"'Somebody has been at my bowl of porridge.'
"Then the tiny bit of a bear went into his house, and, looking on the table, he said, in a little squeaking voice—
"'Somebody has been at my bowl of porridge, and eat it all up.'
"Oh, how angry he was. He went to the door, and called the other bears, and they all three went up stairs together, to search for the thief; and there they found the thief, in the shape of the little ragged dirty old woman that was fast asleep, and snoring like a trumpeter, on the bed. The great big bear went and stood at the head of the bed; the middling sized bear went and stood at the middle of the bed; and the tiny bit of a bear went and stood at the foot of the bed. Then the great big bear said—
"'Who is this in the bed?'
"The middling sized bear said—
"'It looks like a dirty old woman.'
"'And there's some of my porridge sticking on her lips,' said the tiny bit of a bear. As he said this, the old woman awoke, and opened her eyes.
"When she saw the bears, she was frightened almost out of her wits; so she started up, and jumped right out of the window, that was close to the bed, and ran off with all her might and main. Then the bears tumbled down stairs head over heels, pell-mell, and rushed out of the house, to catch her and eat her up; but they were so fat, they could not run as fast as she could; so the little ragged dirty old woman got off, all out of breath, but safe and sound."
"What did the tiny bit of a bear do for his dinner?" asked Fanny.