Читать книгу English Fairy Tales / Английские сказки. Elementary - С. А. Матвеев, Сергей Александрович Матвеев - Страница 12

Once upon a time, there were three little pigs, and the time came for them to leave home and seek their fortunes.

Before they left, their mother told them, “Whatever you do, do the best that you can because that’s the way to get along in the world[78].”

So three little pigs left their mother to find homes for themselves.

The first pig met a man with a bundle of straw. “Please, man,” said the pig, “will you let me have that bundle of straw to build my house?” “Yes, here, take it,” said the kind man. The little pig was very pleased and at once built his house out of straw[79] because it was the easiest thing to do.

The second little pig said goodbye to his mother and set out[80]. Before long[81] he met a man with a bundle of sticks. “Please, man,” he said, “will you let me have that bundle of sticks to build my house?” “Yes, you can have it, here it is,” said the kind man. So the second little pig was very pleased and built his house out of sticks[82]. This was a little bit stronger[83] than a straw house. Then last of all, the third little pig set out and met a man with a load of bricks. “Please, man,” he said, “will you let me have that load of bricks to build my house?”

“Yes, here they are, all for you,” said the kind man. The third little pig was very pleased and built his house out of bricks[84].

One night, the big bad wolf, who dearly loved to eat fat little piggies, came along and saw the first little pig in his new house of straw. The wolf knocked on the door and said, “Let me in, let me in, little pig, or I’ll huff and I’ll puff[85] and I’ll blow your house in![86]”

“No, not by the hair of my chinny chin chin,[87] I’ll not let you in!” said the little pig.

“Now I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down,” cried the wolf.

And of course[88] the wolf did blow the house in and ate the first little pig.

The wolf then came to the house of ticks and knocked at the door. “Little pig, little pig,” he said, “open up your door and let me in!”

Now the second little pig remembered what his mother had told him, so he too said, “No, not by the hair on my chinny chin chin, I’ll not let you in.”

“Now I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down!” cried the wolf. But the little pig went on saying, “No, not by the hair on my chinny chin chin, I’ll not let you in.” So again the old wolf huffed and he puffed and he huffed and he puffed, this time it was much harder work, but finally down came the house. The wolf blew that house in too and ate the second little pig.

The wolf then came to the house of bricks, and again he said. “Little pig, little pig, open your door and let me in!”

But like his brothers the third little pig said, “No, not by the hair on my chinny chin chin, I’ll not let you in.”

“Now I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down!” cried the wolf. And when the third little pig wouldn’t open the door he huffed and he puffed and he huffed and he puffed an he tried again, but the brick house was so strong that he could not blow it down.

Well, the wolf huffed and puffed again and again, but he could not blow down that brick house.

This made the wolf very angry.

When he found that he could not, with all his huffing and puffing, blow the house down, he said, “Little pig, I know where there is a nice field of turnips.”

“Where?” said the little pig.

“Oh, in Mr. Smith’s home field, and if you are ready tomorrow morning, I will call for you, and we will go together and get some for dinner.”

“Very well,” said the little pig, “I will be ready. What time do you mean to go?”

“Oh, at six o’clock.”

Well, the little pig got up[89] at five and got the turnips before the wolf came (which he did about six), and who said, “Little pig, are you ready?”

The little pig said, “Ready! I have been and come back again, and got nice turnips for dinner.”

The wolf felt very angry at this, but thought that he would be up to the little pig somehow or other, so he said, “Little pig, I know where there is a nice apple tree.”

“Where?” said the pig.

“Down at Merry Garden,” replied the wolf, “and if you will not deceive me, I will come for you at five o’clock tomorrow and get some apples.”

Well, the little pig bustled up the next morning at four o’clock and went off for the apples, hoping to get back before the wolf came, but he had further to go and had to climb the tree, so that just as he was coming down from it, he saw the wolf coming, which, as you may suppose, frightened him very much.

When the wolf came up, he said, “Little pig, what! Are you here before me? Are they nice apples?”

“Yes, very,” said the little pig. “I will throw you down one.” And he threw it so far that, while the wolf was gone to pick it up, the little pig jumped down and ran home.

The next day the wolf came again and said to the little pig, “Little pig, there is a fair this afternoon. Will you go?”

“Oh yes,” said the pig, “I will go. What time shall you be ready?”

“At three,” said the wolf. So the little pig went off before the time as usual and got to the fair and bought a butter churn, which he was going home with, when he saw the wolf coming. Then he could not tell what to do. So he got into the churn to hide, and by so doing turned it around, and it rolled down the hill with the pig in it, which frightened the wolf so much, that he ran home without going to the fair. He went to the pig’s house and told him how frightened he had been by a great round thing which came down the hill past him.

Then the little pig said, “Ha, I frightened you, then. I had been to the fair and bought a butter churn, and when I saw you, I got into it and rolled down the hill.”

Then the wolf was very angry indeed, and declared he would eat up the little pig! The wolf was a sly old wolf, and he climbed up on the roof of the little brick house to look for a way into the brick house.

He roared down the chimney, “I’m coming down to eat you up!” The little pig saw the wolf climb up on the roof, so the pig had put a pot of boiling water on the fire and now he took off the lid.

When the wolf finally found the hole in the chimney, he crawled down the chimney and – splash![90] right into the pot. Quickly, the little pig put down the cover and boiled up the old wolf for his dinner. That was the end of his troubles with the big bad wolf.

The next day the little pig invited his mother to visit him. She said, “You see it is just as I told you[91]. The way to get along in the world is to do things as well as you can.” Fortunately for that little pig, he learned that lesson. And he just lived happily ever after![92]