hey
had each a pot for their porridge, a little pot for the Little, Small,
Wee Bear; and a middle-sized pot for the Middle Bear; and a great pot
for the Great, Huge Bear. And they had each a chair to sit in; a little
chair for the Little, Small, Wee Bear; and a middle-sized chair for the
Middle Bear; and a great chair for the Great, Huge Bear. And they had
each a bed to sleep in; a little bed for the Little, Small, Wee Bear;
and a middle-sized bed for the Middle Bear; and a great bed for the
Great, Huge Bear.

One day, after they had made the porridge for their breakfast, and
poured it into their porridge-pots, they walked out into the wood while
the porridge was cooling, that they might not burn their mouths by
beginning too soon to eat it. And while they were walking, a little old
woman came to the house. She could not have been a good, honest old
woman; for, first, she looked in at the window, and then she peeped in
at the keyhole; and, seeing nobody in the house, she lifted the latch.
The door was not fastened, because the bears were good bears, who did
nobody any harm, and never suspected that anybody would harm them. So
the little old woman opened the door and went in; and well pleased she
was when she saw the porridge on the table. If she had been a good
little old woman she would have waited till the bears came home, and
then, perhaps, they would have asked her to breakfast; for they were
good bears--a little rough or so, as the manner of bears is, but for all
that very good-natured and hospitable. But she was an impudent, bad old
woman, and set about helping herself.

So first she tasted the porridge of the Great, Huge Bear, and that was
too hot for her; and she said a bad word about that. And then she tasted
the porridge of the Middle Bear; and that was too cold for her; and she
said a bad word about that too. And then she went to the porridge of the
Little, Small, Wee Bear, and tasted that; and that was neither too hot
nor too cold, but just right; and she liked it so well, that she ate it
all up: but the naughty old woman said a bad word about the little
porridge-pot, because it did not hold enough for her.

Then the little old woman sate down in the chair of the Great, Huge
Bear, and that was too hard for her. And then she sate down in the chair
of the Middle Bear, and that was too soft for her. And then she sate
down in the chair of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, and that was neither
too hard nor too soft