The Violet Fairy Book (25 page)

And now Jem was allowed to try his hand. He could not nearly
reach up to the kitchen range, but by putting a wide plank on two
chairs he managed very well. All the cooks stood round to look
on, and could not help admiring the quick, clever way in which he
set to work. At last, when all was ready, Jem ordered the two
dishes to be put on the fire till he gave the word. Then he
began to count: 'One, two, three,' till he got to five hundred
when he cried, 'Now!' The saucepans were taken off, and he
invited the head cook to taste.

The first cook took a golden spoon, washed and wiped it, and
handed it to the head cook, who solemnly approached, tasted the
dishes, and smacked his lips over them. 'First rate, indeed!' he
exclaimed. 'You certainly are a master of the art, little
fellow, and the herb heal-well gives a particular relish.'

As he was speaking, the duke's valet came to say that his
highness was ready for luncheon, and it was served at once in
silver dishes. The head cook took Jem to his own room, but had
hardly had time to question him before he was ordered to go at
once to the grand duke. He hurried on his best clothes and
followed the messenger.

The grand duke was looking much pleased. He had emptied the
dishes, and was wiping his mouth as the head cook came in. 'Who
cooked my luncheon to-day?' asked he. 'I must say your dumplings
are always very good; but I don't think I ever tasted anything so
delicious as they were to-day. Who made them?'

'It is a strange story, your highness,' said the cook, and told
him the whole matter, which surprised the duke so much that he
sent for the dwarf and asked him many questions. Of course, Jem
could not say he had been turned into a squirrel, but he said he
was without parents and had been taught cooking by an old woman.

'If you will stay with me,' said the grand duke, 'you shall have
fifty ducats a year, besides a new coat and a couple of pairs of
trousers. You must undertake to cook my luncheon yourself and to
direct what I shall have for dinner, and you shall be called
assistant head cook.'

Jem bowed to the ground, and promised to obey his new master in
all things.

He lost no time in setting to work, and everyone rejoiced at
having him in the kitchen, for the duke was not a patient man,
and had been known to throw plates and dishes at his cooks and
servants if the things served were not quite to his taste. Now
all was changed. He never even grumbled at anything, had five
meals instead of three, thought everything delicious, and grew
fatter daily.

And so Jem lived on for two years, much respected and considered,
and only saddened when he thought of his parents. One day passed
much like another till the following incident happened.

Dwarf Long Nose—as he was always called—made a practice of
doing his marketing as much as possible himself, and whenever
time allowed went to the market to buy his poultry and fruit.
One morning he was in the goose market, looking for some nice fat
geese. No one thought of laughing at his appearance now; he was
known as the duke's special body cook, and every goose-woman
felt honoured if his nose turned her way.

He noticed one woman sitting apart with a number of geese, but
not crying or praising them like the rest. He went up to her,
felt and weighed her geese, and, finding them very good, bought
three and the cage to put them in, hoisted them on his broad
shoulders, and set off on his way back.

As he went, it struck him that two of the geese were gobbling and
screaming as geese do, but the third sat quite still, only
heaving a deep sigh now and then, like a human being. 'That
goose is ill,' said he; 'I must make haste to kill and dress
her.'

But the goose answered him quite distinctly:

'Squeeze too tight
And I'll bite,
If my neck a twist you gave
I'd bring you to an early grave.'

Quite frightened, the dwarf set down the cage, and the goose
gazed at him with sad wise-looking eyes and sighed again.

'Good gracious!' said Long Nose. 'So you can speak, Mistress
Goose. I never should have thought it! Well, don't be anxious.
I know better than to hurt so rare a bird. But I could bet you
were not always in this plumage—wasn't I a squirrel myself for a
time?'

'You are right,' said the goose, 'in supposing I was not born in
this horrid shape. Ah! no one ever thought that Mimi, the
daughter of the great Weatherbold, would be killed for the ducal
table.'

'Be quite easy, Mistress Mimi,' comforted Jem. 'As sure as I'm
an honest man and assistant head cook to his highness, no one
shall harm you. I will make a hutch for you in my own rooms, and
you shall be well fed, and I'll come and talk to you as much as I
can. I'll tell all the other cooks that I am fattening up a
goose on very special food for the grand duke, and at the first
good opportunity I will set you free.'

The goose thanked him with tears in her eyes, and the dwarf kept
his word. He killed the other two geese for dinner, but built a
little shed for Mimi in one of his rooms, under the pretence of
fattening her under his own eye. He spent all his spare time
talking to her and comforting her, and fed her on all the
daintiest dishes. They confided their histories to each other,
and Jem learnt that the goose was the daughter of the wizard
Weatherbold, who lived on the island of Gothland. He fell out
with an old fairy, who got the better of him by cunning and
treachery, and to revenge herself turned his daughter into a
goose and carried her off to this distant place. When Long Nose
told her his story she said:

'I know a little of these matters, and what you say shows me that
you are under a herb enchantment—that is to say, that if you can
find the herb whose smell woke you up the spell would be broken.'

This was but small comfort for Jem, for how and where was he to
find the herb?

About this time the grand duke had a visit from a neighbouring
prince, a friend of his. He sent for Long Nose and said to him:

'Now is the time to show what you can really do. This prince who
is staying with me has better dinners than any one except myself,
and is a great judge of cooking. As long as he is here you must
take care that my table shall be served in a manner to surprise
him constantly. At the same time, on pain of my displeasure,
take care that no dish shall appear twice. Get everything you
wish and spare nothing. If you want to melt down gold and
precious stones, do so. I would rather be a poor man than have
to blush before him.'

The dwarf bowed and answered:

'Your highness shall be obeyed. I will do all in my power to
please you and the prince.'

From this time the little cook was hardly seen except in the
kitchen, where, surrounded by his helpers, he gave orders, baked,
stewed, flavoured and dished up all manner of dishes.

The prince had been a fortnight with the grand duke, and enjoyed
himself mightily. They ate five times a day, and the duke had
every reason to be content with the dwarf's talents, for he saw
how pleased his guest looked. On the fifteenth day the duke sent
for the dwarf and presented him to the prince.

'You are a wonderful cook,' said the prince, 'and you certainly
know what is good. All the time I have been here you have never
repeated a dish, and all were excellent. But tell me why you
have never served the queen of all dishes, a Suzeraine Pasty?'

The dwarf felt frightened, for he had never heard of this Queen
of Pasties before. But he did not lose his presence of mind, and
replied:

'I have waited, hoping that your highness' visit here would last
some time, for I proposed to celebrate the last day of your stay
with this truly royal dish.'

'Indeed,' laughed the grand duke; 'then I suppose you would have
waited for the day of my death to treat me to it, for you have
never sent it up to me yet. However, you will have to invent
some other farewell dish, for the pasty must be on my table
to-morrow.'

'As your highness pleases,' said the dwarf, and took leave.

But it did not please HIM at all. The moment of disgrace seemed
at hand, for he had no idea how to make this pasty. He went to
his rooms very sad. As he sat there lost in thought the goose
Mimi, who was left free to walk about, came up to him and asked
what was the matter? When she heard she said:

'Cheer up, my friend. I know the dish quite well: we often had
it at home, and I can guess pretty well how it was made.' Then
she told him what to put in, adding: 'I think that will be all
right, and if some trifle is left out perhaps they won't find it
out.'

Sure enough, next day a magnificent pasty all wreathed round with
flowers was placed on the table. Jem himself put on his best
clothes and went into the dining hall. As he entered the head
carver was in the act of cutting up the pie and helping the duke
and his guests. The grand duke took a large mouthful and threw
up his eyes as he swallowed it.

'Oh! oh! this may well be called the Queen of Pasties, and at
the same time my dwarf must be called the king of cooks. Don't
you think so, dear friend?'

The prince took several small pieces, tasted and examined
carefully, and then said with a mysterious and sarcastic smile:

'The dish is very nicely made, but the Suzeraine is not quite
complete—as I expected.'

The grand duke flew into a rage.

'Dog of a cook,' he shouted; 'how dare you serve me so? I've a
good mind to chop off your great head as a punishment.'

'For mercy's sake, don't, your highness! I made the pasty
according to the best rules; nothing has been left out. Ask the
prince what else I should have put in.'

The prince laughed. 'I was sure you could not make this dish as
well as my cook, friend Long Nose. Know, then, that a herb is
wanting called Relish, which is not known in this country, but
which gives the pasty its peculiar flavour, and without which
your master will never taste it to perfection.'

The grand duke was more furious than ever.

'But I WILL taste it to perfection,' he roared. 'Either the
pasty must be made properly to-morrow or this rascal's head shall
come off. Go, scoundrel, I give you twenty-four hours respite.'

The poor dwarf hurried back to his room, and poured out his grief
to the goose.

'Oh, is that all,' said she, 'then I can help you, for my father
taught me to know all plants and herbs. Luckily this is a new
moon just now, for the herb only springs up at such times. But
tell me, are there chestnut trees near the palace?'

'Oh, yes!' cried Long Nose, much relieved; 'near the lake—only a
couple of hundred yards from the palace—is a large clump of
them. But why do you ask?'

'Because the herb only grows near the roots of chestnut trees,'
replied Mimi; 'so let us lose no time in finding it. Take me
under your arm and put me down out of doors, and I'll hunt for
it.'

He did as she bade, and as soon as they were in the garden put
her on the ground, when she waddled off as fast as she could
towards the lake, Jem hurrying after her with an anxious heart,
for he knew that his life depended on her success. The goose
hunted everywhere, but in vain. She searched under each chestnut
tree, turning every blade of grass with her bill—nothing to be
seen, and evening was drawing on!

Suddenly the dwarf noticed a big old tree standing alone on the
other side of the lake. 'Look,' cried he, 'let us try our luck
there.'

The goose fluttered and skipped in front, and he ran after as
fast as his little legs could carry him. The tree cast a wide
shadow, and it was almost dark beneath it, but suddenly the goose
stood still, flapped her wings with joy, and plucked something,
which she held out to her astonished friend, saying: 'There it
is, and there is more growing here, so you will have no lack of
it.'

The dwarf stood gazing at the plant. It gave out a strong sweet
scent, which reminded him of the day of his enchantment. The
stems and leaves were a bluish green, and it bore a dark, bright
red flower with a yellow edge.

'What a wonder!' cried Long Nose. 'I do believe this is the very
herb which changed me from a squirrel into my present miserable
form. Shall I try an experiment?'

'Not yet,' said the goose. 'Take a good handful of the herb with
you, and let us go to your rooms. We will collect all your money
and clothes together, and then we will test the powers of the
herb.'

So they went back to Jem's rooms, and here he gathered together
some fifty ducats he had saved, his clothes and shoes, and tied
them all up in a bundle. Then he plunged his face into the bunch
of herbs, and drew in their perfume.

As he did so, all his limbs began to crack and stretch; he felt
his head rising above his shoulders; he glanced down at his nose,
and saw it grow smaller and smaller; his chest and back grew
flat, and his legs grew long.

The goose looked on in amazement. 'Oh, how big and how beautiful
you are!' she cried. 'Thank heaven, you are quite changed.'

Jem folded his hands in thanks, as his heart swelled with
gratitude. But his joy did not make him forget all he owed to
his friend Mimi.

'I owe you my life and my release,' he said, 'for without you I
should never have regained my natural shape, and, indeed, would
soon have been beheaded. I will now take you back to your
father, who will certainly know how to disenchant you.'

The goose accepted his offer with joy, and they managed to slip
out of the palace unnoticed by anyone.

They got through the journey without accident, and the wizard
soon released his daughter, and loaded Jem with thanks and
valuable presents. He lost no time in hastening back to his
native town, and his parents were very ready to recognise the
handsome, well-made young man as their long-lost son. With the
money given him by the wizard he opened a shop, which prospered
well, and he lived long and happily.