src="@public@vhost@g@gutenberg@html@files@23322@23322-h@images@i-10.jpg" alt="THE BEARS COME HOME AND FIND THEIR PORRIDGE ALL GONE." title="" tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}img"/> THE BEARS COME HOME AND FIND THEIR PORRIDGE ALL GONE.

Said Big Bruin, “I’m hungry—to eat, let’s begin—
Who has been to my porridge?” he roared with such might;
His voice was like wind down the chimney at night.
"Who has been to my porridge?” growled out Mrs. B——;
Her voice was like cats fighting up in a tree.
“Who has been to my porridge and eaten it all?”
Young Tiny-cub said, in a voice very small,
“Who has been sitting in my great arm chair?”
In voice like a thunder-storm, roared the big bear.
“Who has been sitting in my good arm chair?”
Growled out Mammy Muff, like a sow in despair.
“Who has sat in my nice chair, and broken it down?”
Young Tiny-cub said, and so fierce was his frown,
That his mother with pride to his father said, “There!
See our pet Tiny-cub can look just like a bear,”
So roaring, and growling, and frowning, the bears,
One after the other, came running up-stairs.

THE BEARS FIND GOLDENHAIR ASLEEP IN TINY-CUB’S BED.

“Who has been upon my bed?” old Bruin roared out,
In a voice just like rain down a large water-spout.
“Who has been upon my bed?” growled out Mammy Muff,
In a voice like her husband’s, but not quite so rough.
"Who is lying on my bed?” said young Tiny-Cub,
In a voice like hot water poured into a tub.
And Tiny-cub’s breath was so hot as he spoke,
That Goldenhair dreamt of hot water, and woke.
She opened her eyes, and she saw the three bears,
And said, “Let me go, please, I’ll soon run down stairs.”
But big Bruin was angry, and shouted out, “No!
You had no right to come hither, and now you shan’t go.
What we mean to do with you, ere long you shall find;
You can lie there and cry till I make up my mind.”
To Mammy and Tiny then did big Bruin roar,
“Go and block up the chimney and nail up the door;
This Goldenhair now has got into a scrape,
And if I can help it, she shall not escape.”

GOLDENHAIR JUMPS OUT OF THE WINDOW.

But Goldenhair saw that a window was there,
(It was always kept open to let in fresh air),
So she jumped out of bed—to the window she ran,
Saying “Three bears, good-bye! Catch me now if you can!”
To the window the bears ran as fast as they could,
But Goldenhair flew like the wind through the wood.
She said the bears’ breath had filled her with steam,
But when she grew older she said ’twas a dream,
And no doubt she was right to take such a view;
Still, some part of the story is certainly true,
For unto this day there is no one who dares,
To say that there never existed THREE BEARS.