the last of all, and the moral of the story was that he ought not to have left off cleaning his teeth and sharpenenning his claws.