Nobody in the Pig family liked bath time, but Alexander Pig
was the biggest complainer. He would snort, shudder, and oink about his
unhappiness every time he saw the bath barrel coming out of the barn.
His brother, Bernard, would try to hide beneath Farmer Dell’s
feet. This did not work. The farmer always found him and plopped Bernard into
the bath barrel.
His sister, Caroline, would beg and plead and whine to get
out of bath time. That didn’t work, either. She was also washed.
Alexander Pig thought that the water was too hot, too cold,
or not deep enough. Farmer Dell
always got water in Alexander’s ears and that made them itch. His snout tickled as the water dripped
into his nose. The farmer scrubbed
Alexander’s skin too hard, pulled his tail, and got soap in his eyes. And Alexander especially did not like
the way he smelled so clean at the end of the bath. Yuck!!! Alexander wanted to
smell like mud, not clean pig.
Then one day Farmer Dell’s niece came to visit. Her name was Elizabeth. When she saw the barrel being taken out
of the barn for bath time, she asked if she could give the Pig Family their
baths. Farmer Dell agreed.
“Oh, no!” cried Alexander to his brother and sister. “She will get the water too cold, make
my ears itchy, and tickle my snout. This will be the worst bath ever! This is
terrible!”
So Alexander Pig snorted and grunted and ran in circles. He
complained as loud as he could.
But nobody listened. Bath time was coming.
Elizabeth put bubble bath into the tub. She tested the water
to make sure it was warm; not too hot and not too cold. She put in just enough water so that
the pigs would be able to stick their heads out of the water.
“Hmm, well, she will probably scrub too hard,” said
Alexander Pig.
His sister, Caroline, went first.
“Is she hurting you?” asked Alexander.
“No, actually it feels good,” answered Caroline.
“Guess since I have to, I’ll go next,” said Alexander. “Might as well get it over with.”
So when Caroline was taken out of the barrel, Alexander
stood next to it and waited for the dreadful bath.
Elizabeth gently helped Alexander into the barrel. She put in more warm water and added
more bubble bath. He kept quiet
and hoped she would not brush his ears too hard.
The brush Elizabeth used was soft and she scrubbed Alexander
just the perfect amount. Elizabeth did not get any drippy water in his ears or
snout. She curled her finger around his tail and never pulled it. When she put the shampoo on him, it
smelled like grapes. Alexander loved
grapes!
When Alexander was taken out of the bath barrel, he
complained.
“I wasn’t done, yet!” Alexander snorted.
Elizabeth laughed.
Then she looked for Bernard.
Bernard was sitting right next to her feet, waiting for his
turn. Elizabeth placed Bernard
into the warm soapy water.
“Uncle Dell, I can come every week and give the Pig Family
their bath,” said Elizabeth.
“Great idea, Elizabeth,” agreed Farmer Dell.
Alexander was a very happy pig, who happened to smell like
clean grapes.
