The Children and the Ugg-Ugg

Once there was an Ugg-Ugg; a most curious sort of creature, that dwelt deep in an enchanted forest. It had eight legs; four long and four short and two heads; one large and one small and, with its two heads, it would often make a loud but rather melancholy ugg-ugg sound as it leant, with its forepaws, upon a rock or a tree.

 

And one day, a little boy and girl named Sandra and Tom went walking through the forest, taking medicine to their poor sick grandfather.

 

Their mother had often warned them about the Ugg-Ugg, telling them that it was a terribly wicked and ferocious beast that ate children up whole if they were not careful.

 

“Beware the Ugg-Ugg, children”, she’d told them, “For there is no more terrible creature. Though it may appear gentle it is really a ferocious monster and if you ever encounter one, run away just fast you can”.

 

And so, as they walked through that forest, though the summer sun was shining brightly and lighting up all the leaves upon its branches like emeralds, the two children were quite worried that they might encounter the strange and ferocious beast and, before long, they heard just ahead of them a sound that made them tremble from head to toe.

 

“Ugg-ugg!”, it went, “Ugg-ugg-ugg!”.

 

And, peering through some branches at where the sound was coming from they saw the mysterious Ugg-Ugg beside the edge of a lake. It’s smaller head was playing a pretty tune upon a flute while the larger head listened and smiled.

 

“It doesn’t seem that ferocious”, said Sandra to her brother, “In fact it seems quite gentle”.

 

“Yes”, said her brother, “But remember what mother said. It may appear gentle but it is a frightening, wicked beast that eats children”.

 

But then, all of a sudden, one of the heads of the Ugg- Ugg saw the children spying and called out to them.

 

“Don’t be afraid, children”, it said, softly “I won’t hurt you”.

 

As soon as it said this, however, the children got very frightened and ran away, just as their mother had told them to, further into the forest.

 

As they were running, however, they bumped into an old woman with a basket full of little cakes.

 

“My stars, children”, said the old woman, smiling down at them, “Where are you running to as fast as rockets? And why do you both look so frightened?”.

 

Thinking that she looked cheerful and friendly, Sandra and Tom told her all about their seeing the Ugg-Ugg and how it had spoken to them.

 

“Oh well, you two have had a very lucky escape”, she said, “The Ugg-Ugg is a terrible beast. Worse than a wolf; worse than a whole pack of wolves in fact”.

 

Then the old woman asked the children if they would like one of the cakes in her basket and, looking down at the cakes, the children’s eyes glowed as if they had just seen an Aladdin’s cave full of treasures and, their stomachs starting to rumble noisily with hunger, they couldn’t resist taking hold of two of the cakes and stuffing them, greedily, into their mouths.

 

“Marzipan and chocolate; filled with sweet apricot and almond jam and still as warm as when I made them”, said the woman, smiling to see the little children enjoying her cakes.

 

Then, taking the little girl by the hand, the old woman said that she would walk with them through the forest for their protection.

 

“You never know”, she said, “We might see that terrible Ugg-Ugg or something even worse”.

 

After they had been walking a short way, however, the children began to feel an odd sensation in their noses, like a twitching.

 

And when they told the old woman, she said,

 

“Oh, perhaps you are allergic to something, my dears. There are lots of plants and flowers in this forest that might make someones nose twitch”.

 

“I suppose so”, though Sandra, trusting the old woman because she knew that old women were very wise.

 

But then, after they had gone a little further, the two children felt a peculiar urge to start hopping about .

 

“Oh that’s just because your full of beans”, said the old woman, when Sandra told her, “Children are all full of beans in the Summertime. Restless to go hopping about”.

 

Tom and Sandra thought this very odd because they had never imagined that they were full of beans

but still they didn’t question the old woman because they were sure that, being an old woman, and because old women are very wise, she must know what she was talking about.

 

However, they had not gone much further into the forest, when the children both noticed that their skin had started to bristle all over with white fur.

 

And they were about to tell the old woman when suddenly, they heard her call out to someone.

 

“Come out, my daughters”, she said, “And look what your dear mother has brought you. Two nice, plump young rabbits for your dinner”.

 

And then, suddenly, to the horror of the two little children, they saw a pack of wolves come out of the forest, glaring greedily at them and licking their lips.

 

Realizing that the old woman was not what she had appeared to be the children tried to turn and run but the old woman grabbed hold of Tom by the long rabbit ears that had grown out of his head and Sandra by the fluffy rabbit tail that had sprouted from her bottom.

 

“You’re not a nice old woman”, said Sandra, struggling to get free.

 

“Oh, I’m not a woman at all, my dear”, she replied, “But a she-wolf and I’ve caught two nice fat rabbits to feed my cubs”.

 

Now, terrified the children cried out, “Help! Help us please!”.

 

But as they did their voices started to change into those of rabbits so that, though they thought the words help, it only came out of their now furry mouths as rabbit squeaks.

 

“T’won’t do you any good to call out!”, said the she-wolf, her nose becoming long; her teeth becoming sharp and thick black hair sprouting out all over her old woman’s face , “There’s no one that’ll help you now”.

 

But then, just at that moment, the children heard a sound that they recognized from nearby.

 

“Ugg-ugg!” , it went.

 

And then, coming through the forest towards them and pushing its way through the trees, they saw the Ugg-Ugg and it was blowing its flute.

 

And it blew a note so shrill that it made the she-wolf and all the cubs cover their ears and howl with pain.

 

“Oh run away my daughters”, the she-wolf said to her cubs, “Run and hide yourselves from that awful sound”.

 

And the She- wolf  herself ran away, letting go of Sandra and Tom as she did so, so that they fell with a little bump onto the ground.

 

Now Tom and Sandra, their rabbit hearts full of gratitude, hopped over to the Ugg-Ugg and tried to thank him, squeaking like rabbits, for saving their lives.

 

Then the Ugg-Ugg touched Tom and Sandra upon their twitching rabbit noses with its magical flute and, suddenly, they both felt themselves begin to change again back into their normal human form.

 

“Oh thank you”, said Tom, relieved to be a little boy again, “I was afraid that I would have to spend my life eating carrots”.

 

“Oh well Carrots are good for you”, said the Ugg-Ugg.

 

“Better for you than cakes, anyway”, said Sandra, remembering the She-Wolves basket of cakes.

 

But then the Ugg-Ugg told the children to climb upon its back and, racing through the forest on its eight limbs, almost as fast as a coach and horses, it took the children to the cottage of their grandfather.

 

And when their Grandfather opened the door and saw his two little grandchildren he was so happy

lifting them both up in his arms and, from that day forward, Sandra and Tom and even their mother  saw the Ugg-Ugg not as a wicked monster but as a very good friend.