GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES - online book

130 Fairy Stories Adapted & Arranged for young people

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4i6                 THE WONDERFUL PLANT.
vegetable, and I know not how to carry it any further without placing it in water."
When the old woman heard of this delicate salad, she longed so much to taste it that she said : " Dear friend, let me see this beau­tiful salad."
" With all my heart," he said; " I have two heads, and you are quite welcome to one." So he opened his bag, and gave her the bad one. The old witch never thought of anything wrong, and her mouth watered so much at the thought of such a dish, that she went at once to the kitchen to prepare it
When it was ready, she could not wait till it was placed on the table, but took two or three leaves and put them in her mouth. No sooner had she swallowed them than her human form was lost and she ran out, in the shape of an ass, into the yard of the castle.
Meanwhile, the maid-servant came into the kitchen, and seeing a beautiful salad standing On the table, she could not resist tasting it. The consequences were the same : after eating a few .leaves, she also was changed into an ass, and ran out after her mistress, while the dish of salad fell to the ground.
In the meantime, the pretended messenger sat with the beau­tiful maiden, and as no one came with the salad, and she wished very much to taste it, she said : " I wonder why they don't bring in the salad."
"Oh," thought the hunter, "it must be ready by this time, and perhaps has already produced its wonderful changes." So he said : " I will go into the kitchen and enquire." When he reached the kitchen, he saw the two asses running about the yard, and the salad lying on the ground.
"All right," said he ; " those two have had their share." Then he gathered up from the floor the scattered leaves, laid them on a dish, and brought them to the maiden. " I have brought you some of this delicate dish," said he, " that you might not wait any longer."
She ate some of the wonderful leaves, and in a moment her delicate form was changed, and she also was an ass, and ran out to the court of the castle with the other two.
After this, the hunter washed the dark stain from his face, and, that they might recognise the change, he went out into the court, and said : " This is now your reward for your treacherous conduct