speed reading the little red hen 60 words per minute
TRANSCRIPT
SPEED READINGSPEED READING
The Little Red Hen
60 words per minute
Once upon a time there was a hill, and on the hill there was a pretty little house. It had one little green door, and four little windows with green shutters, and in it there lived a rooster, a mouse, and a little red hen.
On another hill close by there
was another little house. It was
very ugly. It had a door that
wouldn’t shut, and two broken
windows, and all the paint was
off the shutters.
In this house lived a very bold bad fox and four bad little foxes.
One morning these four bad little
foxes came to the big bad fox,
and said: “Oh, father, we’re so
hungry!”
“We had nothing to eat
yesterday,” said one little fox.
“And scarcely anything the day
before,” said another.
“And only half a chicken the day
before that,” said the third.
“And only two ducks the day
before that” said the fourth.
The big bad fox shook his head
for a long time, for he was
thinking.
“On the hill over there I see a
house. And in that house there
lives a rooster.”
“And a hen and a mouse,”
screamed the little foxes.
“And they are nice and fat,”
said the big bad fox.
“This very day I will take my
sack, and I will go up that hill
and walk into that house and I will
put each of them into my sack.
You will no longer be hungry my
little ones,” said the big bad fox.
“Go quickly father. We will get
the fire ready to cook supper,”
said the little foxes.
So the four little foxes prepared
the fire and the big bad fox
grabbed his sack and headed to
the little house on the hill.
Now in the little house on the
hill everyone was waking up. The
rooster complained it was too hot.
The mouse grumbled that it was
too cold. They came down to the
kitchen, where the good little red
hen was bustling about.
“Who will get some sticks to
light the fire?” asked the little red
hen.
“Not me,” said the rooster.
“Not me,” said the mouse.
“Then I shall do it myself,” said
the little red hen.
So off she ran to get the sticks
and start the fire for breakfast.
“So who will fill the kettle to
make the tea?” she asked.
“Not me,” said the rooster.
“Not me,” said the mouse.
“Then I shall do it myself.”
Off she ran to fill the kettle to make the tea.
“Who will help to make the
breakfast?” she asked.
“Not me,” said the rooster.
“Not me,” said the mouse.
“Then I shall do it myself.”
The rooster and the mouse did
not help make breakfast. They did
not do the dishes or make the
beds. They did not sweep the
floor or weed the garden. The little
red hen had to do it all by
herself.
As the little red hen worked
away to keep the little house clean
and pretty the rooster and the
mouse took a nap.
Neither the rooster nor the mouse
got up to answer the door when
the fox came calling.
Now the bad fox had crept up
the hill and into the garden. If the
rooster and the mouse had been
awake they might have seen him
peeping in their window.
“Rat tat tat, rat tat tat,” the fox
knocked at the little green door.
“Who could that be?” asked the
little mouse. “Could it be the
mailman?”
“Go find out for yourself,” replied the rude rooster.
Without hesitation the mouse
lifted the latch and opened the door.
The fox sprang into the room.
“Oh, no!” squealed the mouse.
“Doodle doodle do,” screeched
the rooster.
But the fox only laughed as he
grabbed them and threw them into
the big sack.
The little red hen came running
when she heard all the noise. The
fox grabbed her by the neck and
crammed her into the sack with
the others. The fox threw the sack
over his shoulder and headed
down the hill toward home.
Stuffed together in the bag the
rooster apologized for being so
lazy. The little mouse cried with
fear and said he would try to be
a better friend if given another
chance.
“It is never too late to make
things right,” said the little red
hen. “I have my little sewing bag
here. You will soon see what I am
planning to do to the fox.”
The sun was hot and soon the
fox was tired of carrying the heavy
sack. He decided to take a little
rest. Before long he was sound
asleep.
The little red hen got out her
sewing bag and got right to work.
Out came the scissors and the
little hen cut a hole in the sack.
Out scampered the mouse.
“Go get a rock the same size
as you,” said the little red hen.
“Bring it back here.”
Out crawled the rooster.
“Go get a rock the same size as
you are and bring it back here,”
said the little red hen.
The mouse and the rooster
returned with their rocks.
The little red hen got a rock, too.
They each pushed their stone
into the sack then the little red
hen sewed the hole closed.
When she was done they ran
home as quickly as they could.
They bolted the doors and
windows and felt safe at last.
“Oh, dear,” yawned the fox as
he woke up and rubbed his eyes.
I have been asleep too long. I
must hurry home.”
The fox had to cross the river
on his way home. The sack was
very heavy and sank.
The fox tried to retrieve the sack
but the current was strong and he
was swept down river. He was
never seen again.
And the three friends? They
decided to work together to get
their jobs done.