The Three Little Pigs

Once upon a time there was a mother pig who had three little pigs.

They lived together in a cosy little house at the edge of the woods. But the little pigs grew, and grew, and grew, until one day their mother said, "My dears, you are big enough now. It is time for each of you to go out into the world and build a home of your own."

She hugged them, and she gave each one a packed lunch. "Build your houses well," she said, "and look after each other."

A house of straw

The first little pig had not gone far down the road when he met a farmer carrying a big bundle of straw.

"Please may I have some straw to build a house?" asked the pig. The farmer said yes, and the first little pig built his house in a single morning.

It was a little wobbly, and the wind whistled through the walls. But the first little pig did not mind.

"Done!" he said. "Now I can play all afternoon."

A house of sticks

The second little pig met a woodcutter with a cartful of sticks.

"Please may I have some sticks to build a house?" she asked. The woodcutter said yes, and the second little pig built her house by teatime.

It creaked when she leaned on it, and the door did not quite shut. But the second little pig did not mind either.

"Done!" she said. "Now I can have a nice long nap."

A house of bricks

The third little pig met a builder with a wagon full of red bricks.

"Please may I have some bricks to build a house?" he asked. The builder said yes, and the third little pig set to work.

It was slow, hard work. He mixed the mortar. He laid the bricks one by one, row after row, and checked that each one was straight. He worked through the afternoon while his sister napped, and through the evening while his brother played. It took him many days. His back ached and his trotters were sore.

"Why are you working so hard?" laughed the other two pigs. "Our houses are finished already!"

"Because I want my house to last," said the third little pig. And he put on the roof and built a tall brick chimney, with a big cooking pot in the fireplace below.

Knock, knock

Not long after, a big bad wolf came walking out of the woods. He was hungry, and he had a very good nose.

He knocked on the door of the house of straw.

"Little pig, little pig, let me come in!"

"Not by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin!" said the first little pig.

"Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in!"

So the wolf huffed, and he puffed, and the house of straw blew away like a dandelion clock. The first little pig ran as fast as his legs would carry him, all the way to his sister's house of sticks, and they slammed the door.

The wolf followed. "Little pigs, little pigs, let me come in!"

"Not by the hairs on our chinny-chin-chins!"

So the wolf huffed, and he puffed, and with a crack and a clatter, the house of sticks fell down. The two little pigs ran and ran, all the way to their brother's house of bricks.

"Quick! Come in!" said the third little pig, and he locked the door behind them.

Huff and puff

The wolf came striding up the path.

"Little pigs, little pigs, let me come in!"

"Not by the hairs on our chinny-chin-chins!"

"Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in!"

So the wolf huffed, and he puffed. And he huffed, and he puffed. And he HUFFED, and he PUFFED, until his face went purple. But the house of bricks did not move. Not one single brick.

Then the wolf had a sneaky idea. He climbed up onto the roof and began to wriggle down the chimney.

But the third little pig had heard him. He threw a big log on the fire, and the flames leapt up under the pot of water bubbling there. Hot steam went whooshing up the chimney.

"OW! OW! Hot, hot, HOT!" howled the wolf. He shot back up the chimney like a cork from a bottle, jumped off the roof and ran away into the woods, with his tail smoking behind him.

And he never came back again.

Home together

That night the three little pigs sat by the fire in the house of bricks, safe and warm.

"I'm sorry we laughed at you," said the first little pig.

"Will you help us build brick houses too?" asked the second.

"Of course I will," said the third little pig. "That's what brothers and sisters are for."

So they did, side by side, one brick at a time.

About this story

This is a traditional English folk tale. It was collected in the nineteenth century by James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps and became famous through Joseph Jacobs's English Fairy Tales in 1890. In those old versions the wolf catches the first two pigs, and the wolf comes to a sticky end. Our gentle telling lets everyone get away safely. This version is a shortened, simplified retelling.