The Gingerbread Boy

Gingerbread is such an integral part of Christmas that it may surprise some people to learn that the first gingerbread recipe came from the Greeks in 2400 B.C. The Chinese followed next in the 10th century. But it was the Europeans — particularly, the Germans — who turned gingerbread into a high form of art. Cookies decorated with gold leaf were a symbol of English nobility and royalty under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

Gingerbread cookies were so popular by the late Middle Ages that Gingerbread Fairs became a popular form of entertainment. Germans began creating gingerbread houses in the 16th century. The story of Hansel and Gretel may have been inspired by gingerbread or gingerbread may have been inspired by Hansel and Gretel! Nobody knows for sure.

A well-known children’s folk tale is The Gingerbread Man or Gingerbread Boy, depending on the teller.

THE GINGERBREAD BOY

Now, you shall hear a story that somebody’s great-great-grandmother told a little girl ever so many years ago:

There was once a little old man and a little old woman who lived in a little old house on the edge of a wood. They would have been a very happy old couple but for one thing — they had no little child, and they wished for one very much. One day, when the little old woman was baking bread, she cut a cake in the shape of a little boy, and put it in the oven.

Presently, she went to the oven to see if it was baked. As soon as the oven door was opened, the little gingerbread boy jumped out and began to run away as fast as he could go.

The little old woman called her husband, and they both ran after him. But they could not catch him. And soon the gingerbread boy came to a barn full of threshers. He called out to them as he went by, saying:

“I’ve run away from a little old woman,

A little old man,

And I can run away from you, I can!”

Then the mowers began to run after him, but they couldn’t catch him. And he ran on ’til he came to a cow. He called out to her:

“I’ve run away from a little old woman,

A little old man,

A barn full of threshers,

A field full of mowers,

And I can run away from you, I can!”

But, though the cow started at once, she couldn’t catch him. Soon he came to a pig. He called out to the pig:

“I’ve run away from a little old woman,

A little old man,

A barn full of threshers,

A field full of mowers,

A cow,

— And I can run away from you, I can!”

But the pig ran and couldn’t catch him. And he ran ’til he came across a fox, and to him he called out:

“I’ve run away from a little old woman,

A little old man,

A barn full of threshers,

A field full of mowers,

A cow and a pig,

And I can run away from you, I can!”

Then the fox set out to run. Now foxes can run very fast, and so the fox soon caught the gingerbread boy and began to eat him up.

Presently, the gingerbread boy said: “O dear! I’m a quarter gone!” And then: “Oh, I’m half gone!”

And soon: “I’m three-quarters gone!” And, at last: “I’m all gone!” and never spoke again.

Traditional Folk Tale

Story from St. Nicholas Magazine, 1875

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Dawn Pisturino, RN

Copyright 2020-2021 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.

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