60 THE HEN AND THE SQUIRREL

One day a hen met a squirrel.

“Friend Hen, ”said the squirrel,

“do you see that tall oak tree?

It is full of good acorns.

Let us get some to eat.”

“All right, friend Squirrel, ”said the hen.

So they ran to the tree.

The squirrel ran right up the tree and ate an acorn.

“How good it is! ”he said.

The hen tried to fly up and get an acorn.

But she could not fly so high.

So she called up to the squirrel,

“Friend Squirrel, give me an acorn.”

The squirrel found a big acorn.

He threw it down to her.

The acorn hit the hen, and cut her head.

So she ran to an old woman and said,

“Old Woman, please give me a soft cloth.

Then I can tie up my poor head.”

“First give me two hairs, ”said the old woman.

“Then I will give you a soft cloth.”

The hen ran to a dog.

“Good Dog, give me two hairs, ”she said.

“I will give them to the old woman.

The old woman will give me a soft cloth.

Then I can tie up my poor head.”

“First give me some bread, ”said the dog.

“Then I will give you two hairs.”

The hen went to a baker and said,

“Oh, Good Baker, give me some bread.

I will give the bread to the dog.

The dog will give me two hairs.

I will give the hairs to the old woman.

The old woman will give me a soft cloth.

Then I can tie up my poor head.”

“First get me some wood, ”said the baker.

“Then I will give you some bread.”

The hen went to the forest and said,

“Oh, Good Forest, give me some wood.

I will give the wood to the baker.

The baker will give me some bread.

I will give the bread to the dog.

The dog will give me two hairs.

I will give the hairs to the old woman.

The old woman will give me a soft cloth.

Then I can tie up my head.”

“First give me some water, ”said the forest.

“Then I will give you wood.”

The hen went to a brook.

“Brook, give me some water.

I will give it to the forest.

The forest will give me wood.

I will give the wood to the baker.

The baker will give me bread.

I will give the bread to the dog.

The dog will give me two hairs.

I will give them to the old woman.

The old woman will give me a soft cloth.

Then I can tie up my head.”

The brook gave the hen water.

She gave the water to the forest.

The forest gave her some wood.

She gave the wood to the baker.

The baker gave her some bread.

She gave the bread to the dog.

The dog gave her two hairs.

She gave the two hairs to the old woman.

The old woman gave her a soft cloth.

So the hen tied up her poor head.

(Old Tale)

Word list

acorns: seeds from a tree that squirrels and other animals eat

baker: a person who makes bread and other baked goods to eat

You Practice

A) Answer the following questions.

1) What do the hen and squirrel do at the beginning of the story?

2) In what season does the story take place? How do you know?

3) Who is the first person the hen asks for help?

4) Why did the hen want to tie up her head with a soft cloth?

5) What did the dog want to do before he would give the hen two hairs?

6) What are three things that you might find in a forest?

B) Why? Match the following things that happened with the reasons why they happened.

1) _____ Hen and squirrel ran to the tree

A) because Squirrel threw down big acorns

2) _____ Her couldn't reach the acorns

B) because the tree was full of acorns.

3) _____ Hen's head was cut

C) because her head was cut.

4) _____ He needed a soft cloth

D) because she couldn't fly so high.

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

1) _____ The hen and the squirrel both wanted to eat acorns.

2) _____ The dog got a cut on its head.

3) _____ The old woman helped the squirrel.

4) _____ The baker gave bread to the dog.

5) _____ The forest gave wood to the dog.