The Gingerbread Man

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Once upon a time, in a cozy little cottage, there lived an old woman and an old man. One day, the old woman decided to bake a special treat. “I’m going to make a gingerbread man!” she exclaimed.

She mixed the dough, rolled it out, and cut it into the shape of a little man. She gave him raisins for eyes, a cherry for a nose, and a row of buttons made from bits of candy. Then she put him in the oven to bake.

Soon, the kitchen was filled with the delicious smell of gingerbread. The old woman opened the oven door, and to her surprise, the gingerbread man jumped out and ran straight out of the cottage door!

The old woman and the old man chased after him, shouting, “Stop! Stop! We want to eat you!” But the gingerbread man just laughed and called back, “Run, run, as fast as you can! You can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man!”

The Gingerbread Man ran through the garden and past a cow. The cow mooed, “Stop! Stop! I want to eat you!” But the Gingerbread Man just laughed and called out, “I’ve run away from an old woman and an old man, and I can run away from you, I can!”

He ran even faster, with the cow joining the chase. Soon, he passed a horse in the field. The horse neighed, “Stop! Stop! I want to eat you!” But the Gingerbread Man just laughed and called out, “I’ve run away from an old woman, an old man, and a cow, and I can run away from you, I can!”

The Gingerbread Man ran on, with the old woman, the old man, the cow, and the horse all chasing after him. He passed a hen pecking at the ground. The hen clucked, “Stop! Stop! I want to eat you!” But the Gingerbread Man just laughed and called out, “I’ve run away from an old woman, an old man, a cow, and a horse, and I can run away from you, I can!”

The Gingerbread Man was very pleased with himself. “They’ll never catch me!” he thought. But as he ran along the riverbank, he met a sneaky fox. The fox licked his lips and said, “Hello there, little Gingerbread Man. Why are you in such a hurry?”

The Gingerbread Man replied, “I’ve run away from an old woman, an old man, a cow, a horse, and a hen, and I can run away from you, I can!”

The fox with sneaky smile said, “Oh, I’m not interested in chasing you. But if you need to cross the river, I can help. Jump on my tail, and I’ll carry you across.”

The Gingerbread Man thought it over and decided to trust the fox. He jumped onto the fox’s tail, and the fox began to swim across the river. As they went deeper into the water, the fox said, “You’d better move to my back, so you don’t get wet.”

The Gingerbread Man did as he was told. But soon, the water got even deeper. “You’d better move to my head,” said the fox, and the Gingerbread Man moved to the fox’s head.

Finally, as the water reached its deepest point, the fox said, “You’d better move to my nose, so you don’t get wet.” The Gingerbread Man carefully moved to the fox’s nose.

But just as they reached the other side of the river, the fox tossed the Gingerbread Man into the air, opened his mouth, and snap! The Gingerbread Man was gone.

And that was the end of the Gingerbread Man. The old woman and the old man went home, and from then on, they were more careful about their baking. But they always remembered the Gingerbread Man and his adventurous, if short-lived, escape.

The end.

Moral of the Story:

Be cautious and wise when dealing with strangers, and remember that cleverness and speed can’t always save you from danger.

Follow-up questions:

• Why did the Gingerbread Man run away from the old woman and the old man?

• How did the fox trick the Gingerbread Man into getting closer and closer to his mouth?

• What lesson do you think the old woman and the old man learned from their experience with the Gingerbread Man?