THE FOX AND THE LITTLE RED HEN. Once upon a time there was a little red hen. She lived in a little white house, and she had a little green garden. Every day she worked in the house and garden.Near her home lived a family of foxes. One day Mamma Fox said to Papa Fox, "I want a fat hen to eat." There was nothing in the pantry for the baby foxes, so Papa Fox started out to find something for them all.He ran down the road until he came to the woods. "Surely I will find something here," he said, but he found nothing to eat in the woods. As he came near the little green garden he said, "Oh, I smell fresh cake. Oh, I smell a little red hen."Sure enough, there was the Little Red Hen eating her cake.Papa Fox snuck up quietly behind her and grabbed her and put her into the bag on his back; then he ran quickly off down the hill toward his home.The Little Red Hen was so frightened that she couldonly whisper, "Oh, dear. Oh, dear. Oh, dear."Just then she had to sneeze, and when she put her claw into her pocket for her handkerchief, she felt her little scissors. Quick as a flash she took them out and cut a little hole in the bag. Peeping out she saw a great hill just ahead, all covered with stones. As Papa Fox stopped to rest on his way up the hill, with his back turned toward her, she cut a big hole in the bag, jumped out and quickly put a big stone in the bag in her place.As Papa Fox kept on upthe hill, he thought the bag was pretty heavy, but he said, "Never mind, she is a fat little red hen."Mamma Fox met him at the front door with all the baby foxes."The water is boiling," said she. "What do you have in your bag?" asked the Baby Foxes."A fat, little, red hen," said Papa Fox.As he held the bag over the pot, he said to Mamma Fox, "When I drop her in, you clap on the lid." So he opened the bag. Splash went the boiling water. It spilled all over Papa Fox and Mamma Fox and the Baby Foxes. Never again did they try to catch the Little Red Hen.
1.What was the little red hen's house like? // 2.Why didn't the fox know the hen escaped? // 3.What do the hen's actions tell us about her as a character? // 4.Why do you think the foxes left the Little Red Hen alone in the future?
