A little old woman and a little old man once lived together in a little old house. One day, the little old woman baked a Gingerbread Man with raisins for buttons, currants for eyes and a sliver of orange peel for a mouth. And she put him on a baking sheet to cook.

But when the gingerbread was cooked, and the little old woman opened the oven door, the Gingerbread Man jumped off the tray, out of the door and ran off down the street. The little old woman and the little old man ran after him as fast as they could, but he only laughed and called over his shoulder:

        "Run, run as fast as you can,
        You can't catch me,
        I'm the Gingerbread Man!"

And they could not catch him. Soon the Gingerbread Man passed a cow in a field. "Stop, stop, and I'll eat you up," mooed the cow.

But the Gingerbread Man laughed out loud and called over his shoulder:

        "I've run away from a little old woman,
        I've run away from a little old man,
        Run, run as fast as you can,
        You can't catch me,
        I'm the Gingerbread Man!"

And the cow could not catch him either. So the Gingerbread Man ran on through the fields until he passed a horse. "Stop, stop, and I'll eat you up!" neighed the horse.
But the Gingerbread Man only laughed out loud and called over his shoulder:

        "I've run away from a little old woman,
        a little old man and a cow.
        Run, run as fast as you can,
        You can't catch me,
        I'm the Gingerbread Man!"

The horse could not catch him either. At the end of the field, the Gingerbread Man ran past a barn full of men threshing corn. When they smelled the hot, delicious gingerbread, they dashed out of the barn to catch him.

"Stop, stop, we'll eat you up!" shouted the threshers. But he dodged through their legs and laughed and called over his shoulder:

        "I've run away from a little old woman,
        a little old man,
        a cow and a horse.
        Run, run as fast as you can,
        You can't catch me,
        I'm the Gingerbread Man!"

And the threshers could not catch him either. By this time the little Gingerbread Man thought he was the cleverest biscuit ever to hop out of a pan, and he laughed and crowed and danced about. "No-one can catch me!" he thought.

And when a fox came running towards him, the Gingerbread Man only laughed and ran away, calling over his shoulder:

        "I've run away from a little old woman,
        a little old man,
        a cow and a horse and
        a barnful of threshers.
        Run, run as fast as you can,
        You can't catch me,
        I'm the Gingerbread Man!"

"But I don't want to catch you," said the fox, now running a little faster. "I'm being chased myself by huntsmen. But if we can get across the river, we'll both be safe."

At the edge of the river, the fox said to the Gingerbread Man, "Jump on to my tail and I'll carry you across."

So the Gingerbread Man jumped on to the fox's tail and the fox plunged into the water. But as he struck out from the shore he turned his head and said, "You're too heavy on my tail. Climb on to my back or you may get wet."

So the Gingerbread Man jumped on to the fox's back. "You're too close to the water on my back," said the fox when he had swum a little farther. "Jump on to my shoulder."

So the Gingerbread Man jumped on to the fox's shoulder. In the middle of the river, the fox called out, "Oh, dear! I'm sinking. Jump on to my nose, Gingerbread Man."

So the Gingerbread Man jumped on to the fox's nose, and they both got safely across the river. But, as the fox climbed ashore, he tossed up his head and throw him up in the air.

'Snap!' went the fox's jaws.
'Slurp!' went his wet, red tongue.
"Dear me!" said the Gingerbread Man. "I'm a quarter gone!"

'Snap!' went the fox's white teeth.
'Slurp!' went his wet, red tongue.
"Well, well!" cried the Gingerbread Man. "I'm half gone!"

'Snap! Slurp!' went the fox.
"Oh, my goodness!" yelled the Gingerbread Man. "I'm three-quarters gone!"

"Yum, yum," said the fox. But the Gingerbread Man said nothing...ever again.