Alexander Pig Complains

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.