THE LITTLE RED HEN

THE LITTLE RED HEN

SCENE 1: In a farmyard. The animals are pecking and scratching, looking for food.

LITTLE RED HEN: Cluck, cluck.

Cluck, Cluck.

I’ve found some wheat. I will plant it. Who will help me plant my wheat?

MOUSE: Not I.

DUCK: Not I.

GOOSE: Not I.

LITTLE RED HEN: Then I will plant it myself. (She plants the wheat seeds while the other animals watch.)

Growing. Who will help me look after it?

MOUSE: Not I.

DUCK: Not I.

GOOSE: Not I.

LITTLE RED HEN: Then I will do it myself. (She hoes around the plants, while the other animals watch.)

LITTLE RED HEN: Now the wheat is ready to harvest. Who will help me reap it?

MOUSE: Not I.

DUCK: Not I.

GOOSE: Not I.

LITTLE RED HEN: Then I will reap it myself. (She walks around, picking the wheat and putting it in her basket.)

LITTLE RED HEN: Who will help me take the wheat to the mill to be made into flour?

MOUSE: Not I.

DUCK: Not I.

GOOSE: Not I.

LITTLE RED HEN: Then I will do it myself. (She goes out with her basket of wheat.)

MOUSE: Silly Little Red Hen. She should have eaten the wheat. She’s just making work for herself.

DUCK:  [NODS.] Quack, quack! Silly Little Red Hen.

GOOSE: [nods.] Honk, honk! What a lot of fuss.

[The LITTLE RED HEN comes back with a small bag labeled “FLOUR”.]

LITTLE RED HEN: Now I am ready to bake a cake. Who will help me bake a cake?

MOUSE: Not I.

DUCK: Not I.

GOOSE: Not I.

LITTLE RED HEN: Then I will do it myself.

SCENE 2: In the LITTLE RED HEN’S Kitchen.

(The LITTLE RED HEN gets a bowl and a spoon, and stirs the flour and other ingredients. She puts the mixture in a tin and puts it in her oven. MOUSE, DUCK and GOOSE come in to watch.]

LITTLE RED HEN: Now the cake is cooked. [She takes it out of the oven and puts it on a bench.] Who will help me eat my cak?

MOUSE: I will!

DUCK: I will!

GOOSE: I will!

LITTLE RED HEN: No you will not.

You did not help me plant the wheat, or look after it, or reap it, or take it to the mill. And you did not help me bake it, so you will not help me eat it. I will eat it myself.

(And the LITTLE RED HEN eats the cake herself while the other animals watch hungrily.]