The Nanny Goat and the Bear

Once upon a time there was a nanny goat who lived with her three children in a small house in the forest. Each morning she would go out in search of grass and herbs for her little goats. She closed the door and warned her children not to open it for anyone because a huge bear lived in the forest.

One day, the nanny goat was walking in the forest when she saw a wasp at a stream that had fallen in the water. The nanny goat held her front hoof in the water and helped the wasp to safety.

'I am but a mere wasp, but maybe my sisters and I could help you too, one day. If you're ever in need, call us to your aid.'

When the nanny goat arrived home, she knocked on the door and called out, 'It's me, your dear mother, I've come back with food. My darling little goats, please let me in!'

The three little goats opened the door. But not far away, the hungry bear had been listening.

As the nanny goat went out in search of food again the very next day, the bear crept up to the goats' house, put on a high voice and called out, 'It's me, your dear mother, I've come back with food. My darling little goats, please let me in!'

The three little goats assumed their mother had returned home from the woods and opened the door.

What a shock they had when the bear stood before them with his mouth gaping wide open. They rushed about in panic and ended up hiding in the attic. Seething with anger, the bear searched for them all over the house.

When the nanny goat came home, she saw the open door and heard her children calling out from the roof window, 'The bear is in the house!'

The nanny goat ran straight to the wasps' nest. 'My dear wasps, my poor little goats are trapped. The bear is in our house and my babies can't escape!'

At once, the wasps swarmed out, surrounded the bear, and stung him wherever they could.

The bear howled and ran away into the forest with the wasps following after him. The bear kept running further and further and he never came back.

The nanny goat and her children danced and sang in front of their little house:

Run away, Bear! run away, Bear!

You won't be back, for another attack

Your bottom is singing, from all of the stinging

Our wasp friends we will praise, till the end of our days!

_{Based on the story "Die Geiß und der Bär" from the book "Fairy tales from Bavaria" by Karl Spiegel (1914).}