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An English folk taie retold

Jd u sfrafei by X . V^otov
Translatée) by PETER TEMPEST
 S e r g e i M ik h a lk o v
THE THREE LTTTLE PIGS
A n E nglisb F olk Taie R elold
Translate*} by Peter Tempest
Malysh Pablisbers
Moscow
Printed In the USSR
 O n c e upon a tim e there w ere three little pigs who
w ere triplets. T hey w ere ail the sam e size, pink and chubby,
with similar com ical corkscrew tails.
E ven their nam es w ere similar: Sniftle, Snuffle and Snaffle.
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 Ail sum m er long thèy rolled in the grass, basked in the sun
and lazed in the m eadow.
T hen autum n cam e.
The sun w as not so warm as before and grey clouds spread
above the yellowing forest.
“It’s tim e to think about w in ter,” said Snaffle one morning
w hen the three little pigs w oke up early. ‘T m shivering from
the cold. We m ight catch a chill. L e t’s build a house so we can
ail w inter together under one warm ro o f.”
But his brothers had no wish to set to w ork. T hey much
preferred spending the last warm days jum ping and running
about in the m eadow , rather than digging and fetching stones.
“T here’s plenty of tim e,” Sniffle declared. “W inter is still a
long way off. W e can still hâve fu n .” And he turned a
som ersault.
“ I ’II build m yself a house when I really hâve to ,” said
Snuffle, flopping on the grass.
“ And so shall I,” said Sniffle.
“Do as you like th en ,” Snaffle said. “I w o n ’t wait for you. I
shall build a house ail on my ow n.”
 It grew colder and colder every day. But Sniffle and
Snuffle were in no hurry. W ork was the last thing they wanted
to think of. T hey idled aw ay day after day from daw n till dusk.
T hey did nothing but play their piggy gam es, go frolicking in
the fields and rolling head over heels.
“T oday w e’ll enjoy ourselves,” they said, “and tom orrow
w e ’ll set to w ork in the m orning.”
But w hen m orning cam e they said exactly the sam e.
Only w hen thin ice coated the pond by the road at dawn
every day did the two lazy brothers at long last set to work.
 Sniffle decided it w ould be sim pler and quicker to build his
own house out of straw . So, not asking anyone for advice, he
did just that. By evening his house was already ready.
As he put the last straw into place on the roof he felt so
pleased he burst into song:
Here’s the house I built of straw,
Buîlt of straw, built of straw.
It’s the best you ever saw,
Ever saw, ever saw!

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 Still singing his little song, he set off to see Snuffle.
Snuffle was building his own house too, not very far away.
H e also wanted to finish his task as soon as possible. At
first, like his brother, he thought of building a house of straw .
B ut then he decided a straw house in w inter w ould be very
cold. His house would be w arm er, and stronger too, if he built
it of sticks and stakes.
So he did ju st that.
H e drove stakes into the ground, w ove sticks in betw een
them , heaped dry leaves on the roof and by evening his house
w as already ready.
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 Snuffle walked round it proudly several tim es and burst into
song:

I made mine of sticks and stakes,

Sticks and stakes, sticks and stakes.
I don’t mind if a rainstorm breaks,
A rainstorm breaks, a rainstorm breaks.

Just as he was finishing his song, Sniffle cam e running up.

“ So your house is ready, too!” said Sniffle. “I told you it
w ouldn’t take us long. W e’re free now to do w hatever we
fa n cy .”
“ L e t’s go to Snaffle and see w hat sort of a house he has
built,” said Snuffle. “It’s âges since we saw him last.”
 “ L e t’s go,” said Sniffle.
E ver so pleased they had no m ore w orries, the tw o brothers
ran off through the bushes.
For several days Snaffle had been busy building. He
fetched stones and mixed m ortar and now slowly but surely he
w as building him self a solid house offering protection from
wind, rain and frost.
H e m ade for his house a heavy oak door w ith a very strong
boit so the wolf that lived in the neighbouring wood w ould not
be able to m ake his w ay in.
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 Sniffle and Snuffle found their brother hard at work.
“ W hatever are you building?” they asked with one voice in
great surprise. “I t ’s m ore like a fortress than a little pig’s
house!”
“ A little pig’s house ought to be like a fortress!” Snaffle
replied and w ent on working.
“Y ou’re surely not going to w ar w ith som eone?” Sniffle
snorted m errily, while Snuffle winked.
And they both fell into such fits of laughter that their
squealing and spluttering could be heard ail over the m eadow.
il
 But Snaffle took not the slightest notice. H e w ent on laying
the wall of his house, hum m ing a little song:

I’m the wisest of us ail,

Of us ail, of us ail.
I build mine with a strong slone wall,
A strong stone wall, a strong stone wall.

No wild beast by night or day,

Night or day, night or day
Into my house shall force his way,
Force his way, force his way.

“W hat wild beast?” asked Sniffle.

“W hat wild beast?” asked Snuffle.
“T he grey w olf!” said Snaffle, adding another stone to his
wall.
“See how scared he is of the w olf!” said Sniffle.
“H e ’s scared of being eaten up!” said Snuffle.
And they laughed even louder than before.
“W ho ever heard of wolves around h ere?” said Sniffle.
“T here a ren ’t any,” said Snuffle. “H e ’s ju st jittery .”
And they both began dancing and singing a song:

“We’re not scared of any old wolf,

Any old wolf, any old wolf.
Who ever saw thaï silly grey wolf?
Silly grey wolf, silly grey wolf!

T hey w anted to tease Snaffle. B ut Snaffle did not even

glance in their direction.
“ L e t’s go, S nuffle,” said Sniffle. “T h ere ’s no point staying
h e re.”
And the tw o brave brothers w andered off. T hey sang and
danced as they strolled along and, entering the w ood, they
m ade such a noise they w oke up the wolf who was asleep
under a pine.
“ W hat’s ail th at noise?” the grey wolf growled. H e was
angry and hungry. O ff he ran to w here the noise was coming
from , to w here the two little pigs w ere squealing and
spluttering.
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 “W ho ever heard of w olves around here?” Snuffle was
saying, who had only seen wolves in picture books.
“W e’Il pinch his nose till it h u rts,” said Snuffle, who also
had never seen a real live wolf.
Again they giggled and burst into song:

We’re not scared of any old wolf,

Any old wolf, any old wolf.
Who ever saw that silly grey wolf?
Silly grey wolf, silly grey wolf!
 Suddenly they saw the w olf— a real live wolf.
T here he w as, behind a very tall tree. H e looked so tierce,
he had such w icked eyes and such big teeth that Sniffle and
Snuffle felt a chill run down their little spines and their tiny
tails quivered with fear. T he poor little pigs stood rooted to the
spot.
T he wolf gnashed his teeth, batted one eye and was just
about to pounce w hen the little pigs suddenly cam e to their
senses and, squealing at the top of their voices, took to their
heels. T hey had never run so fa st in ail their lives. W ith their
heels flashing, raising clouds o t dust, each little pig ran back to
his house.
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 Sniffle was the first to reach his house of straw and only
just m anaged to shut the door in the w olf’s face.
“ Open the door this m inute,” the wolf cried, “or I ’il break it
in!”
“I w on’t , ” squealed Sniffle. “I w o n ’t open the d o o r.”
“Open it this m inute,” the wolf cried again, “or I ’H blow so
hard I ’II blow your house dow n.”
Sniffle was too frightened to m ake any reply.
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 So the wolf began to blow.
Straw flew from the roof of the house and the walls shook.
H e took another breath and blew a second time.
The third tim e he blew the straw house flew in ail directions
as if a hurricane had struck it. The wolf snapped his jaw s
within an inch of Sniffle’s heels. B ut Sniffle skilfully dodged
him and ran away. W ithin a m inute he was at Snuffle’s door.
The tw o little pigs only just had time to slam the door to
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 before they heard the w olf outside saying:
“ Now I shall eat up the tw o of you!”
Sniffle and Snuffle exchanged frightened glances. B ut now
the wolf was feeling tired and decided to reso rt to cunning.
In a loud voice that could be heard inside the house he said:
“I ’ve changed my mind. I d o n ’t w ant to eat those skinny little
pigs. I ’m going hom e.”
“ Did you hear th at? ” Sniffle asked Snuffle. “H e said h e ’s
not going to eat us because w e ’re skinny!”
“T h a t’s w onderful,” said Snuffle, and at once he stopped
trem bling.
 T he two brothers cheered up and in a little while, as if
nothing had happened, they burst into song:

We're not scared of any old wolf,

Any old wolf, any old wolf.
Who ever saw that silly grey wolf?
Silly grey wolf, silly grey wolf!

But the wolf had not the slightest intention of going home.
iy
H e w ent to one side and there lay low. H e chuckled and felt
like laughing out loud. “H ow cunning I am ,” he said to him selt.
“IMi fool these little pigs.”
W hen they had quite calm ed dow n, the wolf took a
sheepskin and crept up to the house. On the doorstep he
covered him self with the sheepskin and tapped on the door.
Sniffle and Snuffle w ere verv frightened.
“W ho’s there?” they asked and their tiny tails began
quivering again.
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 “I t ’s me-e-e, a little la-a-am b!” said the wolf in a piping
voice. “L et me in for the ni-i-ight. I ’ve lost my wa-a-ay and I ’m
ve-e-ery tired .”
“ Shall we let him in?” kind-hearted Sniffle asked his
brother.
“W hy, of c o u rse,” said Snuffle. “I t ’s a lam b, not a w olf!”
B ut the m om ent they opened the door they saw the fierce
wolf there. T hey slamm ed the door to and pressed against it as
hard as they could to keep the wolf out.
 The wolf w as furious. His ruse had failed. H e threw o ff the
sheepskin and roared:
“Just you wait! I ’II see to it nothing is left of your house!”
And he started to blow. The house shook a little. T he wolf
blew a second tim e, a third tim e and a fourth.
L eaves flew from the roof and the walls shook, but the
house still stood.
Only w hen he blew fo r the fifth and final time did the
house rock violently and collapse. The door alone stood for a
while amid the wreckage.
 H orrified, the little pigs took to their heels. T heir legs were
num b, every bristle of their bodies quivered and their snouts
grew dry. As fa st as they could they ran to Snaffle’s house.
T he wolf w ent bounding along after them . At one tim e he
nearly caught Sniffle by the foot, but Sniffle pulled it aw ay just
in tim e and put on speed.
T he wolf too started running faster. H e was sure the little
pigs would not get aw ay this tim e.
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 But again he was out of luck.
The pigs darted round an apple-tree w ithout even touching
it. But the wolf saw it too late and ran sm ack into the tree,
bringing ail the apples tumbling dow n on his head. One hard
apple hit him right betw een the eyes and a big lump rose on his
forehead there.
M eanwhile Sniffle and Snuffle reached Snaffle’s house.
Snaffle let them in. His brothers w ere so scared they
couldn’t say a thing. T hey dashed under the bed and there they
2-1
hid. Snaffle gathered at once that the wolf was chasing them .
B ut in his stone house he had nothing to fear. H e shut and
barred the door, sat on a stool and at the top of his voice began
to sing:
No wild beasî by nighl or day,
Night or day, night or day
Into my house shail force hïs way.
Force his way, force his way.
 T he very next m om ent there was a knock on the door.
“W ho is there?” Snaffle asked in a very ealm voice.
“Open up and be quick!” the wolf dem anded.
“ N ot on m y life!” Snaffle replied. “ I would not dream of
doing any such thing.”
“Indeed? Y o u ’ll see! I ’il eat up ail three o f y o u .”
“Ju st you try!” Snaffle replied from behind the door, still
sitting on his stool. H e knew th at in a house o f solid stone he
and his brothers had nothing to fear.
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 T he wolf drew the deepest breath he could and blew as
hard as he could. But no m atter how hard or how m any tim es
he blèw , not one stone, not even the tiniest, moved.
T he w olf grew blue in the face from blowing.
The house of stone stood as firm as a fortress. The wolf
began hamm ering on the door. But the door too did not move
an inch.
In fury the wolf began clawing the walls and gnawing the
stones of which they w ere built. B ut ail that happened was he
split his claws and broke his teeth. T he wicked hungry wolf
had no choice now but to go back hom e.
 Just then he looked up and saw the chim ney.
“A ha!” he exclaim ed in great delight. “I ’II get into the house
through that big chim ney.”
H e clim bed up onto the roof gingerly and cocked his ears.
Ail was quiet in the house.
“I ’il hâve pork for supper today for su re ,” he said to
him self and, sm acking his lips, he popped into the chim ney.
But the m om ent he started climbing down it the little pigs
heard the noise he was making.
 And when soot began falling on the lid of the cooking pot
clever Snaffle guessed w hat was happening.
H e ran to the pot, in which w ater was boiling on the tire,
and took off the lid.
“ W elcom e!” he said and winked at his brothers.
Sniffle and Snuffle felt quite safe now and they smiled at
their brave and clever brother.
The three little pigs did not hâve to wait long. Black as a
chim ney-sw eep, the w olt dropped straight into the boiling
w ater.
N ever before in ail his life had he felt so hot.
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 H is eyes popped and every hair on his back bristled.
W ith a roar of fury the scalded wolf flew back up the
chim ney onto the root. H e tell from the roof dow n onto the
ground, rolled head over heels four tim es in a row , then dashed
past the door with his tail betw een his legs and at full speed
raced away into the forest.
T he three little brother pigs w atched him go, delighted at
the clever way they had taught him a lesson.
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 T hen they sang their m erry song:

Of ail houses East or West

East or West, East or West,
Our stone house is much lhe best,
Much the besl, much the besl.
No wild beast by night or day,
Night or day, night or day
Inlo our house shall force his way,
Force his way, force his way.

The old grey wolf who lives in the wood,

Lives in lhe wood, lives in the wood
Won’t corne back. He's gone for good,
Gone for good, gone for good.

From that tim e on the three brothers lived happily together

under one roof.
And th a t’s ail we know about the three little pigs— Sniffle,
Snuffle and Snaffle.