Goldilocks and the Three Bears

6-8 min read
12 pages

Goldilocks and the three bears, the folk tale to read aloud. She tries all three of everything, and the third one is always just right.

In a house in the wood there lived three bears: a great big father bear, a middle-sized mother bear, and a small wee baby bear.

One morning they made porridge for breakfast, and it was too hot to eat, so they went out for a walk in the wood while it cooled.

While they were out a girl came along the path. Her hair was the colour of a new penny, and everyone called her Goldilocks. The door of the house was not locked, and she went in.

On the table were three bowls. She tasted the porridge in the great big bowl, and it was far too hot. She tasted the middle-sized bowl, and it was far too cold. She tasted the small wee bowl, and it was just right, and she ate all of it.

Then she wanted to sit down. The great big chair was too hard. The middle-sized chair was too soft. The small wee chair was just right — until she sat back, and the bottom of it went through, and she landed on the floor.

By now she was tired, so she went upstairs to where the three beds were. The great big bed was too high at the head. The middle-sized bed was too high at the foot. The small wee bed was just right, and she fell asleep in it.

That was when the three bears came home.

«Somebody has been tasting my porridge,» said the great big bear in his great big voice. «Somebody has been tasting my porridge,» said the middle-sized bear in her middle-sized voice. «Somebody has eaten my porridge all up,» said the small wee bear in his small wee voice, «and there is none left.»

They looked at the chairs. «Somebody has been sitting in my chair,» said the great big bear. «Somebody has been sitting in my chair,» said the middle-sized bear. «Somebody has sat right through the bottom of my chair,» said the small wee bear.

So they went upstairs, quietly. «Somebody has been lying in my bed,» said the great big bear. «Somebody has been lying in my bed,» said the middle-sized bear.

«Somebody is lying in my bed,» said the small wee bear in his small wee voice, «right now.»

Goldilocks woke up with three bears standing round her. She went out of that window and down the path and out of the wood faster than she had ever moved in her life, and the three bears never saw her again. The small wee bear got a new chair out of it, which he said was better than the old one.

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Text source: Folk tale in the public domain (first written down by Robert Southey, 1837 — the tale is English). The text was written anew for Marytale — it is not a reprint of anyone else's version.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears characters

Goldilocks: Walks into a house that is not hers and helps herself. In the oldest printed version she is not a girl at all but an old woman, and she is not forgiven.
Father bear: The great, huge bear with the hard chair and the too-hot porridge.
Mother bear: The middle bear, whose porridge is too cold and whose chair is too soft.
Baby bear: The small, wee bear. Everything of his is just right, and everything of his is what gets broken, eaten and slept in.

Where «Goldilocks and the Three Bears» comes from and who wrote it down

What is a folk tale?

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Goldilocks and the Three Bears characters

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