The Story of the Three Bears

The Story of the Three Bears
By Joseph Jacobs: English Fairy Tales 1840

Summary: There was once a family of three bears who lived in a house in the woods. They are Little, Small, Wee Bear; a Middle-sized Bear, and the other was a Great, Huge Bear. One day the family of bears left their home for a walk in the woods while their porridge cools. An old woman in the woods comes across the house, and enters it. The old woman eats the Wee Bear's porridge, then settles into his chair and breaks it. Prowling about, she finds the bear's beds and falls asleep in Wee Bear's bed. The Bears return and Wee Bear finds the old woman in his bed. The old woman starts up, jumps from the window, and is never seen again.

My Review: Ok this tale seriously cracks me up! What was that little old woman thinking? It is plain ole rude to break in and enter someone’s home. Especially a family of bears! My favorite part in this story is the ending. “Out the little old Woman jumped; and whether she broke her neck in the fall; or ran into the wood and was lost there; or found her way out of the wood, and was taken up by the constable and sent to the House of Correction for a vagrant as she was, I cannot tell. But the Three Bears never saw anything more of her.” I really hope she was sent to the House of Correction for a vagrant that she was! Ha Ha! I prefer the Goldilocks and the Three Bears better than this version, because an old woman entering a house just sounds creepy to me.

Watch Out For: Breaking and Entering