The Story of Hugin and his Carrot

Recently, we attended a Harvest Celebration at my daughter’s Waldorf school, and during the presentation, they did a Thanksgiving puppet show: “The Story of Hugin and his Carrot.”
My daughter LOVES this story/show, so I asked her teacher for a copy of it (there wasn’t one, it was a story she had memorized from years ago). It seems to be a spin off of Tolstoy’s story, “The Turnip,” except instead of needing a turnip to make a lantern, Hugin is trying to pull a carrot for a Thanksgiving Day soup.

We wish those who celebrate a very Happy Thanksgiving, and those who do not a very happy Thursday!

~The Story of Hugin and his Carrot~

Once upon a time there was a little boy named Hugin and he wanted a carrot to make a soup for Thanksgiving, so he went out into the garden and planted a carrot-seed and he said,

“Carrot, carrot, grow for me
Grow as big as big can be
That on Thanksgiving Day we’ll eat
A soup that tastes of carrots sweet.”

So the carrot grew and grew and nearly filled the garden. Then, Hugin went to pull the carrot up. And he pulled and he pulled… but the carrot did not budge an inch.

Then a Bear came by and asked ’What are you doing Hugin?’
And Hugin replied, “I am pulling up a carrot.

Bear, Bear pull with me,
Pull as hard as hard can be
That on Thanksgiving Day we’ll eat
A soup that tastes of carrots sweet!”

So Bear pulled Hugin, and Hugin pulled the carrot; and they pulled, and they pulled… but the carrot didn’t budge an inch.

Just a Fox came along and asked ”What are you doing Bear?” And Bear replied ”I am helping Hugin to pull his carrot.” And Hugin said

“Foxy, Foxy pull with me,
Pull as hard as hard can be
That on Thanksgiving Day we will eat
A soup that tastes of carrots sweet!”

So Fox pulled Bear, and Bear pulled Hugin and Hugin pulled the carrot. They pulled and they pulled, but the carrot did not budge an inch.

Just then a Hare came by and asked ’What are you doing Fox?” And Fox replied “I am helping Bear to help Hugin to pull up a carrot.” And Hugin said

“Hare, Hare pull with me,
Pull as hard as hard can be
That on Thanksgiving Day we will eat
A soup that tastes of carrots sweet!”

So Hare pulled Fox, and Fox pulled Bear and Bear pulled Hugin and Hugin pulled the carrot and they pulled and they pulled but… the carrot didn’t budge an inch.

Just then a Mouse came by and asked ’What are you doing Hare?” And Hare replied “I am helping Fox to help Bear to help Hugin to pull up a carrot.” And Hugin said

“Mouse, Mouse pull with me,
Pull as hard as hard can be
That on Thanksgiving Day we will eat
A soup that tastes of carrots sweet!”

So Mouse pulled Hare, and Hare pulled Fox, and Fox pulled Bear and Bear pulled Hugin and Hugin pulled the carrot and they pulled and they pulled but… the carrot didn’t budge an inch.

Just then a Caterpillar came by and asked ’What are you doing Mouse?” And Mouse replied “I am helping Hare to help Fox to help Bear to help Hugin to pull up a carrot.” And Caterpillar said, “But does Hugin know the right way to pull up a carrot? Did he first ask its Root Gnome if he might?”

Then Hugin bent down and put his mouth close to the ground and called,

“Gnome, good Root Gnome
May I take your carrot home?
Then on Thanksgiving Day we‘ll eat
A soup that tastes of carrots sweet?”

And at once a little Root Gnome popped up his brown head out of the ground and said, “Good gracious me, Hugin, why didn’t you tell me? All this time I’ve been pulling the other way. Now pull again!”

And he popped back his brown head into the ground.

So Caterpillar pulled Mouse, and Mouse pulled Hare, and Hare pulled Fox, and Fox pulled Bear, and Bear pulled Hugin, and Hugin pulled the carrot. And suddenly Mouse sat down backwards with a bang on Caterpillar, and Hare sat down backwards with a bang on Mouse, and Fox sat down backwards with a bang on Hare, and Bear sat down backwards with a bang on Fox, and Hugin sat down backwards with a bang on Bear with the biggest, orange, chubbiest carrot in his hands that ever anyone saw!

Then Hugin got up and said ”Sorry!” to Bear, and Bear got up and said “Sorry” to Fox, and Fox got up and said “Sorry” to Hare, and Hare got up and said “Sorry” to Mouse, and Mouse got up and said “Sorry” to Caterpillar.

And nobody was hurt, and everybody laughed “Ha-Ha-Ha“ and Hugin made a carrot soup.

THE END!!!!!!

Recreate the story yourself with these characters from our Natural Kids Team members!

Hugin –      Bear –

Fox –      Hare –

Mouse –      Caterpillar –

Carrot –