At the very edge of the village in a small cottage near the forest there lived an old farmer with his wife. Together they managed day by day and from time to time the old woman made some goodies for her man. One morning the old farmer woke up with an overwhelming craving for a donut. So he asked his wife if she could make him one.
The wife would have been happy to oblige her husband, but she didn’t have any flour at home. “Honey, sweep up all the leftover flour in the granary, I’m sure there will be enough after all.” The old farmer’s wife did so, and indeed, she did sweep up enough flour for one doughnut for her husband. She added yeast, milk and egg to the flour, sweetened it a little, kneaded the dough smooth and let it rise. Then she added delicious homemade jam and formed a plump donut, which she fried in butter until golden brown. The doughnut was a thing of beauty. And how it smelled! But it was still too hot, so she put it on the window to cool down a bit.
While the donut was slowly cooling, it was getting restless. The donut decided to jump out the window and run out into the world. He took the path straight into the woods.
Soon he came across a hare. The hare pricked up its ears and licked itself hungrily. “Don’t eat me, hare, I’ll sing you a song,” said the donut and started singing.
“I’m a little donut,
…swept across the granary..,
filled with jam,
…fried in butter..,
…chilled in the window..,
I got away from my grandfather,
I got away from my grandmother
and I’m gonna get away from you, too, hare!”
Just as he finished singing the last note, the doughnut rolled away at full speed before the hare could realize what was going on.
He didn’t roll long, though, when he ran into a grey wolf.
“Grrr, grrr,” the wolf growled, baring his teeth at the donut.
“Wolf, don’t eat me, I’ll sing you a song.” The wolf reluctantly closed his mouth and watched the donut suspiciously to see what would happen. As the donut sang, he listened and closed his eyes.
“I’m a little donut,
swept across the granary,
filled with jam,
fried in butter,
chilled in the window,
I got away from my grandfather,
I got away from my grandmother,
I’ve got away from the hare, and I’ll escape you, wolf!”
The wolf hadn’t even had time to open his eyes and the donut had already rolled off somewhere else. As he was rolling along, he met a furry bear. And the bear was already reaching out his big, furry paw. But the donut didn’t let it unsettle him, and immediately shouted, “Don’t eat me, bear, listen to my song instead!” And he started:
“I’m a little donut,
…swept across the granary..,
filled with jam,
fried in butter,
chilled in the window,
I got away from my grandfather,
I got away from my grandmother,
I got away from the rabbit,
I ran away from the wolf
and I’m gonna run away from you, bear!”
And he was gone.
He rolled around for a while and came across a fox which was very sly. “You smell so wonderful, little donut! And you are so round and shiny!”
The donut started its song:
“I’m a little donut,
…swept across the granary..,
filled with jam,
fried in butter,
chilled in the window,
I got away from my grandfather,
I got away from my grandmother,
I got away from the rabbit,
I got away from the wolf,
I got away from the bear
and you, fox, I’ll get away from you like nothing!”
“That was such a pretty song, donut,” the fox immediately appreciated his singing, “too bad I’m so old and hard of hearing. Couldn’t you jump up on my nose and sing it again? I could hear it better.”
The donut rose even more as it puffed with pride that the fox was praising its singing. Without further thought, he hopped up onto the fox’s snout to reap more praise, and began his song:
“I’m a little donut, swept across…”
And then the fox made a crunch and swallowed the donut.
