# The Gingerbread Man _Joseph Jacobs_ · 5 min read · ages 4-8 A little old woman bakes a gingerbread man who leaps from the oven and outruns everyone who chases him, from the old woman and old man to two threshers, a cow, and a horse, boasting a cumulative rhyme each time he escapes. At a river he lets a clever fox carry him across for safety, but the fox lures him closer and closer until, with one quick snap, the gingerbread man’s run finally ends. --- Once upon a time, in a small house at the edge of a village, there lived a little old woman and a little old man. One sunny morning the little old woman decided to bake her husband a special treat: a gingerbread man, with a bright smile made of icing and two currants for eyes. She rolled out the dough, cut a fine little man, and popped him into the oven to bake. But when she opened the oven door to take him out, the gingerbread man sat straight up, hopped off the tray, and out the door he ran. “Come back!” cried the little old woman, running after him as fast as her legs would go. The little old man heard the commotion and hurried after her, waving his hat. But the gingerbread man only laughed and called back over his shoulder, “Run, run, as fast as you can! You can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man!” And he ran so fast that soon the little old woman and the little old man were far behind, quite out of breath, and had to stop and rest. On he ran, down the lane and through a field, where two threshers were beating the wheat with their flails. “Wait!” they called. “Where are you off to in such a hurry?” “I’ve run away from the little old woman and the little old man,” said the gingerbread man, “and I can run away from you too, I can, I can!” “Run, run, as fast as you can! You can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man!” The threshers dropped their flails and gave chase, but he was much too quick for them, and soon they sat down to catch their breath. On he went, past a cow grazing in the meadow. “Moo! Where are you going in such a rush?” she asked. “I’ve run away from the little old woman, the little old man, and two threshers,” said the gingerbread man, “and I can run away from you too, I can, I can!” “Run, run, as fast as you can! You can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man!” The cow lumbered after him as fast as her legs would carry her, but it was no use. He was already far down the road. Next he passed a horse in a paddock, who put back her ears and trotted after him. “I’ve run away from the little old woman, the little old man, two threshers, and a cow,” the gingerbread man called, “and I can run away from you too, I can, I can!” “Run, run, as fast as you can! You can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man!” The horse galloped hard, but he was faster still, and soon she fell behind, puffing. By now the gingerbread man felt very pleased with himself, for no one in the whole wide world had managed to catch him. He ran on until he came to a river, wide and swift, with no bridge in sight. He stopped short at the water’s edge, unsure how to cross. Lying in the grass nearby was a fox, watching him with a clever glint in his eye. “My, my,” said the fox. “You must be quite the runner, to be going so fast on such a warm day.” “I’ve run away from the little old woman, the little old man, two threshers, a cow, and a horse,” said the gingerbread man proudly. “Run, run, as fast as you can! You can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man!” “Oh, I’ve no interest in catching you,” said the fox smoothly. “But that river is far too deep for a little fellow like you to cross alone. Climb onto my tail, and I’ll swim you safely across.” The gingerbread man thought it over, but the fox seemed friendly enough, and there was no other way across, so he climbed onto the fox’s tail, and the fox began to swim. “You’re getting wet there,” said the fox after a moment. “Climb up onto my back.” The gingerbread man did. A little further on, the fox said, “Climb onto my shoulder now, the water’s getting deep.” The gingerbread man climbed onto his shoulder. “Climb onto my nose,” said the fox at last, “or the water will soak you through.” The gingerbread man climbed onto the very tip of the fox’s nose, right at the water’s edge, quite sure he was safe. But the moment he was close enough, the fox opened his jaws, and with one quick snap, that was the end of the little gingerbread man, who had run so far and so fast, but never quite far enough. --- - Read online: https://talerie.com/en/tales/the-gingerbread-man - Source: English Fairy Tales, collected by Joseph Jacobs (Project Gutenberg #7439) (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7439) - Public-domain basis: Talerie contemporary retelling (CC0 2026), based on: English Fairy Tales, collected by Joseph Jacobs (Project Gutenberg #7439) — original: author died 1916 (+70 passed) - License: CC0-1.0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)