The Mitten

One snowy winter day, an old man went walking in the forest with his little white dog. The snow went crunch, crunch under his boots. He had a pair of warm red mittens his granddaughter had knitted. But one mitten fell out of his pocket, and he didn't notice. Plop! There it lay, red and cosy, on the soft white snow, while the old man walked away.

Along came a little mouse, scampering through the snow. "Oh, what's this?" she squeaked. "A little red house!" She crept inside. It was soft and warm. "I'll live here," she said. Then along came a frog, hopping and shivering. "Knock, knock! Who lives in this little house?" "I'm Mouse the Nibbler. And who are you?" "I'm Frog the Hopper. Please let me in!" "Come in!" And now there were two.

Then along came a hare, bounding through the trees. "Knock, knock! Who lives in this little house?" "Mouse the Nibbler and Frog the Hopper. And who are you?" "I'm Hare the Jumper. Please let me in!" "Come in!" The mitten stretched a little, and now there were three. Then along came a fox, with a fluffy tail. "Knock, knock! Who lives here?" "Mouse, Frog and Hare. Who are you?" "I'm Fox the Sister. Let me in!" "Come in!" And now there were four.

Then along came a wolf, his nose cold and red. "Knock, knock! Who lives in this little house?" "Mouse, Frog, Hare and Fox. And who are you?" "I'm Wolf the Grey. Please let me in!" "Well, all right, come in." Squish! Now there were five. Then along came a wild boar, grunting. "Oink! Let me in too!" "But there's no room!" "I'll squeeze in!" Squash! And now there were six, all snuggled up together.

Then along came a big brown bear, stomp, stomp, through the snow. "Knock, knock! Who lives in this little house?" "Mouse the Nibbler, Frog the Hopper, Hare the Jumper, Fox the Sister, Wolf the Grey and Boar the Grunter. And who are you?" "I'm Bear the Big," said the bear. "Please let me in. I'm cold." "But there's no room!" they said. "Oh, please," said the bear. "Well... all right." And with a big squeeeeeze, the bear climbed in too.

Now there were seven animals in the mitten. It was very warm, and very squashed. The mitten stretched, and stretched, and stretched. The stitches went creak, creak. The mouse was squeezed right up in the thumb. "Isn't it cosy?" said the bear happily. "Very cosy," squeaked the mouse. "A little TOO cosy!" And just then, far away, they heard a sound: "Woof! Woof! Woof!"

The old man had noticed that his mitten was missing. "Oh dear, my granddaughter knitted that," he said. "Come, little dog, let's go back and find it." So they walked back through the forest, crunch, crunch. The little dog ran ahead, sniffing the snow. And when he saw the big round red mitten, wiggling and jiggling, he barked as loudly as he could: "Woof! Woof! WOOF!"

The animals got such a surprise! Out they tumbled, one after another: the bear, the boar, the wolf, the fox, the hare, the frog, and last of all, the little mouse. And off they ran, back to their own warm homes in the forest. The old man picked up his mitten. It was a little bit stretched, and a little bit warm. "How strange," he said, and he smiled. He put it on and walked home to his warm house, where his granddaughter was waiting with hot tea. Good night.