Ep. #31 The Little Red Hen –🌾🐣—Mother’s Love
This is a classic folktale. The story is about a hen. A hen is a chicken. In the story, the hen is very busy looking for food. Then she finds a seed. She wants to make the seed into bread. How does she do it? Let’s listen to the story.
Listen HERE
The Little Red Hen
A little red hen lives on a farm. The farm also has a cat, a rat, and a pig. The cat sleeps in the sun every day. The rat plays in the field every day. The pig lies in the mud every day. They are all lazy. But the hen is busy. She looks for food for her baby chicks. Their favorite food is worms. So, every day she looks for worms.
One day the little red hen is looking for worms. But she finds something else. She bites it. This thing is not a worm. What is it? It is a seed. It is a wheat seed. The wheat seed can be planted in the ground. The wheat can be used to make bread. The little red hen says, “Who will plant this seed? I am too busy. I look for food all day for my baby chicks.” The cat says, “I won’t do it!” The rat says, “I won’t!” The pig says, “I won’t either!” So, the little red hen plants the seed.
The seed grows into a wheat plant. The wheat grows tall. The little red hen asks, “Who will cut down the wheat? I’m too busy!” The cat says, “I won’t do it!” The rat says, “I won’t!” The pig is sleeping. The little red hen says, “Ok, I will do it!” She cuts down the wheat.
Then the wheat is ready to go to the mill. At the mill the wheat will be made into flour. But the baby chicks are hungry. The little red hen needs to look for worms. She gives the worms to the baby chicks. She is tired. It’s so much work taking care of baby chicks! The little red hen says, “Who will take the wheat to the mill? I am too busy!” The cat says, “I won’t!” The pig is sleeping. The rat is playing in the field. The little red hen says, “Ok, I will do it then!” She takes the wheat to the mill. The wheat is made into soft flour.
The little red hen brings the flour home. She goes to bed. But she can’t sleep. She thinks about the flour. Someone needs to make the flour into bread. She remembers how to make bread. She thinks about the bread all night. Then the sky turns purple and pink. The sun comes up. It is morning. The little red hen finds the cat and the rat and the pig. She says, “I will ask you for the last time. Will you help me? Will you make the bread?” The cat is still sleepy. The cat says, “I won’t.” The rat says, “I won’t!” The pig says, “I won’t either!” The little red hen says, “Ok, I will do it!” She goes to the kitchen.
The little red hen turns on the oven. The cat and the rat and the pig follow her into the kitchen. The cat sits by the warm oven. The rat runs around the kitchen looking for old pieces of food. The pig laughs at the hen. The pig says, “Little red hen, you are too little to make bread! The bread will be bigger than you!” The little red hen says, “I will do it! You’ll see.” The little red hen mixes the bread dough. She carries the bread dough to the oven. It’s so heavy! She puts the bread dough into the oven.
Then she cleans the kitchen. She cleans the flour off of the table. She brushes the flour out of the cat’s hair. She dusts the flour off of the pig’s nose. Then the bread is ready. She takes the bread out of the oven. The bread smells delicious. The cat stands up. The pig moves closer. The rat runs to the oven. The little red hen says, “Who will eat this bread?” The cat says, “I will!” The rat says, “I will!” The pig says, “I will too!” The little red hen says, “No you won’t!” She and her baby chicks eat the bread. The end.
The cat, the rat, and the pig smell the bread. They want to eat it. But it’s too late. They should have helped the little red hen when they had the chance.
This story has been rewritten and read by Katrina Hao; it is a classic folk tale called "The Little Red Hen"