SPEED READING JOHNNY - CAKE 80 words per minute

Once upon a time there was an old man and an old woman, and a little boy. One morning the old woman made a Johnny-cake, and put it in the oven to bake. “You watch the Johnny-cake while your father and I go out to work in the garden.” So the old man and the old woman went out and began to hoe potatoes, and left the little boy to tend the oven.

But the little boy did not watch the oven and all of a sudden he heard a noise. The oven door popped open and out jumped Johnny-cake! Johnny-cake went rolling end over end and rolled right out the kitchen door. He rolled down the steps and into the road and past the fence. The little boy ran after him as fast as he could but he could not catch him. He cried out for his mother and father!

The mother and father joined the chase. The Johnny-cake outran all three and soon was out of sight. The mother, father, and the little boy sat down by the road to rest. On ran the Johnny-cake. Soon he came to two men working in the fields. They called out to him. “Johnny-cake, where are you going?” “I ran away from the little old woman and the little old man and the little boy. I can run away from you, too!”

“You can? Well, we will see about that!” The men ran after the Johnny-cake, but they couldn’t catch him. Soon they had to sit down by the road and rest. On ran Johnny-cake until he saw two farmers working in a barn. “Johnny-cake, where are you going?” “I ran away from an old woman, an old man, a little boy, and two field workers. I can run away from you, too!” bragged Johnny-cake.

“Ye can, can ye? We’ll see about that,” they mumbled as they gave chase. But Johnny-cake soon outran them and when they saw that they could not catch him, they gave up the chase and sat down to rest. On ran Johnny-cake until he came to a wood. There he saw a bear lumbering down the path. “Where are you going, Johnny-cake?” asked the bear.

“I ran away from the old woman, an old man, a little boy, two field workers, and two farmers. I can run away from you, too!” “You can, can you?” growled the bear. “We’ll just see about that!” The bear began to run as fast as he could down the path after Johnny-cake, but the little Johnny-cake was very fast and the bear could not catch him.

On and on Johnny-cake ran through the woods until he met a wolf. “Why are you running little Johnny-cake and where are you going?” asked the wolf. “I ran away from the little old woman and an old man and a little boy and two field workers and two farmers and a bear, and I can run away from you, too!” “Really?” snarled the wolf. “We’ll see about that.”

The wolf began to gallop after Johnny-cake, who ran on and on so fast that the wolf realized that there was no hope of catching the Johnny-cake, so he too lay down to rest. On went Johnny-cake until he came to a fox resting against a fence. The fox called out in a sharp voice, but did not get up. “Where ye going, Johnny-cake?”

“I ran away from the little old woman and an old man and a little boy and two field workers and two farmers, a bear, and a wolf, and I can run away from you, too!” laughed the Johnny- cake. “So sorry,” whispered the fox. “I can’t hear you. Won’t you come a little closer?” Johnny-cake stopped and went over closer to the fox. In a very loud voice he said,

“I ran away from the little old woman and an old man and a little boy and two field workers and two farmers, a bear, and a wolf, and I can run away from you, too-oo-oo!” he screamed. “Can’t quite hear you: won’t you come a little closer?” asked the fox in a feeble little voice as he put one paw behind his ear. Johnny-cake came up close, and leaning towards the fox he screamed out:

“I ran away from the little old woman and an old man and a little boy and two field workers and two farmers, a bear, and a wolf, and I can run away from you, too-oo-oo-oo!” “You can, can you?” yelped the fox, as he snapped up the Johnny-cake in his sharp little teeth in the twinkling of an eye.