{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_19772/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_19772","id":"gutenberg_19772","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19772","summary":null,"tags":["Bears -- Juvenile fiction","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Children's Picture Books","Children's stories","Fairy tales"],"text":"Produced by Chuck Greif, Jason Isbell and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at DP Europe\n(http://dp.rastko.net)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n                  Denslow's\n\n                 THREE BEARS\n\n               G.W.Dillingham Co.\n\n              Publishers New York.\n               Copyright 1903 by\n                 W.W.Denslow.\n             Published, August 1903\n\n               To Mazie La Shelle\n\n[Illustration: THE THREE BEARS.]\n\n\nA long time ago in a cottage on the edge of a great forest there dwelt a\nlittle girl by the name of Golden Hair; she was an orphan and lived with\nher grandmother who loved her dearly. The grandmother was very old and\nso most of the house work was done by Golden Hair; but she was so young\nand strong she did not mind that a bit, for she had plenty of time to\nplay and was merry the whole day long.\n\nAlthough little Golden Hair lived far from other children she was never\nlonesome, for she had many friends and playmates in the wild creatures\nof the wood. The gentle, soft eyed deer would feed from her hand, and\nthe wild birds would come at her musical call; for she knew their\nlanguage and loved them well.\n\nGolden Hair had never wandered far into the forest. But one day in the\nearly autumn time, as she was gathering bright leaves and golden rod,\nshe strayed farther than she knew and came upon a lonely, gray cabin\nunder the mighty trees. A slab of wood beside the half open door told\nwho lived within. It read:\n\n\"Papa Bear, Mamma Bear, and the Tiny Bear.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"So this is where the jolly bears live!\" said Golden Hair, as she\nknocked upon the door. \"I want to meet them.\"\n\nNo answer came to her knocking, so she pushed the door wide open and\nwalked in.\n\nIt was a most disorderly house, but a bright fire burned on the hearth,\nover which hung a big, black kettle of bubbling soup, while on the\ntable, near by, were three yellow bowls of different sizes.\n\n\"A big bowl for Papa Bear, a medium sized bowl for Mamma Bear, and a\nlittle bowl for the Tiny Bear,\" said Golden Hair.\n\n\"That soup smells good,\" she went on to say, \"but my! what an untidy\nhouse! I'll put the place to rights while I am waiting for the bears to\ncome home.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSo she went to work to sweep and dust and soon had the room in order.\nThen she went into the bed room and made up the three beds: the big one\nfor Papa Bear, the medium sized one for Mamma Bear, and the little one\nfor the Tiny Bear; she bustled and had everything as neat as a pin when\nin bounced the three jolly bears. For a moment the bears stood\nspeechless, with wide open eyes, staring at Golden Hair, who stood,\nlike a ray of sunshine in the dusky room; then they burst into loud\nlaughter and made her welcome to their home. When they saw how nice and\nclean it was they thanked her heartily and invited her to share their\ndinner, for the soup was now ready and they were all hungry. Golden Hair\nspent the rest of the day with the three jolly bears playing \"hi spy\"\nand many new games which the bears taught her.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nWhen the afternoon sun was sinking in the west the little girl said she\nmust be getting home, for her grandma would be anxious about her. The\nthree bears would not let her go alone, so they all set off together\nthrough the twilight woods,--a merry company.\n\nGolden Hair rode upon the broad back of Papa Bear, while Mamma Bear and\nTiny walked gaily on either side. In this way, before night had fallen,\nthey came clear of the wood and up to the home of Golden Hair.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTo be sure the grandmother was much surprised to see this shaggy\ncompany with her little Golden Hair; but when she saw how jolly they all\nwere and how handy they were in helping Golden Hair get the supper, she\nwas delighted to have them stay, and gave them welcome. Papa Bear split\nthe wood, brought it in, and built the fire; Mamma Bear got the tea\nkettle and filled it with water that was carried from the well by the\nTiny Bear, and soon they were able to sit down to a good supper of hot\nbiscuit, wild honey and pumpkin pie, with tea for the elders and nice\nsweet milk for Golden Hair and the Tiny Bear.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe grandmother liked the three bears so well and the bears were so\ndelighted with the comforts of home that they all decided to live\ntogether for the general good.\n\nPapa Bear would do the chores and stand guard over the house at night;\nMamma Bear would do the housework under the direction of Golden Hair,\nwhile the Tiny Bear would wait upon grandmother and run errands for the\nhousehold.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAnd so it came about that the three bears moved their three bowls and\ntheir three beds to the home of Golden Hair and her grandmother, the\nvery next day; and from all accounts they were happy ever after. At any\nrate the fame of Golden Hair and the three bears spread far and wide\nthrough all the countryside, so that on holidays troops of children came\nto play with the four jolly friends.\n\nThe good natured bears were always anxious to please the children; they\nwould get up games under the greenwood trees in the summer, and merry\nsports upon the icy lake or snowy hills in winter. They did their best\nto make life for all, one glad round of joy. Just how long they lived\nthus, no one seems to know; for it was a long, long time ago and nothing\nis left but a joyous memory of a happy golden time.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nDenslow's Picture Books for Children\n\nFor these books W.W. Denslow has revised and adapted several of the best\nclassical fairy tales. He has improved these stories by elimination of\nall coarseness, cruelty, and everything that might frighten children.\nThey are new; more beautiful and striking in both text and picture than\nany children's books heretofore published. Each book is filled with\npictures of action and fun in brilliant colors. The twelve books are\nuniform in size.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nCOPYRIGHT, 1903, BY W.W. DENSLOW\n\nPRICE 25 CENTS EACH; INDESTRUCTIBLE, MOUNTED ON LINEN, 50 CENTS EACH\n\nG.W. Dillingham Company, Publishers, New York","title":"Denslow's Three Bears","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":1079}