55 THE LOST EGG

Bobbie had a pretty hen named Brownie. Brownie had a soft nest in the barn.

Can you guess why she sat there so long? There were ten white eggs under her.

By and by Brownie heard, “Peep-peep! ”The shells of the eggs were breaking.

Little chicks were coming out of the shells.

Soon Brownie had nine little chicks.

She kept them under her wings, where it was warm.

“Peep, peep, peep! ”said the nine chicks. “Where is my other chick? ”said Brownie. “I had ten eggs. I see only nine chicks.”

“Cluck-cluck, cluck-cluck, ”said Brownie to her little chickens.

“Let us take a walk.”

She took them into the garden, to find Bobbie and his mother. “Oh, Mother”cried Bobbie, “look at Brownie's little chicks! ”

“How many has she? ”asked his mother. “I will count them, ”said Bobbie.

“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. There are nine little chickens.”

“Why, Bobbie! ”said his mother, “she had ten eggs. Where is the other chicken? ”

Then his mother counted them. She counted nine chickens, too.

“I will run to the barn, ”said Bobbie. “I may find it there.”

Away he ran as fast as he could go.

There was the egg, right in the nest! Bobbie took it up to look at it.

But the egg fell to the ground. Hark! What did he hear?

“Peep-peep! Peep-peep! ”

He looked at the egg and saw a big crack in the shell.

Then Bobbie saw another little chicken.

He gave it to Brownie, and she put it under her wing.

All the other little chickens ran about and flapped their wings.

They were so happy!

Brownie was happy, too. She had found the lost chick.

(Norse Folk Tale)

Word list

shell: the outer part of an egg

hark: to hear something

You Practice

A) Answer the following questions.

1) What did Brownie have in the barn?

2) Why did Brownie sit on her nest so long?

3) What was Brownie's problem?

4) Why did Brownie go see Bobbie and his mother?

5) Where did Bobbie find the missing chick?

B) What's the word? Using the clues, write the correct words from the story.

1) what chicks say: p _ _ _

2) what hens lay: e _ _ _

3) limbs of a bird: w _ _ _ _

4) not found: l _ _ _

5) not cold: w _ _ _

C) True or false? Read these sentences carefully, write true or false for each one.

1) _____ Bobbie couldn't find the lost egg.

2) _____ Brownie was worried about her lost chick.

3) _____ The lost chick was found in the house.

4) _____ At the end of the story, there were eleven chicks.

5) _____ Brownie was very happy at the end of the story.