39 THE OLD WOMAN WHO WANTED ALL THE CAKES

One day an old woman was baking cakes. She wore a black dress and a little white cape. On her head was a little red cap.

A poor old man said to her, “I am hungry. Please give me one of those nice cakes.”The little old woman said, “I will bake you one little cake. That is all you may have.”

So she took a small piece of dough. She rolled it and rolled it. Then she patted it and patted it, and made a small cake.

But it began to grow bigger and bigger. “I will not give you this cake, ”said the old woman, “It is too big.”So she put it into the oven for herself.

Then she took a tiny bit of dough. She rolled it and rolled it. Then she patted it, and patted it and made a tiny cake.

But it began to grow bigger and bigger. “I will not give you this cake, ”said the old woman. “It is much too big.”So she put that cake into the oven for herself, too.

Then she tried again with a tiny, tiny bit of dough, as small as a grain of wheat. She rolled it and patted it and made a cake as small as a grain of wheat.

But that cake began to grow, too. It got bigger and bigger and bigger.

“I will not give you any cake at all, ”said the old woman,“These cakes are all too big to give away. I want them myself.”

So the old man went away, hungry, and the old woman sat down to eat the cakes.

As she was eating, she began to grow smaller. She got smaller and smaller.

She felt her nos—it was a beak! She looked at her handsthey were wings! She looked at her feet—they were claws!

She still had on a black dress and a white cape and a little red cap. But they were all feathers! She had changed to a bird.

You will see the little old woman some day. She hops up and down trees, hunting for food. She has to work hard to get it.

You will know her when you see her. You will say, “There is the black dress, and the white cape, and the little red cap.”

For the old woman was changed to a woodpecker.

(Norse Tale)

Word list

cape: a sleeveless piece of clothing hanging over the shoulders

cap: a kind of hat

dough: material used for making bread and cakes

woodpecker: a kind of bird with a very strong beak

You Practice

A) Answer the following questions.

1) What was the old woman wearing?

2) Does this story take place in the past, present, or future? How do you know?

3) Why did the poor old man want one of the woman's cakes?

4) Why did the woman keep all the cakes for herself?

5) What happened to the old woman when she ate the cakes?

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

1) the mouth of a bird: b _ _ _

2) a place where things are baked: o _ _ _

3) a very small piece of wheat: g _ _ _ _

4) birds have these at the end of their feet: c _ _ _ _

5) birds have these—they are very soft: f _ _ _ _ _ _ _

C) Beginning, middle, and end—Draw a picture of the beginning, middle, and end of this story.

1) Beginning:

2) Middle:

3) End: