Issue Date: December 1997

I was scraped in the bin,
Ground in the mill,
Shaken in the tin,
Baked on the grill,
Cooled on the sill.

From old grandpa I fled,
From old grandma I fled,
And now I’ll flee from you!

Then he rolls away so fast that he cannot be caught.

Kolobok rolls farther and farther. Along the way he meets other animals, Wolf and Bear. Each wants to eat this tasty bun. But Kolobok does not want to be eaten. So he begs to sing each one his funny song. Then he flees. With each narrow escape, he adds a new line to his song.

Bear and Wolf both fail to trap Kolobok, the singing runaway bun.

Finally Kolobok meets the crafty Fox. The bun sings his little song:

I was scraped in the bin,
Ground in the mill,
Shaken in the tin,
Baked on the grill, Cooled on the sill.

From old grandpa I fled,
From old grandma I fled,
From cross-eyed Hare I fled,
From big gray Wolf I fled,
From bandy Bear I fled,
And soon I’ll flee from you!

But Fox outwits Kolobok. “What a delightful little song!” she says, before Kolobok can flee. “What a pity it is . . . the only trouble is . . . oh dear! I’m rather old. I just don’t hear too well. Come, sit down on my nose and sing it again.”

I think that you can guess what happens to Kolobok. He is caught and eaten, of course!


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Copyright 2001 THE WORLD AND I Magazine. All rights reserved.
The World & I is published monthly by News World Communications, Inc.

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