The Cow On The Dike

{
  "kind": "story",
  "canonical_url": "https://ririro.com/bedtime-stories/the-cow-on-the-dike/",
  "slug": "the-cow-on-the-dike",
  "story_dirname": "bedtime-stories--the-cow-on-the-dike",
  "section_slug": "bedtime-stories",
  "title": "The Cow On The Dike",
  "author": null,
  "publisher_label": "Ririro",
  "source_version": "unknown",
  "content_type": "story",
  "language": "en",
  "summary": "\"The Cow On The Dike\" is a short story about a contented cow who lives on a peaceful dike, happily grazing — until the bright spring flowers along the muddy creek bank prove too tempting to resist. What follows is a very undignified splash into the creek, with the cow stuck in the mud, legs in all directions, eyeing the plants she still cannot reach. A passing farmer and his flat-bottomed boat change everything, turning one clumsy mishap into a blossoming springtime friendship.",
  "body": [
    "Once upon a time a cow lived on a dike. There was a fence at the top of the dike and behind it was a road. The cow often looked over the fence and was amazed at the strange things that passed by, sometimes with a lot of noise. She was very happy with her peaceful, quiet spot on the dike where tasty grasses, mosses and herbs grew. That’s what cows like to eat!",
    "There was a wide creek at the bottom of the dike. And along the bank of the creek other plants grew, such as buttercups, dandelions and forget-me-nots.",
    "Now that spring came and the sun shone its warm rays more and more often, juicy clovers and plump dandelions competed for a place of honor along the creek.",
    "The cow also often looked in amazement, from a safe spot on the dike, at the things that passed by in the creek. Some passed by quietly, others went quickly and made a lot of noise.",
    "But one day her eyes fell on the flowers along the bank and she could no longer resist the sight of these lovely plants. She decided to eat some of it.",
    "Now, this was a bit dangerous because the dike sloped steeply and the bank was muddy and slippery.",
    "The cow did not know about this and jumped down the dike with a few funny cow jumps.",
    "She really had spring on her mind!",
    "But unfortunately… when she got to the bottom she was not able to brake in time. She tried to brace herself with her hooves, but ended up splashing into the creek.",
    "There she was, on her big cow butt, stuck in the mud. Her legs stuck out in all directions and she mooed loudly in fright. The bank was too far away so she could only look at the deliciously succulent plants and not even eat them.",
    "Fortunately, a farmer was just passing by with a large flat boat.",
    "Using his boat and a rope, he hoisted the cow out of the water and asked if she would like to go on a boat ride.",
    "The cow thought this was a great idea! Along the way they stopped at the banks where there were many fresh flowers so that the cow could enjoy them.",
    "Then the farmer brought her back and, with a firm push against her big cow buttocks, she was back on the dike.",
    "From that moment on, the farmer regularly came to pick up the cow for a boat trip during the spring. The farmer also started to enjoy it more and more, he even decorated his entire boat with flowers. And the cow? She got a beautiful flower wreath around her head!",
    "Saskia Barink is a contemporary Dutch children's author known for her warm, gently humorous stories rooted in the everyday rhythms of nature and rural life. \"The Cow On The Dike\" reflects her affectionate, unhurried storytelling style, capturing the small joys of spring through a wonderfully unglamorous cow protagonist."
  ],
  "body_text": "Once upon a time a cow lived on a dike. There was a fence at the top of the dike and behind it was a road. The cow often looked over the fence and was amazed at the strange things that passed by, sometimes with a lot of noise. She was very happy with her peaceful, quiet spot on the dike where tasty grasses, mosses and herbs grew. That’s what cows like to eat!\n\nThere was a wide creek at the bottom of the dike. And along the bank of the creek other plants grew, such as buttercups, dandelions and forget-me-nots.\n\nNow that spring came and the sun shone its warm rays more and more often, juicy clovers and plump dandelions competed for a place of honor along the creek.\n\nThe cow also often looked in amazement, from a safe spot on the dike, at the things that passed by in the creek. Some passed by quietly, others went quickly and made a lot of noise.\n\nBut one day her eyes fell on the flowers along the bank and she could no longer resist the sight of these lovely plants. She decided to eat some of it.\n\nNow, this was a bit dangerous because the dike sloped steeply and the bank was muddy and slippery.\n\nThe cow did not know about this and jumped down the dike with a few funny cow jumps.\n\nShe really had spring on her mind!\n\nBut unfortunately… when she got to the bottom she was not able to brake in time. She tried to brace herself with her hooves, but ended up splashing into the creek.\n\nThere she was, on her big cow butt, stuck in the mud. Her legs stuck out in all directions and she mooed loudly in fright. The bank was too far away so she could only look at the deliciously succulent plants and not even eat them.\n\nFortunately, a farmer was just passing by with a large flat boat.\n\nUsing his boat and a rope, he hoisted the cow out of the water and asked if she would like to go on a boat ride.\n\nThe cow thought this was a great idea! Along the way they stopped at the banks where there were many fresh flowers so that the cow could enjoy them.\n\nThen the farmer brought her back and, with a firm push against her big cow buttocks, she was back on the dike.\n\nFrom that moment on, the farmer regularly came to pick up the cow for a boat trip during the spring. The farmer also started to enjoy it more and more, he even decorated his entire boat with flowers. And the cow? She got a beautiful flower wreath around her head!\n\nSaskia Barink is a contemporary Dutch children's author known for her warm, gently humorous stories rooted in the everyday rhythms of nature and rural life. \"The Cow On The Dike\" reflects her affectionate, unhurried storytelling style, capturing the small joys of spring through a wonderfully unglamorous cow protagonist.",
  "theme_slugs": [],
  "listing_memberships": [
    {
      "type": "author",
      "slug": "saskia-barink",
      "title": "Saskia Barink",
      "url": "https://ririro.com/author/saskia-barink/"
    }
  ],
  "reading_meta": {
    "reading_level": null,
    "age_band": null,
    "read_time": null
  },
  "media": {
    "has_audio": false,
    "has_pdf": true,
    "has_images": true
  },
  "asset_refs": {
    "pdf_urls": [
      "https://ririro.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/The-Cow-On-The-Dike_compressed.pdf"
    ],
    "audio_urls": [],
    "image_urls": [
      "https://ririro.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/de-koe-op-de-dijk.png"
    ]
  },
  "breadcrumbs": [
    "The Cow On The Dike"
  ],
  "scraped_at": "2026-05-07T12:40:14+00:00"
}