Agnes, a neighbour, was over today and joined us for some lemonade as we all took a break from our digging and weeding. Accompanying her was Isabel, a friend who often visits on a Saturday to help her with the garden chores.
We all agreed ... it's wonderful to have help in the garden! "Yes" I said "unlike like the hen in the story of The Little Red Hen." They looked at me blankly. Neither had heard of this children's story.
Of course, I now see that it is a very North American thing. Popular in my youth (I suppose when I was first beginning to read) were the Little Golden Books series of children's books first published in the 1940s. Their most attractive feature was that they had gold foil along the spine!
The Little Golden Book version of The Red Hen is taken from an old folk tale, most likely of Russian origin. These books were written by Harriette Taylor Treadwell and Margaret Free whose aim was to take old fables and adapt them for young readers. It seems that The Little Red Hen marked a transition from "blatant religious and moralistic tales while still emphasizing a clear moral"1. I clearly remember it making a big impression on me! But nowadays they have a new take on it!*
The story:
One day the Little Red Hen found a grain of wheat.
She asked her farm friends, "Who will help me plant this grain of wheat?"
"Not I," said the Goat
"Not I," said the Pig
"Not I," said the Goose
"Then I will," said the Little Red Hen.
And she did.
Soon the wheat grew to be tall and strong.
"The wheat is ripe," said the Little Red Hen. "Who will help me cut the wheat?"
"Not I," said the Goat
"Not I," said the Pig
"Not I," said the Goose
"Then I will," said the Little Red Hen.
And she did.
When the wheat was cut, the Little Red Hen said,
"Who will help me thresh the wheat?"
"Not I," said the Goat
"Not I," said the Pig
"Not I," said the Goose
"Then I will," said the Little Red Hen.
And she did.
When the wheat was threshed, the Little Red Hen said,
"Who will help me take this wheat to the mill?"
"Not I," said the Goat
"Not I," said the Pig
"Not I," said the Goose
"Then I will," said the Little Red Hen.
And she did.
She took the wheat to the mill and had it ground into flour.
Then she said, "Who will help me make some bread?"
"Not I," said the Goat
"Not I," said the Pig
"Not I," said the Goose
"Then I will," said the Little Red Hen.
And she did.
She made and baked the bread.
Then she said, "Who will help me eat this bread?"
"I will," said the Goat
"I will," said the Pig
"I will," said the Goose
"Oh no you won't!" said the Little Red Hen.
"I will do that."
And she did.
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1 Wikipedia: Golden Book version book cover - qualifies as fair use under United States copyright law. The text is Wikipedia and modified, i.e. not out of Golden Book.
The story:
One day the Little Red Hen found a grain of wheat.
She asked her farm friends, "Who will help me plant this grain of wheat?"
"Not I," said the Goat
"Not I," said the Pig
"Not I," said the Goose
"Then I will," said the Little Red Hen.
And she did.
Soon the wheat grew to be tall and strong.
"The wheat is ripe," said the Little Red Hen. "Who will help me cut the wheat?"
"Not I," said the Goat
"Not I," said the Pig
"Not I," said the Goose
"Then I will," said the Little Red Hen.
And she did.
When the wheat was cut, the Little Red Hen said,
"Who will help me thresh the wheat?"
"Not I," said the Goat
"Not I," said the Pig
"Not I," said the Goose
"Then I will," said the Little Red Hen.
And she did.
When the wheat was threshed, the Little Red Hen said,
"Who will help me take this wheat to the mill?"
"Not I," said the Goat
"Not I," said the Pig
"Not I," said the Goose
"Then I will," said the Little Red Hen.
And she did.
She took the wheat to the mill and had it ground into flour.
Then she said, "Who will help me make some bread?"
"Not I," said the Goat
"Not I," said the Pig
"Not I," said the Goose
"Then I will," said the Little Red Hen.
And she did.
She made and baked the bread.
Then she said, "Who will help me eat this bread?"
"I will," said the Goat
"I will," said the Pig
"I will," said the Goose
"Oh no you won't!" said the Little Red Hen.
"I will do that."
And she did.
* A current take on it: The farmer claims that the hen is being unfair if she does not share her bread with the other animals and forces her to share her bread with those who would not work for it. This in turn removes the hen's incentive to work resulting in poverty for the entire barnyard. [Wikipedia]
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1 Wikipedia: Golden Book version book cover - qualifies as fair use under United States copyright law. The text is Wikipedia and modified, i.e. not out of Golden Book.
1 comment:
I read all your July updates. For all my teenage years we lived 12 kms from Paris near the big forest of Montmorency – a great place. Ishie is so cute with that blue felt hat – very chic! I shall place “The Shadow of the Wind” on my reading list. I am a bookworm and cannot go to sleep unless I have been reading for at least an hour, even if it is midnight. I sent some books to my grandchildren and included some Little Golden Book I bought at the last Library Sale. They love stories. My daughter had another boy on 13th July – she was hoping he would come on the 14th for Bastille Day but he was a day early (you can see his picture at the end of this post: http://avagabonde.blogspot.com/2011/07/tour-de-france-in-alps-galibier-lalpe.html .) The now middle son is 3 years old today, 30 July. But since we went to Nashville to welcome the newborn, we did not go back so soon. Your flower pictures were very pretty.
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