The Little Red Hen was so frightened that she could only whisper, “Oh, dear! Oh, dear! Oh, dear!”
Just then she had to sneeze, and when she put her claw into her pocket for her handkerchief, she felt her little scissors. Quick as a flash she took them out and cut a little hole in the bag. Peeping out she saw a great hill just ahead, all covered with stones. As Papa Fox stopped to rest on his way up the hill, with his back turned toward her, she cut a big hole in the bag, jumped out and quickly put a big stone in the bag in her place.
As Papa Fox kept on up the hill, he thought the bag was pretty heavy, but he said, “Never mind, she is a fat little red hen.”
Mamma Fox met him at the front door with all the baby foxes.
“The water is boiling,” said she. “What have you in your bag?” asked the Baby Foxes.
“A fat little red hen,” said Papa Fox.
As he held the bag over the pot, he said to Mamma Fox, “When I drop her in, you clap on the lid.” So he opened the bag. Splash! went the boiling water. It spilled all over Papa Fox and Mamma Fox and the Baby Foxes. Never again did they try to catch the Little Red Hen.
THE SHOEMAKER AND THE LITTLE ELVES
BY THE BROTHERS GRIMM