Once, a little girl walked away from her house into the forest. She got lost in the forest and began to search for the way home, but she could not find it. Instead, she came upon a small house in the woods.
The door was wide open. She peeked inside, saw that no one was home, and walked in. Three bears lived in this house. One bear was the father, called Papa Bear. He was very big and shaggy. The second was the mother, called Mama Bear. She was a bit smaller. The third was a tiny little cub, called Baby Bear. The bears were not home; they had gone for a walk in the forest.
There were two rooms in the house: one dining room and one bedroom. The girl entered the dining room and saw three bowls of soup on the table.
The first bowl, which was very large, belonged to Papa Bear. The second, a bit smaller, belonged to Mama Bear. The third, a little blue bowl, belonged to Baby Bear. Next to each bowl lay a spoon: a big spoon, a middle-sized spoon, and a tiny spoon.
The girl took the biggest spoon and tasted some soup from the biggest bowl. Then she took the middle-sized spoon and tasted some soup from the middle-sized bowl. Then she took the tiny spoon and tasted some soup from the little blue bowl. Baby Bear's soup tasted the best of all to her.
The girl wanted to sit down, and she saw three chairs by the table: a big chair belonging to Papa Bear, a middle-sized chair belonging to Mama Bear, and a tiny chair with a little blue cushion belonging to Baby Bear. She climbed onto the big chair and fell off. Then she sat on the middle-sized chair, but it was uncomfortable. Then she sat on the tiny chair and laughed, it felt so nice. She took the little blue bowl onto her knees and began to eat.
She ate all the soup and started to rock back and forth on the chair.
The tiny chair broke, and she tumbled to the floor. She got up, picked up the broken chair, and went into the other room. Three beds stood there: a big bed belonging to Papa Bear, a middle-sized bed belonging to Mama Bear, and a tiny bed belonging to Baby Bear. The girl lay in the big bed, but it was too spacious. She lay in the middle-sized bed, but it was too high.
She lay in the tiny bed, and it fit her just right, so she fell fast asleep.
Meanwhile, the bears came home hungry and wanted to have their dinner.
The big bear took his bowl, looked inside, and roared in a terrible voice:
— WHO HAS BEEN EATING FROM MY BOWL?
Mama Bear looked at her bowl and growled, not quite so loudly:
— WHO HAS BEEN EATING FROM MY BOWL?
And Baby Bear saw his empty bowl and squeaked in a high, thin voice:
— WHO HAS BEEN EATING FROM MY BOWL AND ATE IT ALL UP?
Papa Bear looked at his chair and growled in his terrible voice:
— WHO HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY CHAIR AND MOVED IT?
Mama Bear looked at her chair and growled, not quite so loudly:
— WHO HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY CHAIR AND MOVED IT?
Baby Bear looked at his broken chair and squeaked:
— WHO HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY CHAIR AND BROKE IT?
The bears went into the bedroom.
— WHO HAS BEEN LYING IN MY BED AND MESSED IT UP? — roared Papa Bear in his terrible voice.
— WHO HAS BEEN LYING IN MY BED AND MESSED IT UP? — growled Mama Bear, not quite so loudly.
And Baby Bear brought a little footstool, climbed into his bed, and squeaked in his high, thin voice:
— WHO HAS BEEN LYING IN MY BED?
And suddenly he saw the girl and shrieked as loud as he could:
— Here she is! Catch her, catch her! Here she is! Oh, oh, oh! Catch her!
He wanted to bite her.
The girl opened her eyes, saw the bears, and rushed to the window.
It was wide open. She leaped out of the window and ran away. And the bears could not catch her.