Goldilocks and the Three Bears"

"The Story of the Three Bears" (often known today as "Goldilocks and the Three Bears") is a children's story first recorded in narrative form by English author and poet Robert Southey and first published in a volume of his writings in 1837. The same year, writer George Nicol published a version in rhyme based upon Southey's prose tale, with Southey approving the attempt to bring the story more exposure. Both versions tell of three bears and an old woman who trespasses upon their property.


In 1837, the British poet Robert Southey recorded "The Story of The Three Bears" in narrative form, and inserted it into volume four of his anonymous collection of linked essays, The Doctor.^[2] In this story, three anthropomorphic male bears—"a Little, Small, Wee Bear, a Middle-sized Bear, and a Great, Huge Bear"—live together in a house in the woods. Southey describes them as very good-natured, trusting, harmless, tidy, and hospitable. Each bear has his own porridge pot, chair, and bed. One day they take a walk in the woods while their porridge cools. An old hairy woman (who is described at various points in the story as impudent, bad, foul-mouthed, ugly, dirty and a vagrant deserving of a stint in the House of Correction) discovers the bears' dwelling. After assuring herself no one is about, she enters the house. The old woman eats the Wee Bear's porridge, then settles into his chair and breaks it. Prowling about, she finds the bear's beds and falls asleep in Wee Bear's bed. The climax of the tale is reached when the bears return. Wee Bear finds the old woman in his bed and cries, "Somebody has been lying in my bed,—and here she is!" The old woman starts up, jumps from the window, and is never seen again.