The Gingerbread man
Once there lived an old man, an old woman, and a little boy. One day,
the old woman baked bread. With the remaining dough, she made a
Gingerbread Man with the little boy’s help. The old woman made the shape
of the Gingerbread Man. The boy put two black currants as his eyes, and
a red cherry as the nose, a crescent-shaped apple slice as the smiley
mouth, and three grapes as buttons on his shirt.
 Then the old woman popped the Gingerbread Man into the oven, and went
out to the garden. The little boy waited by the oven. He was very
hungry.
After a while, the oven door opened suddenly, and the Gingerbread Man
leapt out! The boy was amazed. The Gingerbread Man ran towards the door
and raced down the garden.
The boy could not believe his eyes, but he soon yelled out, “Help!
The Gingerbread Man is getting away!”
The old man, who was repairing his lawn mower, and the old woman, ran
after the Gingerbread Man, shouting and screaming. The little boy joined
them. So all three began to chase the Gingerbread Man.
However, the Gingerbread Man, still racing, shouted, “Run! Run! As
fast as you can! But you cannot catch me. I am the Gingerbread Man!”
Soon, a spotted dog saw the Gingerbread Man and joined in the chase.
He barked, “If I catch you, I will gobble you up.”
The Gingerbread Man, still racing, shouted,“Run! Run! As fast as you
can! But you cannot catch me. I am the Gingerbread Man!”
Thus, the little boy, the old man, the old woman and the spotted dog,
chased after the Gingerbread Man. However, the Gingerbread Man, still
racing, shouted, “Run! Run! As fast as you can! But you cannot catch me.
I am the Gingerbread Man!”
The Gingerbread Man raced faster than ever, and soon reached a
riverbank. The river seemed quite deep. He gazed down at the water, and
sighed, “Oh dear! What shall I do? I don’t know how to swim. They will
catch me and eat me.”
There was a cunning fox hiding behind the grass on the riverbank. The
cunning fox saw the Gingerbread Man, and licked his lips. He said, “My
dear Gingerbread Man, are you in trouble?”
The Gingerbread Man replied, “Yes, I need to cross the river fast,
but I can’t swim!”
 The cunning fox said in a soothing voice, “Don’t worry, I am a very
strong swimmer. Just jump on to my back and I will carry you across.”
Thus, the Gingerbread Man climbed on to the fox’s back and the fox
began to cross the river. When they reached the middle of the river, the
cunning fox said, “My dear Gingerbread Man, please climb on to my nose,
because the water is deep here, and you might drown.”
So, the Gingerbread Man climbed on to the fox’s nose. Immediately,
the fox tossed him up into the air, opened his mouth and gobbled the
Gingerbread Man.
That was the end of the Gingerbread Man.
Meanwhile, the little boy, the old man, the old woman and the spotted
dog, had reached the riverbank, and said the fox gobbling the
Gingerbread Man up.
The little boy sighed, “Oh! Now I can never eat the Gingerbread man.”
He became very sad and disappointed.
The old woman said, “Don’t worry. Let’s go back to the kitchen and
make another Gingerbread Man. This time, we will not let him run away
and be eaten by a cunning fox.”
So, the little boy, the old man and the old woman went back to their
house, and the spotted dog ran back to his kennel.
Everyone was looking forward to the next Gingerbread Man that the old
lady was planning to bake.
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