The Cock, the Mouse, and the Little Red Hen by Tony Sarg

Another Variation of Little Red Hen

You are probably already familiar with the story about Little Red Hen, who works all the time and nobody helps her. This is one of the variations of the same story with a twist. A common enemy is added, and a lesson is learned. The lazy members of Little Red Hen's home change.

The 'original' story ends well for hen only. The others learn their lessons the hard way. Such an approach is quite often in fables (Little Red Hen is formally a fable, not a fairy tale) but not very popular among readers of literature for children.

The story is written by Felicite Lefevre (1869-?) and illustrated by Tony Sarg (1880-1942), a famous puppeteer. The book was published in 1907 by Macrae-Smith Company in Philadelphia, USA.

We will present all Sarg's illustrations with a summary of the story.

All used images are in Public Domain.

There is a nice little house. The Cock, the Red Hen, and the Mouse live there.

Not far away, there is another house. Well, it's actually an old dilapidated cottage. Big bad Fox with four kids lives there.

Young foxes are hungry. They expect food on the table. They want it as soon as possible.

Little foxes complain to the big bad Fox. There was no food yesterday and only small portions the day before.

The big bad Fox has a plan. He knows about the house with a cock, a hen, and a mouse. They can solve their problem. And they are not too far away.

Little foxes are so happy they start dancing. Yes, a cock, a hen, and a mouse would solve their problem! They start making plans for the feast with roasting, boiling, and frying.

In the meantime, life in the house with the Red Hen goes as usual. There is a lot to do, but the Cock and the Mouse are too lazy to help. The Red Hen has to do everything. They need some wood to light a fire.

The Cock and the Mouse don't want to get it. The Red Hen has to prepare the fire.

She has to bring water, too.

The Red Hen makes complete breakfast without any help from the Cock or the Mouse. They are willing just to eat the food.

When comes time to clear the breakfast, they won't help either.

Guess who has to clean the house and make the beds!

The Cock and the Mouse enjoy a little nap.

This is when the Fox comes by. He has a bag with him. It's empty now. But not for long.

The Fox simply knocks on the door, and the Mouse opens it without hesitation.

The Fox grabs the Mouse and puts him in the bag.

The Cock tries to escape. He doesn't have a chance. He goes into the Fox's bag, too.

The Red Hen can't run away either.

All the inhibitors are in the bag.

The Fox proudly returns.

He is so satisfied with his workday that he decides to enjoy a little nap under the tree.

Well, this is his mistake.

Little Red Hen is so hardworking she carries a sewing kit everywhere. She uses the opportunity to cut a hole in the bag, and all three get out.

While the Fox still sleeps, the Cock, the Red Hen, and the Mouse make a plan.

The Mouse finds a large stone.

The Cock finds another large stone.

The Red Hen sews the stones into the Fox's bag.

Then they run away!

The Fox wakes up and puts the bag back on his back. It's heavy.

Very heavy.

In fact, the bag was so heavy that the Fox fell into a river.

Fishes take the Fox under the water, and nobody sees him again. Not even the little foxes.

The Cock, the Red Hen, and the Mouse were back home. But something radically changed. The Cock and the Mouse start working in the house and the Red Hen has a little holiday.

While this variation of Little Red Hen ends quite happily for the trio in the first house, the ending for the family of foxes is not so satisfying. The writer didn't really bother with making the villains unsympathetic. They are foxes and they have to eat, don't they? And who will take care of the kids if their father is gone?

This is the difference between an average and a great story. The big bad Fox in this story is not nearly as bad as the big bad Wolf in Red Riding Hood, for instance. This is why Red Riding Hood is a classic and why hardly anyone knows about The Cock, the Mouse, and the Little Red Hen. Luckily, we still managed to find it and enjoy Tony Sarg's creations.

By the way, the effect of turning this fable into a more fairytale-like story is achieved with some very recognizable elements from the classic fairy tales. We have already mentioned Red Riding Hood, but maybe it's the wolf and seven Little kids even close. Especially the scene with the wolf trying to get into the locked house. He just needs to find a thoughtless inhabitant.

The scene with the stones is also from The Wolf and the Seven Kids, but we can find it in several versions of The Red Riding Hood, too.

That's it. A nice story, but nothing special, with very lovely illustrations by Tony Sarg. If you would like to explore another variation with another artist, we can recommend you Florence White Williams' Little Red Hen.