The Little Red Hen
Lately, Sam has been having me read her "The Little Red Hen". You know, the one where the hen finds a grain of wheat, nobody will help her plant it, harvest it, make it into flour, or make bread out of it, but they *all* want to help eat it. And she tells them "no", and eats it herself. This story has always bugged me, that just isn't the way I see people behaving. I'm picturing it actually coming out something like this:
Little Red Hen: Hey, I've found a grain of wheat. I'll plant it.
Duck: Hey, cool. Need any help?
LRH: Of course not. It's just a grain of wheat, it will only take a second to plant. There, it's done!
Duck: OK, see you around, then. (wanders off, thinking that maybe starting some sort of garden sounds like fun)
[later]
Goose: Hey, your wheat looks ready to harvest. Need any help?
LRH: What, are you nuts? It's just one stalk of wheat. There, it's done. Well, I'm off to the miller to have it ground into flour.
Cat: Need any help?
LRH: What did I just say? No, I don't need any help! It's just one stalk of wheat! Geeze!
(LRH heads off to mill, Goose suddenly remembers that the berries are getting ripe right about now, Cat heads off to go fishing)
[still later]
Pig: Hey, LRH, whatcha doing?
LRH: Making bread. AND NO, I DON'T NEED ANY HELP!
Pig: (a bit taken aback) Okay, okay. Got anything to eat with it?
LRH: Now that you mention it, no. Hey, why don't you tell Duck, Goose, and Cat that, if they *really* want to be helpful, they could round up some stuff that's good with fresh bread, and we can all have a nice dinner?
Pig: Sure thing!
[later on, Duck shows up with a nice salad from her garden, Goose brings some berry jam, Cat brings a fresh-caught fish, and Pig rounds up something to drink with it all. They have a good dinner.]
(Of course, I won't even go into the fact that one stalk of wheat is going to make a mighty tiny loaf of bread.)
Little Red Hen: Hey, I've found a grain of wheat. I'll plant it.
Duck: Hey, cool. Need any help?
LRH: Of course not. It's just a grain of wheat, it will only take a second to plant. There, it's done!
Duck: OK, see you around, then. (wanders off, thinking that maybe starting some sort of garden sounds like fun)
[later]
Goose: Hey, your wheat looks ready to harvest. Need any help?
LRH: What, are you nuts? It's just one stalk of wheat. There, it's done. Well, I'm off to the miller to have it ground into flour.
Cat: Need any help?
LRH: What did I just say? No, I don't need any help! It's just one stalk of wheat! Geeze!
(LRH heads off to mill, Goose suddenly remembers that the berries are getting ripe right about now, Cat heads off to go fishing)
[still later]
Pig: Hey, LRH, whatcha doing?
LRH: Making bread. AND NO, I DON'T NEED ANY HELP!
Pig: (a bit taken aback) Okay, okay. Got anything to eat with it?
LRH: Now that you mention it, no. Hey, why don't you tell Duck, Goose, and Cat that, if they *really* want to be helpful, they could round up some stuff that's good with fresh bread, and we can all have a nice dinner?
Pig: Sure thing!
[later on, Duck shows up with a nice salad from her garden, Goose brings some berry jam, Cat brings a fresh-caught fish, and Pig rounds up something to drink with it all. They have a good dinner.]
(Of course, I won't even go into the fact that one stalk of wheat is going to make a mighty tiny loaf of bread.)