Kentucky Folktales: Revealing Stories, Truths, and Outright Lies

The Enormous Bear

tHe enorMous Bear Once upon a time, a grandma, a grandpa, a little girl, and a little boy all lived together in a small house. Next to the house a squirrel lived in a tree. The squirrel enjoyed watching the people and even thought of them as his family. One day the grandma said to the little boy, “We are all out of bread and milk, so I need you to go down to the store and come back with bread and milk.” The little boy headed for the store, singing to himself, Bread and milk, bread and milk Going to the store for bread and milk Bread and milk, bread and milk Going to the store for bread and milk Bread and milk, bread and milk Going to the store for bread a— Up ahead he saw a bear. The little boy thought: “That bear’s big. Nope, that bear’s huge. Nope, that bear is enormous!” He called out, “Hey, Bear, how’d you get so fat?” The bear walked toward the little boy, and growled, “I ate five pounds of meat, and an ice cream treat. “And I’m gonna eat you!” Chomp. Gulp! The bear swallowed the little boy. Meanwhile back at the house, Grandma grew tired of waiting on the little boy, so she said to the little girl, “Sugar, go on down to the store. Find that brother of yours, and the two of you come on home with some bread and milk.” The little girl said, “Yes, ma’am, Grandma!” She headed for the store and she, too, was singing: 96 MORE KENTUCKY FOLKTALES Bread and milk, bread and milk Going to the store for bread and milk. Bread and milk, bread and milk Going to the store for bread and milk Bread and mi— She met the bear. “Oh,” thought the little girl, “that bear’s big. No, that bear’s huge. No, that bear is enormous!” She called out, “Hey, Bear, how’d you get so fat?” The bear walked toward that little girl, growling: “I ate five pounds of meat, and an ice cream treat, “A little boy, “And I’m gonna eat you!” Chomp. Gulp! The bear swallowed the little girl. Meanwhile, back at the house, Grandma grew tired of waiting again, so she said to her husband, “Honey, please go down to the store and get some bread and milk. And look for those grandkids. Bring them home with you too.” Now Grandpa had been out doing his chores. He had just come in and sat down in his favorite chair. He didn’t want to move, but when he saw how tired and worried Grandma looked, he knew he had to go. So, without saying a word, he pushed himself up out of his chair, made his way over to the door, lifted his hat off the hook, set it on his head, and then he stepped outside. As he walked toward the store, he was grumbling: Bread and milk, bread and milk Going to the store for bread and milk. Bread and milk, bread and mi— He met the bear. Grandpa thought: “Now that bear’s big. No, that’s not right—that bear’s huge. No, that’s not right either—that bear is enormous!” And Grandpa called, “Hey, Bear, how’d you get so fat?” The bear walked toward Grandpa, growling: “I ate five pounds of meat, and an ice cream treat, “A little boy, a little girl, “And I’m gonna eat you!” Chomp. Gulp! the enormous Bear 97 Meanwhile, back at the house, Grandma was still waiting on the bread and milk, and she was getting rather annoyed with the rest of her family. “Hmpf!” she said, “Can’t anybody in this family find their way home!” So Grandma headed for the store, singing: Bread and milk, bread and milk Going to the store for bread and milk. Bread and mi— She met the bear. “My goodness,” Grandma thought, “that bear’s big. No, that bear’s huge. No, that bear is enormous!” Grandma called out, “Hey, Bear, how’d you get so fat?” The bear walked toward Grandma, growling: “I ate five pounds of meat, and an ice cream treat, “A little boy, a little girl, an old man, “And I’m gonna eat you!” Chomp. Gulp! Meanwhile, back at the house, the little squirrel had watched all of...