The Gingerbread Boy

4.9

A Little Boy of Gingerbread

A Little Girl and a Little Boy live in a small house with their father and mother. They have no little brothers or sisters, and they want to have a little brother or a little sister.

So one day they make a little boy of gingerbread.

They make little red sugar boots, and a little yellow sugar hat, and a brown sugar coat for him.

Then they put him in a big pan, and put the pan in the oven. They shut the oven door and say,

“Bake, oven! Bake! We want to have a little brother, we want to play with him.”

When they think that the Gingerbread Boy is ready, they open the oven door. The Gingerbread Boy jumps out and runs down the street as fast as he can.

The Little Boy and the Little Girl rum after him as fast as they can, but the Gingerbread Boy only laughs and cries,

“Run, run after me,

As fast as you can!

You can never catch

The Gingerbread Man!”

And they cannot catch him.

The Gingerbread Boy and the Bear

So the Gingerbread Boy runs on and on, till he meets a Bear.

“Stop, Gingerbread Boy!” says the Bear. “Come here. I want to eat you up.”

But he only laughs and says,

“No, no! Nobody can catch me. The Little Boy and the Little Girl cannot catch me, and I can run away from you too.”

He runs away, and the Bear runs after him. He looks back at him and cries,

“Run, run after me,

As fast as you can!

You can never catch

The Gingerbread Man!”

The Bear runs as fast as he can, but he cannot catch him.

The Gingerbread Boy and the Wolf

So the Gingerbread Boy runs on and on, till he meets a Wolf.

“Come here, Little Gingerbread Boy,” says the Wolf. “I want to eat you up.”

But the Gingerbread Boy only laughs again and says,

“No, no! Nobody can catch me. The Little Boy and the Little Girl cannot catch me, and the Bear cannot catch me, and I can run away from you too.”

He runs away, and the Wolf runs after him. The Gingerbread Boy looks back at him and cries:

“Run, run after me,

As fast as you can!

You can never catch

The Gingerbread Man!”

The Wolf runs as fast as he can, but he cannot catch him.

The Gingerbread Boy and the Young Man and the Girl

So the Gingerbread Boy runs on and on, till he meets a Young Man and a Girl.

“Stop, stop, Little Gingerbread Boy,” they say. “What a pretty little sugar hat you have! Come with us! We want to eat you up!”

But he only laughs and says,

“No, no! Nobody can catch me. The Little Boy and the Little Girl cannot catch me, the Bear cannot catch me, and the Wolf cannot catch me, and I can run away from you too.”

He runs away, and the Young Man and the Girl run after him. He looks back at them and cries,

“Run, run after me,

As fast as you can!

You can never catch

The Gingerbread Man!”

And they run as fast as they can, but they cannot catch him.

So he says to himself, “Nobody can catch me.”

The Gingerbread Boy in the Duck Pond

By and by the Gingerbread Boy comes to a duck pond.

“Ho, ho!” says the Big Duck. “I want to eat you up, Little Gingerbread Boy.”

“You can’t catch me,” cries the Gingerbread Boy. “I can swim across the pond.”

He jumps into the water and begins to swim. He looks back at the Duck and says, “Nobody can catch me.”

Then he says to himself,

“Dear me, I am growing soft. There go my red boots.”

By and by he says, “There goes my brown coat.”

Soon he says, “There goes my yellow hat.”

Then he grows very, very soft and he never says anything after that.