Lenka Kulichova
The Owl They Called Stupid
It seems Pauline the owl is not as wise as the other owls, and this bothers her a lot. However, a doctor fixes this problem, and Pauline finds out she’s not stupid after all.
Once upon a time, there were three piglets named Dip, Tip, and Pip. Dip was the eldest and the most responsible
Since birth, Dip had had a black spot around his left eye. Tip and Pip would always tease him about it. They’d ask him if he had forgotten to wash his face in the morning, telling him that his eye looked dirty. This would upset Dip, especially because he actually made sure to wash properly in order to set a good example for his
Dip was also very wise and liked to teach his brothers things. But Tip and Pip hated having lessons from their brother. Whenever they didn’t feel like listening to him preach, they would start giggling and point at Dip’s spot. This usually led to a chase, which was exactly what Tip and Pip wanted. Since Dip was bigger and heavier, the youngsters could run faster than him — plus they could easily hear his loud stomps coming from behind when he was chasing
Tip, the middle brother, was a little naughty. He liked to drag Pip into games and adventures that he had
Pip, the youngest, was no better than Tip. Sunbathing lazily in the grass was what he enjoyed most, along with whistling his favourite tune and watching the clouds float across the
The wolf was very cunning
Time passed, and Dip, Tip, and Pip grew up fast. Their family home started feeling rather crowded with all five of them living there, so one day their parents told them it was time they moved out.
“You are old enough now,” their father said. “It’s time for you to build your own houses.”
The eldest, Dip, nodded in agreement and wasted no time in getting started. He thought everything through. He made plans and preparations, exactly as his parents had taught him to do. “Any task you undertake must be done properly,” they had always told the piglets.
Dip decided that the most sensible building material to use would be brick, even though a brick house was difficult to construct and took longer. He chose to build his house in the meadow, at a good distance from the forest. Even so, when construction started, the whole forest could hear the banging and knocking that came from the building
In contrast, Tip and Pip didn’t feel like putting so much effort into building their houses, because that would leave hardly any time for fun!
Tip, the middle brother, chose a nearby location in the meadow, and decided to build his house out of
The youngest brother, Pip, was even lazier. He would build his house in the same meadow, but he decided to make it out of straw. Planning things or thinking too hard wasn’t really for him, so Pip just took some dry twigs he found next to the forest and stuck them into the ground to make a
When Tip saw that Pip was done building his house, he shouted over to him: “Wait a minute, Pip! I only need to put the door on my place and then we’ll finally be able to play!” Tip quickly hammered-in a few nails to hold the door in
Later, while Tip and Pip were playing in the meadow, Dip was busy putting the finishing touches on his brick house. As usual, his brothers teased him and tried to persuade him to stop working and come play with them.
“Why do you even need a brick house?” asked
“Why don’t you just come and play? You don’t need to work so hard!” shouted Pip from across the
But Dip would not let himself be distracted. He knew that he wanted a nice brick house and he was willing to put in the effort to construct
It was the end of the day before Dip’s house was completely finished, at which time he trotted off to play with his brothers in the meadow. They had no idea that the big bad wolf had been watching them the whole
But he was incredibly hungry and wasn’t willing to only eat berries. His mouth watered as he watched the plump pigs running around. He couldn’t wait a second longer — he sprinted out of the forest, straight at them! The three pigs immediately scattered, each running to their house to
Pip dived into his straw hut, scared to death. A moment later, the wolf came sniffing around. Through the walls, Pip could hear him breathing. And then the wolf took a deep breath and started to
“Gotcha! Haha! You can’t escape me!” shouted the wolf, gleefully.
Pip didn’t wait for the wolf to grab him — he darted across the meadow, running as fast as he could to Tip’s
“Come-on Pip, hurry!” Tip shouted from the
Pip just barely made it inside safely. They slammed the door in the nick of
He took a deep, deep breath and blew extra hard at the wooden
The pigs sighed with relief and shouted: “Go away, wolf! You can’t get us! This house is strong and it won’t fall down, no matter how hard you blow!”
But it was not long before the wolf noticed that the door was crooked. In fact, it was barely hanging on its hinges! Tip had done a very poor job of installing that door — the nails weren’t even properly hammered in! The wolf put on a sly smile and charged. Bang! The door smashed to
“Gotcha! You won’t escape me this
Pip and Tip ran at lightning-fast speed to Dip’s
“Help us! Save us!” they shouted as they ran. All the while, Dip had been anxiously watching out of the window.
“Come-on you two, hurry up!!” he called out.
Tip and Pip made it inside and slammed the
The three pigs sighed with relief and then shouted: “Go away, wolf! You have no chance of getting in. This house is never going to fall down. You can blow as hard as you like!”
The wolf thought hard about what to do. The door was firmly positioned and he couldn’t see any way to dislodge it, but in spite of this he ran at it and hit it with all his
“Ow, ow, that hurts!” he whined.
He sat on the ground, disgruntled, his shoulder aching, and tried to think of another way to get in. Then he noticed the chimney and realised that that would be his best chance. “They have no way of closing the chimney!” he thought. “I’ll climb onto the roof and slide down it, right into the house.”
When the pigs saw what the wolf was doing, they became frightened. They hadn’t thought about this option.
“What are we going to do?” asked Pip. “The wolf’s going to enter through the chimney and eat us all!”
Dip was scared, but he pulled himself together. He put some wood in the fireplace and swiftly lit a
“Help, help!” whimpered the wolf.
As a result of the chimney flue being blocked, the pressure built up. Suddenly there was a giant bang, as if a cannon had been
“The two of you need to build proper houses now!” said Dip in his sternest voice.
Tip and Pip agreed without
For the rest of their lives, the three pigs lived safely and happily in their houses in the meadow, and the big bad wolf never bothered them again.