Peter and The Wolf

37

Early one morning, Peter opened the gate and walked into the big green meadow. A little bird sat on one of the branches and happily chirped, "Everything is quiet". This bird was Peter's friend.

A duck waddled to Peter. She was happy that the gate was still open, because she could go to the pond in the meadow to swim.

The little bird saw the duck, flew down to the grass and sat next to her. "You are a bird but you can't fly," said the little bird to the duck. "And you are a bird but you can't swim," replied the duck.

As Peter watched the duck and the bird, he noticed a cat creeping through the grass. The cat was thinking "I shall catch that bird while it is talking to the duck". He slowly crept towards the bird.

Peter wanted to warn the little bird and shouted, "Look out!" The bird quickly flew to a tree and the duck quacked angrily at the cat from the middle of the pond. The cat could not decide what to do. If she climbed the tree, the bird would fly away before she reached the top.

Then Grandfather arrived. He was angry, because Peter had gone into such a dangerous place where wolves lived. Peter was not afraid though, because young boys are never afraid of anything.

Grandfather made Peter leave the meadow with him. He closed the gate and locked it. As soon as they left, a big grey wolf came out of the forest and into the meadow. The cat and the duck saw the wolf, and the cat ran up a tree. The duck quacked and jumped out of the pond. But the duck could not escape. She could not run very fast, and she could not fly at all. The wolf caught the poor duck and ate her up!

So…. Where was everybody? Well, the bird was in the tree, and the cat was also in the tree (but the bird stayed away from the cat!). The wolf was walking round and round the tree (trying to catch the bird or the cat). And the poor duck was inside the wolf!

Peter was a very brave young boy and he made a plan to rescue his friends. He ran home and got a rope, then he climbed the wall to reach a branch of the tree that was nearby. Peter climbed over the wall and onto the tree. Then he spoke to the bird, "Fly in circles around the wolf's head but be careful".

The bird did what Peter told him. It made the wolf very angry and he tried to bite the bird, but could not catch him.

Peter made a lasso. The wolf was busy trying to catch the bird, so he didn't see what Peter was doing. Peter reached down and caught the wolf's tail in the lasso and pulled with all his strength. Then he tied the other end of the lasso to the tree. The wolf was trapped!

At that moment, some hunters came out of the woods, shooting their guns at the wolf. Peter shouted to them "Don't shoot you might hit the bird or the cat! I have caught the wolf now please help me take him to the zoo."

What a magnificent trip to the zoo! Peter was at the front, then the hunters (with the wolf, tied up with rope), then Grandfather and the cat, with the bird flying above.

Grandfather was so proud of Peter, and told everyone, "My grandson caught this wolf what a brave boy!" The bird flew round in circles, happily singing "Peter and I are heroes!" The cat said "Miaoooow. Everybody should give me milk because I am so brave."

And if you listened very carefully, you could even hear the duck quietly quacking from inside the wolf! The wolf had swallowed her alive!