The Parable of the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf

The Parable of the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf
By Joseph G. Furnari


Therefore everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock. Rain came floods rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against his house, it did not fall. It was founded on rock.

Every time I hear these words of Jesus from the gospel of Matthew, I am reminded of a story from my childhood. The Three Little Pigs, and the Big Bad Wolf . Over time many versions of this story have been told. I would like to share with you my interpretation of this lovely tale.

One morning Mama Pig gathered her three little pigs to her side. She was about to send them off into the world outside. She wanted to warn them of the difficulties and dangers. “You will need shelter, so each of you must decide how to build his house for protection”. They were very excited to begin their journey. All three wanted to show her they were grown up now and ready to venture out. “Before you leave let me remind you again about our enemy the bad wolf. Now that you are on your own and separated, he may seek you out and try to catch you unawares”. Even this warning could not dampen their excitement of beginning a new life. Out the door they ran searching out land to build their houses on. Heeding their mother’s warning they decided to build close to one another so that they would be able to help one another in case of trouble.

The youngest of the three came upon some straw. “This should not be difficult for me to build a house with”. He built a fence and began to fill it up with the straw and a wooden door to go in and out. He settled in. It was fairly comfortable, but it did not look very strong.
The second did not believe his younger brother’s house would be a safe place to live. “I will build my house of wood, he said, not straw. Not only will my frame be wood, I will close all the walls with wood. This will be much stronger than straw”.
The oldest brother was not happy to see his younger brothers’ houses. “ You have to take the time to build a strong house to protect yourself against the wolf, he said”, but they laughed at him. “What you are doing is too much hard work. We will have no time to play, they said”.
Seeing that they would not listen, he began the task of building his house. A trench had to be dug for the walls of his house. He spent the money he had saved and bought many bricks to build the walls. This was very hard work. Each brick had to be handled and prepared one by one. Slowly the walls rose up. Now that he had walls that were very strong, they could support the heavy wooden beams for the roof and a heavy wooden door to protect the entrance. His work complete he sat in the safety of his home to rest.
A short while later, the wolf who had been lurking around, heard about the three pigs leaving home. “Now is my chance,” he thought. “ I will find them and get them one by one”. He soon came upon the youngest of the pigs in his straw house. “Let me in” he cried out. The little pig was very frightened. His knees began to shake. His hands trembled. The wolf’s voice grew loud and angry. “Let me in or I will huff and puff and blow your house in”. The wolf took a deep breath and the fierce wind blew from his mouth. The straw in the roof began to fly in all directions. “Let me in he cried out”. Then he got ready to huff and puff again.
The little pig, knowing his house could not stand another big wind, sneaked out the back and began to run up the hill just as the wolf blew the rest of his house in.
The wolf seeing him run began to chase after him. Just in time he reached his brother’s house that was built stronger with wood.
The two pigs clutched each other in the hope of protecting one another. The wolf reached the outer door and slammed his fist on the door. Again he cried out, “I will huff and puff and blow your house in”. He drew in a deep breath preparing a large huff and puff. He saw this house of wood would take a stronger blow to bring down. His fierce wind blew at the house. The wood began to rattle loose. The two little pigs inside knew, after the first huff and puff their house could not stand many more blasts. They decided to run out the back while they had a chance. They quickly slipped out and ran as fast as they could to their brother’s house.
Their brother seeing them running up the path with the wolf in hot pursuit had opened his heavy front door wide so they could run directly into the house to safety. He slammed the door shut just as the wolf had gotten to the door.
Now the wolf’s eyes burned with rage. He yelled, “nothing will stop me from huffing and puffing until I blow your house down”. He was not thinking clearly. He was blinded with frustration and anger. He was not even aware of how weak he had become with his efforts to blow down the other houses. He did not care anymore. He had to get the three pigs at all costs. He was very hungry now. He drew back all his strength that he had left and blew a mighty gale. The house did not budge. The bricks held tightly together. Again and again he blew but could not shake one brick from the walls of the house. The three pigs cheered and danced. Now they were safe from the wolf at last. They had plenty of supplies in the house. They felt they could outlast the wolf who was getting weaker each time he tried to blow the house in. His anger prevented him from moving. As time passed he became very weak from hunger.
In the meantime their brother said, “come I will teach you how I built this brick house so that when the wolf leaves we will begin to build your houses”.
He had some bricks left over. While he gathered the things he needed, the one brother began to stack the bricks one upon the other to build a small wall. The younger brother leaned against the wall and they all came tumbling down. “No, no the older brother shouted. The bricks are strong only when they have been bonded together. Here, let me show you”. He took the bag of powder, poured some onto the floor. “This powder will hold the bricks together firm”. “ But how can this dry powder hold them together”, they asked. “Wouldn’t the bricks still topple over”. “Watch, he said. “The secret is in the water”. He began to pour the water into the powder, gently mixing them together. A paste began to form. He took a blade and began to spread the paste material around each brick. Then he placed each brick one upon the other and waited. The three pigs lay down to rest for the night. This had been a trying day. The wolf too, decided to rest; to build up his strength for another try at their house in the morning.
The three pigs awoke early. The first thing they did was to check on the whereabouts of the wolf. They saw him lying out under the tree. He was still asleep. He looked very weak. The next thing they did was to run to see how the wall they had built was coming along. The two little pigs who had never before seen a wall built like this were amazed to see the wall was so strong they could not separate the bricks. The thin covering of paste had hardened between the bricks and bonded one to the other.
They were ready now to build their own houses. The wolf was still outside. He wasn’t about to go away. He was still huffing and puffing and getting weaker and weaker. His face was pale. His arms hung weakly at his side. His legs buckled and he fell down along side of the tree. Even if he wanted to leave to search for other food to survive, he did not have the strength. It seemed like the three little pigs had won. The wolf who had tormented them, could not survive many more days.
Late that afternoon the youngest pig asked his brothers, “Isn’t there anything we can do. I cannot just sit here and watch him suffer and slowly starve to death”. They answered angrily, “did you forget already a few days ago, he tried to trap us; to eat us”. Once more he tried to reason with them. “He was terribly hungry. Maybe he was never taught any other way”. They shouted him down. “He will never know another way. If we give him food to eat he will become strong again and attack and eat us”.
The little pig finally gave up. He could argue no longer. Rest was very difficult for the little pig. That evening, he tossed and turned. Every time he started to slip off to sleep the wolf would give out a groan and he would awake with a start. The night passed very slowly. When his two brothers awoke, the sun had already risen in the sky. They called out for their little brother. There was no answer. They called again; no answer. Where could he have gone? Could the wolf somehow have gotten better and found a way to catch him? They panicked, searching every room turning things upside down. They could not find him. They ran to the door. It had been opened. They slowly pulled the door ajar to see if the wolf was where they last saw him lying next to the tree. As they peered out, their faces took on a frightened look, their bodies began to tremble. “What have you done,” they shouted. What they saw was their little brother sitting on the ground, the wolf’s head held in his lap. In one hand he held a large bowl of soup they had made the night before. With his other hand he held the spoon. He was feeding the wolf. He yelled to his brothers to stay in the house. Then he continued to feed the wolf. “He will eat you when he gets stronger, Come back in the house”. He answered, “I do not believe he will, but to be safe you two stay in the house. If I am wrong, and he eats me, you will be safe. He cannot reach you in the safety of the house”. The wolf began to regain his strength and even though his brothers were still very frightened they kept supplying their brother with the food he needed for himself and the wolf.
The brothers waited and watched from the safety of their house. They were still frightened for their little brother. The wolf had now regained all his strength. They feared, any moment he would pounce on there little brother. The wolf held out his hands as if to pick him off the ground. He did not pick him up. He just held his hands. The little pig did not know what to expect. All he knew, he did not believe the wolf would eat him. The wolf finally said to him, “you have saved my life even though I chased you in the hope of catching you and eating you. I always believed this is what I was supposed to do. I was near death and you came to me and fed me your own food. The soup broth and the wheat meal helped me regain my strength. I have come to realize now I do not have to eat little pigs to stay alive and not go hungry. I need to learn more of your food.”.
The little pig jumped for joy and invited the wolf to eat dinner with him and his brothers. They would be happy to teach him how to cook for himself.
THAT EVENING:
They gathered around the table, hands clasped together. The three little pigs and the wolf prepared to give thanks before their meal. The youngest of the three pigs volunteered. “We give you thanks, Father”, he said “for this food you have given us and for our new friend, the wolf, who shares it with us”. With a little wink at his new found friend, the wolf, he added, ”WE THANK YOU ALSO, THAT WE ARE NO LONGER CONSIDERED THE MAIN COURSE”. They all laughed heartily as they shared their meal.

Taken from Isaiah (Yahweh’s Prophet). The wolf and the young lamb (in this case the young pigs) will feed together. The lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no hurt, no harm on all my holy mountain, says Yahweh.