“The Three Bears.” The Arthur Rackham fairy book : a book of old favourites with new illustrations, Arthur Rackham, Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott., 1933, pp. 200-205.

Tale Summary

There was once a family of bears; a great big bear, a medium-sized bear, and a wee little bear. One morning they left together to take a talk while their porridge cooled down enough to eat, and while they were away from their house an unpleasant old woman let herself in. She saw the bowls of porridge, one big, one medium, and one small, and tried each. The porridge meant for the big bear was too hot, the porridge for the medium bear was too cold, but the porridge for the small bear was just the right temperature and she ate it all up. She tried out all of the chairs too, each proportionally sized for the members of the bear family. The large chair was too hard, the medium chair too soft, and the small chair perfectly comfortable; she sat on it until the cushion fell out the bottom. She then decided to try out the beds. The big bed was too high at the head, the medium bed too high at the foot, but the small bed was just right; she covered herself up and fell asleep in it. The bear family returned home and saw that someone had been there. The great big bear said in his big voice:

“SOMEBODY HAS BEEN EATING MY PORRIDGE!”

The medium-sized bear said: SOMEBODY HAS BEEN AT MY PORRIDGE!”

And in his little voice, the small bear said: “Somebody has been at my porridge, and has eaten it all up!”

The bears then see the chairs, and in the same order say:

“SOMEBODY HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY CHAIR!”

“SOMEBODY HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY CHAIR!”

“Somebody has been sitting in my chair, and has sat the bottom out of it!”

Then, the bears check their beds, and seeing evidence, shout again in order:

“SOMEBODY HAS BEEN LYING IN MY BED!”

“SOMEBODY HAS BEEN LYING IN MY BED!”

“Somebody has been lying in my bed-and here she is!”

The old woman woke up at once to the shrill little bear’s voice and tumbled out the window, and they never saw her again.