<p>Once upon a time, there lived an old man and an old woman. They lived very poorly.</p>
<p>One day the old man said:</p>
<blockquote>— Old woman, bake a gingerbread bun.</blockquote>
<p>The old woman replied:</p>
<blockquote>— We hardly have any flour…</blockquote>
<p>But the old woman scraped the flour bin, gathered what she could, and baked a round gingerbread bun.</p>
<p>She placed the bun on the window.</p>
<p>The bun lay there for a while and thought:</p>
<blockquote>— They’re going to eat me…</blockquote>
<p>So it rolled away.</p>
<p>The gingerbread bun rolled along the road and met a rabbit.</p>
<p>The rabbit said:</p>
<blockquote>— Gingerbread bun, I will eat you!</blockquote>
<p>The bun replied:</p>
<blockquote>— Rabbit, wait. Let me sing you a song.</blockquote>
<p>And the gingerbread bun sang:</p>
<blockquote>
— I ran away from the old man,<br>
I ran away from the old woman,<br>
And I’ll run away from you too!
</blockquote>
<p>And the bun rolled on, leaving the rabbit behind.</p>
<p>It rolled further and met a wolf.</p>
<p>The wolf said:</p>
<blockquote>— Gingerbread bun, I will eat you!</blockquote>
<p>The bun replied:</p>
<blockquote>— Listen, wolf.</blockquote>
<p>And sang again:</p>
<blockquote>
— I ran away from the old man,<br>
I ran away from the old woman,<br>
I ran away from the rabbit,<br>
And I’ll run away from you too!
</blockquote>
<p>The bun rolled away, and the wolf was left behind.</p>
<p>The bun rolled on and met a bear.</p>
<p>The bear said:</p>
<blockquote>— Gingerbread bun, I will eat you!</blockquote>
<p>The bun replied:</p>
<blockquote>— Listen, bear!</blockquote>
<p>And sang once more:</p>
<blockquote>
— I ran away from the old man,<br>
I ran away from the old woman,<br>
I ran away from the rabbit,<br>
I ran away from the wolf,<br>
And I’ll run away from you too!
</blockquote>
<p>And the bun rolled away. The bear stood there, amazed.</p>
<p>The bun rolled on and met a fox.</p>
<p>The fox said:</p>
<blockquote>— Dear bun, how beautiful you are. Come a little closer.</blockquote>
<p>The bun thought:</p>
<blockquote>— The fox is clever…</blockquote>
<p>And said:</p>
<blockquote>— No, fox. I will stay far away.</blockquote>
<p>It sang its song and, without coming closer, rolled away.</p>
<p>The fox could not catch it.</p>
<p>The gingerbread bun rolled back along the road and returned to the old man and the old woman.</p>
<p>The old woman rejoiced:</p>
<blockquote>— My dear bun, you came back safe!</blockquote>
<p>The bun said:</p>
<blockquote>— I have learned many things. I will not run away anymore.</blockquote>
<p>The old man and the old woman laughed and did not eat the bun.</p>
<p>And so the tale ended. The ending was a happy one.</p>
