A little old woman longing for a child bakes a gingerbread man, and he jumps out of the oven and runs away. The old couple, the threshers, the men out mowing, a cow and a pig all run after the gingerbread man, and his boast grows by a line each time, until a fox eats him quarter by quarter and he never speaks again.
Once there was a little old man and a little old woman who lived in a little old house at the edge of a wood.
They were happy nearly all the time, and only one thing was missing. They had no child of their own, and they wished for one very much.
One morning the little old woman was baking gingerbread. She rolled the dough out thin and cut her cakes, and because she was thinking, as she often did, of the child they had never had, she cut the last piece of dough into the shape of a little man. She gave him currants for eyes and a row of currants down his front for buttons, and she slid him into the oven and shut the door.
After a while she went to see whether he was baked.
The moment the oven door was open, out jumped the little gingerbread man. He landed on the floor, crossed the kitchen and was out through the doorway, running away as fast as he could go.
The little old woman called her husband, and the two of them ran after him down the path and out along the lane. But they could not catch him.
Soon the gingerbread man came to a barn full of threshers. He called out to them as he went by:
I’ve run away from a little old woman,A little old man,And I can run away from you, I can!
Then the whole barn full of threshers put down their flails and ran after him. They ran fast, but they could not catch him.
On he went, until he came to a field full of mowers. He called out to them:
I’ve run away from a little old woman,A little old man,A barn full of threshers,And I can run away from you, I can!
Then the mowers ran after him too, and they could not catch him either.
On he went, until he came to a cow. He called out to her:
I’ve run away from a little old woman,A little old man,A barn full of threshers,A field full of mowers,And I can run away from you, I can!
The cow set off after him at once, but she could not catch him.
On he went, until he came to a pig. He called out to the pig:
I’ve run away from a little old woman,A little old man,A barn full of threshers,A field full of mowers,A cow,And I can run away from you, I can!
The pig ran and ran, and could not catch him.
On he went, until he came across a fox lying in the grass at the edge of the wood. To him he called out just the same:
I’ve run away from a little old woman,A little old man,A barn full of threshers,A field full of mowers,A cow and a pig,And I can run away from you, I can!
Then the fox set out to run. Now, foxes can run very fast. Before the gingerbread man had gone much farther, the fox caught him and began to eat him up.
“Oh dear,” said the gingerbread man. “I’m a quarter gone!”
And then he said, “I’m half gone!”
And soon after that, “I’m three-quarters gone!”
And at last he said, “I’m all gone!”
And he never spoke again.
Retold by Talerie, Source: St. Nicholas (opens in a new window)
License: Public domainCopy this text, adapt it, use it however you like. A link back to Talerie is appreciated but never required.CC0 1.0 (opens in a new window)
