Baley Black Sheep Trades Wool for Sweets

Baley Black Sheep had so much wool, she didn't know what to do with it!

Her wool grew so fast and so long that she had cut it at least once a week. She didn't need to make any wool sweaters - she was a sheep! She had a permanent one! And she didn't want to throw it away, because that would be wasteful. Then one day, she thought, "I know! I can trade it! I'm sure that there are lots of people who need black wool." And so Baley put all her black wool into three bags and was ready to make her way down to the street. But before she left, she ran into her young master, Jack-a-Dandy, coming back from the store.

"Hi, Jack! How is your day?" asked Baley.

'Great so far!" replied Jack. "I just bought a plum-cake and a whole bunch of candy that I'm very excited to eat! I just hope Mother doesn't catch me with it. Where are you are off to?"

"I'm needing to get rid of some of my wool, so I'm going to go see if any of the neighbors want some!" said Baley excitedly. "I have no use for it anyway."

"That's very thoughtful of you, Baley! In fact, I would like a bag too if you don't mind," said Jack.

Looking at his candy, Baley said, "Sure! I'll give you a bag, if you give me half of your candy."

"Deal!" said Jack as he ran into the kitchen. When he came out, he had filled a separate bag with half of his candy and handed it to Baley. "Here! I don't need to eat all of it anyway." And so Baley happily took the bag of candy in exchange for her wool, and then started off down the street.

After going to a few houses with no luck, Baley decided she would try at the palace. She knocked on the grand doors, and to her surprise the Queen of Hearts herself answered.

"Hello, Your Majesty! How is your day?" asked Baley.

"Oh! What a day it's been!" said the Queen of Hearts. "I made some delicious tarts for a party I'm having later, and the Knave had the nerve to steal them all while they were cooling off! The King had to go and retrieve them for me. I bet that Knave will think twice before he tries to steal my tarts again. Anyways, now that I've finished my rant, what can I do for you, little sheep?"

"I'm giving away my wool! Would you like a bag?" said Baley, knowing the Queen would give her something in return.

"Oh, I would love a bag!" the Queen exclaimed. "I've been wanting a new wool sweater. But of course I will pay you. I can't let you walk away empty-handed."

"Well....if you must give me something," said Baley, thinking back on the queen's story, "I would love a tart if you had one to spare."

"Absolutely," said the queen, and she called for her servant to bring a few tarts from the kitchen. Baley then gave the queen the wool, took the tarts, and happily made her way back down the street.

She went to a few more houses, but it seemed that no one wanted her last bag of wool. Just as she was about to give up, she heard a voice calling her from behind. She turned around and it was Simple Simon, the little boy who lives down the street from her. He was sitting in his yard, eating a pie, and waving at her. "This is perfect!" thought Baley. "I can trade my last bag of wool for his pie!"

So Baley went over and greeted him, "Hi Simon! How is your day?"

"Much better now!" said Simon. "Mother and Father have been working all day, so I decided to go to the fair. I didn't have any money, so none of the people would let me get any treats, until I met this very nice pieman. I asked to taste one of his pies, and then he asked for a penny. I was sad at this because I didn't have any pennies, but when I told him this, he gave me a whole pie for free! I then told him I would come back and pay him, but he insisted."

Unsure of what to say, now hesitant to ask for his pie, Baley just smiled and said, "Oh, that was very nice of him."

Then Simon said, "Oh! I called you over because I heard you were selling your wool! I don't have any money, but I'd be happy to give you half of my pie for it."

Looking at Simon's pie, Baley now felt awful for just thinking of taking any from him. She then looked back at Simon and said, "That's okay, Simon. I don't need anything in return."

As Baley handed him her last bag of wool, Simon said, "Wow! Thanks, Baley! This day just keeps getting better! You're the most generous sheep I know!"

This kind comment from Simon stuck with Baley. So, from then on, wanting to live up to Simon's kind words about her, Baley freely offered her wool to people anytime she cut it, only accepting a gift when people offered. And she was never greedy again.

Author's Note: This story is a compilation of the nursery rhymes, "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep," "Handy Pandy," "The Tarts," and "Simple Simon." Since "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" is a very well known nursery rhyme, I wanted to use this as the base of my story. To expand it, I added in the other three nursery rhymes in place of the "master," the "dame," and the "little boy who lives down the lane." As I was searching for nursery rhymes, I noticed that a lot of them mention some kind of dessert, so I thought it would be fun to have Baley Black Sheep trade her wool for sweets. Since my story is more lighthearted, I decided to make the Queen of Hearts a nice queen, as opposed to the ruthless, "off with your head" queen she is Alice in Wonderland. I also decided to use "Simple Simon" for the "little boy who lives down the lane" because I thought that it would be perfect for making there a moral in the story. The original nursery rhyme doesn't say whether Simon got the pie (although, I assume he didn't) so I added in that part and a little bit more to make the story more happy and so that Baley would have more sympathy for him and not want to take his pie, learning her lesson about being greedy.

Bibliography:

• The Big Book of Nursery Rhymes edited by Walter Jerold
• Denslow's Mother Goose by W.W. Denslow
• The Real Mother Goose by Blanche Fisher Wright.

Image Info:

• Black Sheep. Source: Needpix
• Pie. Source: Pixabay