_Goldilocks._ Don"t say such uncomfortable things, Dollie. She couldn"t turn you into gingerbread, anyway.
_Dollie._ Well, I know I"m made of sawdust, but she might make mush of me for breakfast!
_Goldilocks._ I know you"re fooling now, dear Dollie. Let"s look in the window. I don"t see anyone. I"ll knock at the door. No one answers.
Come, Dollie, we"ll open the door and walk in. How nice and warm it is.
There is a good fire in the kitchen stove.
_Dollie._ Yes, and I smell something good to eat.
_Goldilocks._ Here it is on the table--what pretty bowls--one, two, three! I"ll taste the porridge in the big bowl first. O Dollie, it is too hot! I burned my mouth.
_Dollie._ Try the next bowl. Perhaps the porridge in the middle-sized bowl is not so hot.
_Goldilocks._ No, indeed, it isn"t; but it is too cold.
_Dollie._ Aren"t you hard to please? I"m so hungry I could eat anything.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
_Goldilocks._ Now this in the little bowl is just right. Sit down, Dollie, and we"ll eat it all up.
_Dollie._ Do you think it is very polite for us to eat it all?
_Goldilocks._ You should have spoken of that before. It is too late now when it is all gone. Come, let us go into the parlor.
_Dollie._ Don"t you think we"d better go home?
_Goldilocks._ How can we when I don"t know the way? I"m tired, and I think I"ll rest awhile in this nice big rocking-chair. But it"s too high; I can"t get into it.
_Dollie._ Don"t move it out of its place.
_Goldilocks._ Never mind! I"ll try the middle-sized chair. I don"t like this, it is too low.
_Dollie._ Well, Goldilocks, you must not put chairs out of their places!
[Ill.u.s.tration]
_Goldilocks._ Oh, it won"t hurt them. Now let us try this pretty little chair. Come, Dollie, I"ll sing you a song:
Rock-a-bye, Dollie, in the treetop, When the wind blows, the cradle will rock; When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall And down will come Dollie, cradle and all!
[_Chair breaks._]
_Dollie._ Well, something broke then!
_Goldilocks._ Yes, the cradle and all came down that time. Dear, O dear!
I wish I hadn"t rocked you so hard. I wish I hadn"t run away!
[_Crying._]
_Dollie._ Don"t cry, dear Goldilocks. Let us see what we can find in the next room. Perhaps some one is in there who will take us to your dear mother.
_Goldilocks._ O Dollie! I"m a naughty girl not to mind my mother. If I"d only stayed at home in the garden!
_Dollie._ Oh, see the big bed!
_Goldilocks._ I"m so tired I believe I"ll climb in and go to sleep. But I don"t like it. This big bed is too hard.
_Dollie._ And this middle-sized one is too soft.
_Goldilocks._ But this little one is _just right_.
Go--to--sleep--Dollie--
SCENE II.--_The Bear Family in the Wood_
_Father Bear._ Well, little son, aren"t you about ready to go home?
_Sonny Bear._ Oh, no, father! Let me play just a little longer. Here are such good places to hide in the shady wood.
_Mother Bear._ No, dear little sonny, we must go home now. It is getting late. It"s time for you to have your supper and go to bed.
_Sonny Bear._ All right, mother dear. I believe I am hungry, and your porridge is always so good.
_Mother Bear._ Most children like porridge. Perhaps you can have a nice red apple, too.
_Sonny Bear._ Oh, goody! Little sonny bears always like apples, don"t they, papa?
_Father Bear._ Yes, my dear. Mother, let me take your knitting basket.
What are you making now?
_Mother Bear._ A warm cap for sonny. Isn"t it pretty?
_Father Bear._ Very pretty, and he should be very glad he has such a good mother.
_Sonny Bear._ She _is_ a good mother, and you are a very good father, too.
_Father Bear._ Well, here we are at home again. But the door is open.
I"m certain I closed it when we went away. Who has been here?
_Mother Bear._ Let us take off our wraps and have our tea.
_Father Bear._ Why, somebody has been tasting my porridge.
_Mother Bear._ What? Let me see! Some one has left a spoon in my porridge, too.
_Sonny Bear._ Oh, mamma! Look at my bowl! Some one has eaten my porridge all up.
_Mother Bear._ Never mind, sonny boy, you may have some of mine. But I wonder who has been here. Let us go into the parlor and see if anyone is there.