“The Three Little Pigs.” The Green Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1892, pp. 100-105.

Tale Summary

Once upon a time, there were three little pigs who lived together on a farm with their mother. The oldest was named browny, and he was very dirty and loved playing in the mud. The second was named Whitey, who was very greedy and always looking forward to her next meal. The youngest was named Blacky, and he was very handsome and sensible. When the mother pig felt that she would soon pass away, she decided to build each of the pigs their own house and asked each of them what kind they would prefer. Browny said he wanted a house of mud, Whitey requested a house made of cabbage, and Blacky decided on a house made of bricks. Before she died, the mother pig warned all of her children of their enemy the fox, who they must never let inside their homes. Sometime after she died and the three pigs are living in their own houses, Browny heard a voice at his front door asking permission to come inside. Browny recognized the fox and refused to let him in, but the fox dug through the mud and carried the pig back to his den. Next, the fox visited Whitey who also denied him entry, but he bit his way through the cabbage walls and brought her back with him to the den. Blacky is the last to be visited by the fox, and when he was not let in, he was unable to dig or bite his way through the brick walls and walked away defeated, though vowing to someday get him. One day, Blacky walked home from the market with a kettle when he heard the fox nearby. He opened the kettle lid and hid inside it, sliding down the hill to the front door of his house. The fox was disappointed to see it was only a kettle until Blacky emerged and ran inside. Hearing the fox coming, Blacky took the kettle and boiled water in it, and left the top off, so that when the fox came down the chimney he fell right into it and died. Blacky set off to the fox’s den to set free Browny and Whitey, who both were set right and were rid of the faults that nearly had them killed.