(derailed fairy tale)

There once lived three little piglet brothers. They looked like each other; one was called Nif-Nif, another Naf-Naf, and the third Nuf-Nuf. In summer, the piglets were resting, enjoying the warm weather, frolicking and basking in the sun. But soon came the first cold, and with them the fading fall.

Naf-Naf first thought about the coming cold weather, he woke up early in the morning and invited his brothers to build a house for the winter. Both brothers did not want to take part in the construction, as they believed that winter is still far away, and therefore at any time they would have time to shape some shelter.

Naf-Naf went to build the house alone, while the brothers continued to rest. They said that from tomorrow they would begin to build their own houses, but this did not happen. The two piglets kept playing until the puddles were covered with a thin layer of ice. Nif-Nif was making a house out of straw; he thought that it would serve as a great material. In the end, he built the house in one day.

Nuf-Nuf also took the job, but without much enthusiasm, at first, he also wanted to build it from sedge straw, but everyone thought that it didn’t keep the warmth enough. So, the little piggy took branches and thin twigs and made something looking like a wigwam. When Nuf-Nuf and Nuf-Niff’s houses were ready, they decided to go to visit the third brother and see what he had built.

Nuf-Nuf, unlike his brothers, had been building for many days, he was kneading the clay and wanted to build a brick hulk house. The brothers did not understand why Nuf-Nuf was building such a house, they said, why should he build the whole fortress. Naf-Naf said that he was afraid of wolves, and the brothers only laughed in response, as they thought that there were no wolves here.

At that time, monster-spirited Hans took Gretel with him, fixed her on a rope and drove her ahead of him. He led her to a high stake and tied her tightly to it. Then Hans approached his mother to get advice how to treat the gloomy girl.

“Foolishly you have done that, Hans,” said the mother; “you must cast affectionate glances at her face with your eyes.

Hans went to the wild wood to catch animals, to cut out their eyes and throw them in Gretel’s face. While doing this wicked work, he ran on the shabby shelters of Nuf-Nuf and Nif-Nif and ruined them with his atrocious axe. Fortunately, the piglets escaped their huts and were saved only in Naf-Naf’s house, because it was hard as nails, and the brothers began living together ever since.