The Old Man and the Wolf
An old man and an old woman had a boy and a girl, a rooster and a hen, five sheep, and a sixth—a stallion.A hungry wolf ran up to their hut and howled:
— Old man and old woman
Lived on a hill
In a clay hut.
The old man and the old woman had—
A boy and a girl,
A rooster and a hen,
Five sheep,
And a sixth—a stallion.
The boy in boots,
The girl in earrings!
— Old man, old man, give me the rooster and the hen, or I’ll eat the old woman!
The old man felt sorry for the rooster and the hen, but—what could he do?—he gave them to the wolf.
The next day, the wolf came running again:
— Old man and old woman
Lived on a hill
In a clay hut.
The old man and the old woman had—
A boy and a girl,
Five sheep,
And a sixth—a stallion.
The boy in boots,
The girl in earrings!
— Old man, old man, give me the sheep, or I’ll eat the old woman!
The old man felt sorry for the sheep, but he felt even sorrier for the old woman—so he gave the sheep to the wolf.
On the third day, the wolf came running again:
— Old man and old woman
Lived on a hill
In a clay hut.
The old man and the old woman had—
A boy and a girl,
And a straw barn,
And inside—a stallion.
The boy in boots,
The girl in earrings!
— Old man, old man, give me the stallion, or I’ll eat the old woman!
The old man gave the stallion to the wolf. The next morning, the wolf came running again:
— Old man and old woman
Lived on a hill
In a clay hut.
The old man and the old woman had—
A boy and a girl,
The boy in boots,
The girl in earrings!
— Old man, old man, give me the boy and the girl, or I’ll eat the old woman!
The old man felt so sorry for the boy and the girl that he grabbed a poker and started whacking the wolf. He beat and beat until the wolf’s belly burst open, and out jumped the stallion, followed by the five sheep, and after the sheep came the rooster and the hen.
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