THE FOX AND THE LITTLE RED HEN
Once upon a time, a little red hen lived all by herself in a little henhouse on the edge
of a wood. It was a neat, cosy home and the little red hen was very happy there. She would
spend her mornings cleaning and tidying and once she had finished she would go into the
wood to search for food.
On the other side of the wood lived a sly fox and his mother. Every day the fox would
watch the little red hen pecking for grain and his mouth would begin to water. One morning
the little fox had an idea. “Mother,” he said, “ tonight we will have something
delicious for dinner. I’m going to catch the little red hen. You make a fire and set
the water boiling in the pot, then when I come home we will have a delicious meal”.
He picked up a big sack, which he threw over his shoulder and then he set off across the
wood in search of the little red hen.
The little red hen, of course, had no idea about the fox’s cunning plan. She had just
finished her day’s housework and was now busy pecking around on the ground amongst
the trees, clucking happily to herself. She did not see the sly fox creep behind the trees
and bushes and then make a dash for her henhouse. She did not see him go through the door and
then close it behind.
Not long afterwards, the hen began to tire of pecking and she decided to go back inside
and rest. She reached the pretty little house and went inside. She was just about to lock
the door when she saw the fox. She clucked and flapped and flew up to the rafters as
fast as she could. As soon as she calmed down, the little red hen shouted down to the crafty
fox who was still waiting patiently below: “You won’t catch me now. I’m safe up
here and I am not coming down. Give up and go home!”
“Ha!” laughed the fox, “I’ll soon bring you down from there, just you wait and
see”. The fox began to run round and round in circles,
chasing his tail. Faster and faster he went, until the little red hen, who had been watching
him nervously, started to grow dizzy. Her head began to spin and she could no longer
keep her balance on the narrow beam. She fell down and dropped straight into the fox’s
open sack. Immediately the fox closed the sack, trapping the little red hen inside.
Then he put the bag over his shoulder and started for home.
A short while later the fox began to feel a little tired. The heat from the sun was
warm and carrying the hen was hard work. He decided to sit down under the shade of a large
oak tree and have a little rest. It was not long before he fell asleep. The little red
hen, hearing the fox’s snores, decided that she must escape. She wasted no time and crept
quickly out of the sack. Looking around her she saw that there were several stones lying
on the ground. Working as hard as she could, she rolled as many of them as possible into
the sack and then tied it up. Then she scurried off as fast as she could go. She didn’t
stop until she was back at her little henhouse with the door safely locked behind her.
Soon the fox woke up from his nap and carried on with his journey. “This hen is heavy!”
he said to himself, “she’ll make a good dinner.” He licked his lips at the thought
of the plump, tasty hen.
When at last the fox arrived home, he called out to his mother, “is the water boiling,
Mother?” “Yes, son,” his mother replied; “did
you catch the little red hen?” “I certainly did,” answered the sly fox;
“she’s right here in this sack. She’s very heavy, I can tell you. We’ll have a
good feast today, no doubt about that. When I say go, you lift the lid off the pot and
I’ll drop the little red hen right into the boiling water”.
So the mother fox listened as her son began; “ready, steady…...go!” he shouted. At
that moment the mother lifted the lid off the pot and the fox opened up the sack. The
heavy stones tumbled one by one into the boiling hot water with a huge splash. That was the
end of the sly fox and his mother. But the little red hen lived happily ever after in
her cosy henhouse on the edge of the wood.