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; one was a middle-sized bear, and the other

was a great huge bear; they each had 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 each had 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 called Golden Locks came to the house.

First, she looked in at the window, and then she peeped in at the keyhole and saw

nobody in the house, she turned the handle of the door which was not fastened

because the Bears were good Bears who did nobody any harm and never suspected

that anybody would harm them, so golden locks opened the door and went in

and well-pleased she was when she saw the porridge on the table; if she had been

a thoughtful little girl, she would 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 for so as the manor of bears is but for all that very good-natured and hospitable,

but the porridge looked tempting, and she said about helping herself, so 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;

then she went to the porridge of the little small wee bear and tasted, that was neither

too hot nor too cold but just right, and she liked it so well that she ate it all up;

then Golden Locks 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, which 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 seated herself in it, and there she sat

till the bottom of the chair came out and down, she came plump upon the ground,

then Golden Locks went upstairs into the bed-chamber in which the three bears

slept, and first, she laid 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 on 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 golden locks 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 rough, 

gruff voice, and when the middle bear looked at hers, she saw that the spoon was 

standing in it, too. “Somebody has been at my porridge,” said the middle bear in her 

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 saw that someone had entered their house and eaten up

the little small wee bear’s breakfast to look about them.

Now golden locks had not put the hard cushion straight when she rose from the chair

of the great huge bear,

“somebody had been sitting in my chair, said the great huge bear in his great rough 

gruff voice and golden locks had squatted down the soft cushion of the middle bear,

 “Somebody has been sitting in my chair said the middle bear in her middle voice

and you know what golden locks had done to the third chair? Somebody has been 

sitting in my chair and has sat the bottom out of it,” said the little small wee bear

 in his small little wee voice,

then the three bears thought it necessary that they should do further searches,

so they went upstairs into their bed-chamber; now golden locks 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 Golden Locks had pulled the bolster of the middle bear out of its place

“Somebody has been lying in my bed,” said the middle bear in her middle voice

and when the little small wee bear came to look at his bed, there was the bolster in its

place, and the pillow in its place upon the bolster, and upon the pillow was the head

of Golden Locks, which was not in its place, for she had no business there

“Somebody has been lying in my bed,” and here she is, said the little small wee bear

 in his little small wee voice.

Golden Locks had heard in her sleep the great rough, gruff voice of the great huge bear

and the middle voice of the middle bear, but it was only as if she had heard someone

speaking in a dream, but when she heard the little small wee voice of the little small

wee bear, it was so sharp and so shrill that it awakened her at once; she started

and when she saw the three bears on one side of the bed, she tumbled out

at the other and ran to the window; now the window was open because the bear 

was like good tidy bears as they were always open to their bed-chamber window when 

they got up in the morning, our golden locks jumped and ran away as fast as she could 

run, never looking behind her and what happened to her afterward. I cannot tell

but the three bears never saw anything more of her again.

The End