The Gingerbread Man

크리스마스 시즌에 꼭 등장하는 Gingerbread House다. 샤이엔 마운튼 기슭에 자리를 잡고 있는 아름다운 5 스타 호텔 로비의 Gingerbread House 장식이다.

이 무렵에는 많은 가정에선 Gingerbread Man Cookies도 구워 장식하고, 선물도 한다.
빠질 수 없는 책 읽어주기를 위해 우리가 너무나도 잘 아는 The Gingerbread Man 책을 소개한다.

The Gingerbread Man은 1875년에 아이들 잡지인 St. Nicholas Magazine에서 처음으로 소개된 fairy tale이다.
그동안 여러 버전으로 변모되기는 했지만, 원래 스토리는 이렇다.

아이가 없는 나이가 많은 할머니가 남편을 위해 gingerbread boy를 만든다. 그런데 오븐을 열자마자 gingerbread man은 튀어나와 도망을 가고, 잡으러 쫓아오는 농부들과 동물들에게 Run, run as fast as you can; You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man  하면서 계속 도망을 간다.  할머니와 할아버지, 그리고 농부들과 동물들은 모두 gingerbread man 잡기에 실패하지만, 결국엔 영악한 여우에게 잡혀 먹는다.

라임스와 반복이 많아 읽어주기에 좋다.

The Gingerbread Man
A Classic Folktale

Once upon a time, an old woman and her husband lived alone in a little old house. The couple had no children, and being lonely, the woman decided to make a boy of gingerbread. She carefully mixed the batter, rolled out the dough, and cut out out a very nice gingerbread man. She added sugar icing for his hair, mouth, and clothes, and she used candy chips for buttons and eyes. What a fine looking gingerbread man he was! The old woman put him in the oven to bake. After he was fully done, she slowly opened the oven door. Up jumped the gingerbread man, and he ran out the door saying,"Run, run, as fast as you can!
You can't catch me!
I'm the Gingerbread Man!"The old woman and the old man ran after him, but they could not catch him.

And so the Gingerbread Man ran and ran. While he running, he met a cow."Moo," said the cow. "You look very fine! Fine enough to eat!" And the cow started to chase to little man.But the Gingerbread Man ran faster, saying,"I ran away from an old woman,
I ran away from an old man,
And I can run away from you!
I can!"

And he laughed, "Run, run, as fast as you can!
You can't catch me!
I'm the Gingerbread Man!"The cow ran after the Gingerbread Man, but she could not catch him.

 

The Gingerbread Man kept running, and soon he met a horse."Neigh," said the horse, "You look mighty tasty. I think that I would like to eat you.""But you can't!" said the Gingerbread Man."I ran away from an old woman,
I ran away from an old man,
I ran away from a cow,
And I can run away from you!
I can!"

And so he ran singing,"Run, run, as fast as you can!
You can't catch me!
I'm the Gingerbread Man!"The horse ran after the Gingerbread Man, but he could not catch him.


The Gingerbread Man ran and ran, laughing and singing. While he ran, he met a chicken."Cackle, cackle," said the chicken, "You look fine enough to peck for dinner. I'm going to eat you, Mr. Gingerbread Man."But the Gingerbread Man just laughed."I ran away from an old woman,
I ran away from an old man,
I ran away from a cow,
I ran away from a horse,
And I can run away from you!
I can!"

And so he ran singing,"Run, run, as fast as you can!
You can't catch me!
I'm the Gingerbread Man!"The chicken ran after the Gingerbread Man, but she could not catch him.

The Gingerbread Man was proud that he could run so fast."Nobody can catch me," he thought. So he kept on running until he met a fox.He just had to tell the fox how he ran faster than all the others.
"Mr. Fox," he said,
"As tasty as I appear to be,
I cannot let you catch and eat me. I ran away from an old woman,
I ran away from an old man,
I ran away from a cow,
I ran away from a horse,
I ran away from a chicken,
And I can run away from you!
I can!"But Mr. Fox did not seem to care.

"Why would I want to bother you?" asked Mr. Fox. "You don't even look that tasty. No, young man, I don't want to eat you at all."The Gingerbread Man was so relieved.

"Well, indeed, Mr. Fox," said the Gingerbread Man. "If you don't mind, I think I'll take a little rest here." And the Gingerbread Man stopped running and stood still.And right when he stood still. Snap! went Mr. Fox's jaws right into the Gingerbread Man until he was gone."He was very tasty after all," thought the fox.