LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS - Audiobook w/ Text - Ch. 1 - Little House in the Big Woods
Summary
TLDRThe script narrates the life of a young girl named Laura in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, living in a log house with her family. Surrounded by wilderness teeming with wildlife, Laura experiences the joys and challenges of pioneer life. Her father, known as 'Paw,' hunts deer and fish, while the family prepares for winter by smoking and preserving food. The story captures the simplicity and self-sufficiency of their existence, with Laura's adventures reflecting the spirit of exploration and the close bond with nature.
Takeaways
- 🏡 The story is set in a little gray house in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, surrounded by trees and wildlife.
- 🌳 The Big Woods are described as a vast, uninhabited area with no houses, roads, or people, teeming with wild animals like wolves, bears, and deer.
- 👨👩👧👧 The family living in the house consists of a little girl named Laura, her sister Mary, baby sister Carrie, their parents, and a bulldog named Jack.
- 🌙 Laura experiences the wilderness at night, hearing the whispering of trees and the distant howling of wolves, but feels safe within the solid log walls of her home.
- 🔫 Laura's father, referred to as 'Paw,' is a hunter who provides for the family by hunting deer and other game, emphasizing the importance of self-sufficiency.
- 🍖 The family prepares for winter by salting, smoking, and storing meat, highlighting the need to preserve food in the absence of modern amenities.
- 🐟 A significant event is the catching of a large quantity of fish from Lake Pepin, which is also preserved for the winter months.
- 🐷 The story includes the process of butchering a pig, making various food products like sausages, head cheese, and salt pork, showcasing the traditional methods of food preparation.
- 🎻 Evenings are spent with Paw greasing his traps and playing the fiddle, providing a sense of community and family bonding in the isolated setting.
- 🌨️ The narrative conveys the harshness of winter in the Big Woods, where the family must be well-prepared with stored food to survive the long, cold months.
Q & A
Where did the little girl named Laura live?
-Laura lived in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, in a little gray house made of logs.
What kind of animals lived in the Big Woods with Laura?
-The Big Woods were home to wolves, bears, huge wild cats, muskrats, mink, otters, foxes, and deer.
What was the purpose of the crooked rail fence around Laura's house?
-The fence was meant to keep bears and deer away from the house.
Why did Laura's father hang deer in the trees?
-He hung the deer high in the trees so that wolves could not get the meat.
How did Laura's family prepare the deer meat for winter storage?
-They salted the meat, smoked it using hickory chips in a hollow log, and then wrapped each piece in paper to hang in the attic.
What did Laura's father do with the deer hides after skinning the deer?
-He salted and stretched the hides to make soft leather out of them.
What did Laura's father bring home one night in a wagon?
-He brought home a wagon load of fish, which he had caught at Lake Pepin using a net.
Why did Laura's family butcher a pig?
-They butchered the pig to have a supply of pork for the winter, as the weather would keep it frozen.
What did Laura and Mary do with the pig's bladder and tail after butchering?
-They played with the inflated pig's bladder as a balloon and roasted the pig's tail over the fire, eating it once it was done.
How did Laura's family ensure they had enough food for the winter?
-They stored food such as smoked venison, salted fish, cured hams, head cheese, sausages, lard, and salt pork, as well as vegetables from their garden in the cellar and attic.
What did Laura's father do at night after supper during the winter?
-He would bring his traps in from the shed to grease them by the fire, tell jokes and stories, and play his fiddle.
Outlines
🌲 Life in the Big Woods of Wisconsin
The story begins by introducing a little girl named Laura, who lives in a small gray log house deep in the Big Woods of Wisconsin with her family. Surrounded by vast, dense forests filled with wild animals like wolves, bears, and deer, Laura's house is isolated from other people. Despite the dangers outside, Laura feels safe with her father’s gun over the door and her dog Jack guarding the house. One night, Laura sees wolves outside her home, but they cannot break in, thanks to the sturdy log walls and Jack’s protection. Laura’s world is both magical and mysterious, as she listens to the trees and wildlife at night.
🍂 Preparing for the Harsh Winter
As winter approaches, Laura's family prepares by storing as much food as possible. Her father, Pa, carefully skins and salts deer meat, then hangs it in a hollow log to smoke. The process of smoking the meat with hickory chips ensures the venison will last through the cold months. Pa is skilled in preserving food, making sure the family has enough to eat during winter, when hunting is scarce. Laura observes and helps with the preparation, learning the importance of these traditions for survival in the wilderness.
🐻 A Close Encounter with a Bear
One night, a bear tries to attack the family’s pig, but Pa chases it away with his gun. Laura is disappointed that Pa didn’t kill the bear, as she loves bear meat. Despite missing his shot, Pa assures Laura that the important thing is saving the pig, which will provide the family with bacon. The family continues to prepare for winter by storing vegetables from the garden, hanging onions and peppers in the attic, and stacking pumpkins and squashes. With the help of Uncle Henry, they also butcher a hog, a process Laura finds both fascinating and frightening.
🍖 Butchering Time and Winter Preparations
The family’s preparations for winter intensify as they butcher the hog. Pa and Uncle Henry work together, while Ma uses every part of the hog, from rendering lard to making sausage and head cheese. The day is busy and full of tasks, but also fun for Laura and Mary, who enjoy playing with the pig’s bladder and roasting its tail over the fire. As the days grow colder, the house becomes stocked with food, including smoked hams, sausages, and preserved vegetables, ensuring the family will be well-fed through the long winter ahead.
🎻 Cozy Nights with Stories and Music
As winter sets in, Laura and Mary spend more time indoors, playing in the attic with pumpkins and dried herbs. The cold winds howl outside, but inside, the family is warm and cozy. After supper, Pa entertains Laura and Mary with stories and jokes as he prepares his traps by the fire. One night, he tells a funny story about a man with two cats and two cat holes in his door, making the girls laugh. Pa then takes out his fiddle, and the family’s evening is filled with music, laughter, and warmth, creating a sense of security and happiness in their small home.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Big Woods
💡Log House
💡Wildlife
💡Pioneer Life
💡Laura
💡Winter Preparation
💡Butchering
💡Self-Sufficiency
💡Community
💡Hardship
Highlights
A young girl named Laura lives in the Big Woods of Wisconsin with her family in a log house.
The Big Woods are described as a vast, uninhabited area filled with wild animals like wolves, bears, and wild cats.
Laura's home is surrounded by trees, and the nearest neighbors are miles away.
Laura's family includes her sister Mary, baby sister Carrie, and her parents, whom she calls 'Paw' and 'Ma'.
The family relies on hunting for food, and Laura's father, Paw, is skilled at providing for the family.
The family prepares for winter by salting and smoking venison to preserve it.
Paw constructs a unique smoking device from a hollow log to cure the meat.
The family also catches and stores fish from Lake Pepin for the winter.
Paw owns a pig that is caught and fattened for butchering.
A humorous incident occurs when Paw tries to shoot a bear but misses, saving the pig but not the bear.
The garden provides a variety of vegetables that are stored in the cellar for winter use.
The process of butchering the pig is described in detail, including the use of every part of the animal.
Laura and Mary play with the pig's bladder and roast the pig's tail, creating a memorable experience.
Ma is busy making lard, head cheese, and sausage from the pork.
The attic becomes a playroom for Laura and Mary, filled with the smells of smoked meats and dried herbs.
Paw's storytelling and fiddle playing provide entertainment and warmth during the cold winter months.
The story emphasizes the importance of self-sufficiency and the close relationship with nature in the Big Woods.
Transcripts
Little House in the Big Woods
Once Upon a Time many years ago a little
girl lived in the Big Woods of Wisconsin
in a little gray house made of logs
the Great Dark trees of the Big Woods
stood all around the house and Beyond
them were other trees and Beyond them
were more trees
as far as a man could go to the North in
a day or a week or a whole month there
was nothing but Woods
there were no houses there were no roads
there were no people
there were only trees and the wild
animals who had their homes among them
wolves lived in the Big Woods and bears
and huge wild cats
muskrats and mink and Otter lived by the
streams
foxes had dens in the hills and deer
roamed everywhere
to the east of the little log house and
to the West there were miles upon miles
of trees and only a few little log
houses scattered far apart in the edge
of the Big Woods
so far as the little girl could see
there was only the one little house
where she lived with her father and
mother her sister Mary and baby sister
Carrie
a wagon track ran before the house
turning and twisting out of sight in the
Woods Where the wild animals lived but
the little girl did not know where it
went nor what might be at the end of it
the little girl was named Laura and she
called her father paw and Her Mother Ma
in those days and in that place children
did not say father and mother nor mama
and papa as they do now
at night when Laura Lay awake in the
trundle bed she listened and could not
hear anything at all but the sound of
the trees Whispering together
sometimes far away in the night a wolf
howled
then he came nearer and howled again
it was a scary sound
Laura knew that wolves would eat little
girls
but she was safe inside the solid log
walls
her father's gun hung over the door and
good old Jack the brindle bulldog lay on
guard before it
her father would say
go to sleep Laura jack won't let the
wolves in
Solara snuggled under the covers of the
trundle bed close beside Mary and went
to sleep
one night her father picked her up out
of bed and carried her to the window so
that she might see the wolves
there were two of them sitting in the
front of the house
they looked like shaggy dogs they
pointed their noses at the big bright
moon and howled
Jack paced up and down before the door
growling the hair stood up along his
back and he showed his sharp Fierce
teeth to the Wolves they howled but they
could not get in
the house was a comfortable house
upstairs there was a large attic
Pleasant to play in when the rain
drummed on the roof
downstairs was the small bedroom and the
big room
the bedroom had a window that closed
with a wooden shutter
the big room had two windows with glass
in the panes and it had two doors a
front door and a back door
all around the house was a crooked rail
fence to keep the Bears and the deer
away
in the yard in front of the house were
two beautiful big oak trees
every morning as soon as she was awake
Laura ran to look out of the window and
one morning she saw in each of the Big
Trees a dead deer hanging from a branch
paw had shot the deer the day before and
Laura had been asleep when he brought
them home at night and hung them high in
the trees so the Wolves could not get
the meat
that day PAW and Ma and Laura and Mary
had fresh venison for dinner it was so
good that Laura wished they could eat it
all
but most of the meat must be salted and
smoked and packed away to be eaten in
the winter
for winter was coming the days were
shorter and frost called up the window
panes at night
soon the snow would come then the log
house would be almost buried in snow
drifts and the lake and the streams
would freeze
in the bitter cold weather Paul could
not be sure of finding any wild game to
shoot for meat
the Bears would be hidden away in their
dens where they slept soundly all winter
long the squirrels would be curled in
their nests and Hollow trees with their
Furry Tails wrapped snugly around their
noses the deer and the rabbits would be
shy and Swift
even if Park could get a deer it would
be poor and thin not fat and plump as
deer are in the fall
Paul might hunt alone all day in the
bitter cold in the Big Woods covered
with snow and come home at night with
nothing from Ma and Mary and Laura to
eat
so as much food as possible must be
stored away in the little house before
winter came
past skinned the deer carefully and
salted and stretched the hides for he
would make soft leather of them
then he cut up the meat and sprinkled
salt over the pieces as he laid them on
a board
standing on end in the yard was a tall
length cut from the trunk of a big
hollow tree paw had driven Nails inside
as far as he could reach from each end
then he stood it up put a little roof
over the top and cut a little door on
one side near the bottom
on the piece that he cut out he fastened
leather hinges
then he fitted it into place and that
was the little door with a bark still on
it
after the deer meat had been salted
several days paw cut a hole near the end
of each piece and put a string through
it Laura watched him do this and then
she watched him hang the meat on the
nails in the hollow log
he reached up through the little door
and hung meat on the nails as far up as
he could reach then he put a ladder
against the log climbed up to the top
moved the roof to one side and reached
down inside to hang meat on those nails
then paw put the roof back again climbed
down the ladder and said to Laura
run over to the chopping block and fetch
me some of those green hickory chips new
clean white ones
so Laura ran to the block where paw
chopped wood and filled her apron with
the fresh sweet smelling chips
just inside the little door in the
hollow log paw built a fire of tiny bits
of bark and Moss and he laid some of the
chips on it very carefully
instead of burning quickly the green
chip smoldered and filled the hollow log
with thick choking smoke
paw shut the door and a little smoke
squeezed through the crack around it and
a little smoke came out through the roof
but most of it was shot in with the meat
there's nothing better than good hickory
smoke paw said that will make good
venison that will keep anywhere in any
weather
then he took his gun and slinging his ax
on his shoulder he went away to the
clearing to cut down some more trees
Laura and Ma watched the fire for
several days
when smoke stopped coming through the
cracks Laura would bring more hickory
chips and Ma would put them on the fire
under the meat
all the time there was a little smell of
smoke in the yard and when the door was
opened a thick Smoky meaty smell came
out
at last paw said the venison had smoked
long enough then they let the fire go
out and PAW took all the strips and
pieces of meat out of the hollow tree
ma wrapped each piece neatly in paper
and hung them in the Attic where they
would keep safe and dry
one morning Paul went away before
daylight with the horses and wagon and
that night he came home with a wagon
load of fish the big wagon box was piled
full and some of the fish were as big as
Laura
paw had gone to Lake Pepin and caught
them all with a net
ma cut large slices of flaky white fish
without one bone for Laura and Mary they
all feasted on the good fresh fish all
they did not eat fresh was salted down
in barrels for the winter
Paul owned a pig it ran wild in the Big
Woods living on acorns and nuts and
Roots now he caught it and put it in a
pen made of logs to fatten he would
butcher it as soon as the weather was
cold enough to keep the pork Frozen
once in the middle of the night Laura
woke up and heard the pig squealing paw
jumped out of bed snatched his gun from
the wall and ran Outdoors then Laura
heard the gun go off once twice
when Paul came back he told what had
happened he had seen a big black bear
standing beside the pig pen
the bear was reaching into the pen to
grab the Pig and the pig was running and
squealing
Paul saw this in the Starlight and he
fired quickly but the light was dim and
in his haste he missed the bear
the bear ran away into the woods not
hurt at all
Laura was sorry Pa did not get the bear
she liked bear meat so much Paul was
sorry too but he said anyway I saved the
bacon
the garden behind the little house had
been growing all summer it was so near
the house that the deer did not jump the
fence and eat the vegetables in the
daytime and at night Jack kept them away
sometimes in the morning there were
little hoof prints among the carrots and
the cabbages but Jack's tracks were
there too and the deer had jumped right
out again
now the potatoes and carrots the beets
and turnips and cabbages were gathered
and stored in the cellar for freezing
nights had come
onions were made into long ropes braided
together by their tops and then were
hung in the Attic beside wreaths of red
peppers strung on threads the pumpkins
and the squashes were piled in orange
and yellow and green heaps in the attics
corners
the barrels of salted fish were in the
pantry and yellow cheeses were stacked
on the pantry shelves
then one day Uncle Henry came riding out
of the Big Woods he had come to help paw
butcher Ma's big butcher knife was
already sharpened and Uncle Henry had
brought Aunt Polly's butcher knife
near the pig pen paw and Uncle Henry
built a bonfire and heeded a great
kettle of water over it
when the water was boiling they went to
kill the hog
then Laura ran and hit her head on the
bed and stopped her ears with her
fingers so she could not hear the hog
squeal
it doesn't hurt him Laura paw said we do
it so quickly
but she did not want to hear him squeal
in a minute she took one finger
cautiously out of an ear and listened
the hog had stopped squealing was great
fun
it was such a busy day with so much to
see and do Uncle Henry and Paul were
jolly and there would be spare ribs for
dinner and Paul had promised Laura and
Mary the bladder and the pig's tail
as soon as the hog was dead Paul and
Uncle Henry lifted it up and down in the
boiling water till it was well scalded
then they laid it on a board and scraped
it with their knives and all the
bristles came off
after that they hung the hog in a tree
took out the insides and left it hanging
to cool
when it was cool they took it down and
cut it up there were hams and shoulders
side Meat and spare ribs and belly there
was the heart and the liver and the
tongue and the head to be made into head
cheese and the dish pan full of bits to
be made into sausage
the meat was laid on a board in the back
door shed and every piece was sprinkled
with salt
the hams and the shoulders were put to
pickle and brine for they would be
smoked like the venison in the hollow
log
you can't beat Hickory cured ham paw
said he was blowing up the bladder it
made a little white balloon and he tied
the end tight with a string and gave it
to Mary and Laura to play with they
could throw it into the air and spat it
back and forth with their hands or it
would bounce along the ground and they
could kick it
but even better fun than a balloon was
the pig's tail
Paul skinned it for them carefully and
into the large end he thrust a sharpened
stick
ma opened the front of the cook stove
and raked hot coals out into the iron
Hearth then Laura and Mary took turns
holding the pig's tail over the coals
it sizzled and fried and drops of fat
dripped off it and blazed on the coals
ma sprinkled it with salt their hands
and their faces got very hot and Laura
burned her finger but she was so excited
she did not care
roasting the pig's tail was such fun
that it was hard to play fair taking
turns
at last it was done it was nicely
browned all over and how good it smelled
They carried it into the yard to cool it
and even before it was cool enough they
began tasting it and burned their
tongues
they ate every little bit of meat off
the bones and then they gave the bones
to Jack and that was the end of the
pig's tail
there would not be another one till next
year
Uncle Henry went home after dinner and
Paul went away to his work in the Big
Woods but for Laura and Mary and Ma
butchering time had only begun
it was a great deal for ma to do and
Laura and Mary helped her
all that day and the next ma was trying
out the lard in big iron pots on the
cook stove
Laura and Mary carried wood and watched
the fire it must be hot but not too hot
or the lard would burn
the big pot simmered and boiled but they
must not smoke from time to time ma
skimmed out the brown cracklings
she put them in a cloth and squeezed out
every bit of the lard and then she put
the cracklings away she would use them
to flavor Johnny Cake later
cracklings were very good to eat but
Laura and Mary could have only a taste
they were too rich for little girls ma
said
Moss scraped and cleaned the head
carefully and then she boiled it till
all the meat fell off the bones
she chopped the meat fine with her
chopping knife in the wooden Bowl she
seasoned it with pepper and salt and
spices then she mixed the pot liquor
with it and set it away in a pan to cool
when it was cool it would be cut in
slices and that was head cheese
the little pieces of meat lean and fat
that had been cut off the large pieces
ma chopped and chopped until it was all
chopped fine
she seasoned it with salt and pepper and
with dried Sage leaves from the garden
then with her hands she tossed and
turned it until it was well mixed and
she molded it into little balls she put
the balls in a pan out in the shed where
they would freeze and be good to eat all
winter
that was the sausage
when butchering time was over there were
the sausages and the head cheese the big
jars of lard and the keg of white salt
pork out in the shed and in the Attic
hung the smoked hams and shoulders
the little house was fairly bursting
with good food stored away for The Long
Winter the pantry and the shed and the
cellar were full and so was the Attic
Laura and Mary must play in the house
now for it was cold outdoors and the
brown leaves were all falling from the
trees
the fire in the cook stove never went
out
at night paw banked it with ashes to
keep the coals alive till morning
the attic was a lovely place to play the
large round-colored pumpkins made
beautiful chairs and tables the red
peppers and the onions dangled overhead
the hams and the venison hung in their
paper wrappings and all the Bunches of
dried herbs the spicy herbs for cooking
and the bitter herbs for medicine gave
the place a Dusty spicy smell
often the wind howled outside with a
cold and Lonesome sound
but in the Attic Laura and Mary played
house with the squashes and the pumpkins
and everything was snug and cozy
Mary was bigger than Laura and she had a
rag doll named Nettie Laura had only a
corn cob wrapped in a handkerchief but
it was a good doll it was named Susan it
wasn't Susan's fault that she was only a
corn cob
sometimes Mary let Laura hold Nettie but
she did it only when Susan couldn't see
the best times of all were at night
after supper Paul brought his traps in
from the shed to grease them by the fire
he rubbed them bright and greased the
hinges of the Jaws and the Springs of
the pans with a feather dipped in Bear's
Grease
there were small traps and middle-sized
traps and Great Bear traps with teeth in
their jaws that paw said would break a
man's leg if they shut onto it
while he greased the traps paw told
Laura and Mary little jokes and stories
and afterward he would play his fiddle
the doors and windows were tightly shut
and the cracks of the window frame
stuffed with cloth to keep out the cold
but black Susan the cat came and went to
she pleased day and night through the
swinging door of the cat hole in the
bottom of the front door
she always went very quickly so the door
would not catch her tail when it fell
shut behind her
one night when Paul was greasing the
traps he watched black Susan come in and
he said
there once was a man who had two cats a
big cat and a little cat
Laura and Mary ran to lean on his knees
and hear the rest
he had two cats Paul repeated
a big cat and a little cat
so he made a big cat hole in his door
for the big cat and then he made a
little cat hole for the little cat
their paw stopped
but why couldn't the little cat Mary
begin because the big cat wouldn't let
it Laura interrupted
Laura that's very rude you must never
interrupt said Paul but I see he said
that either one of you has more sense
than the man who cut the two cat holes
in his door
then he laid away the traps and he took
his fiddle out of its box and began to
play
that was the best time of all
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