mself; the
most difficult things, pies composed of two hundred different
ingredients, soups prepared with all the herbs of the globe,--all
these, and many other things, he learned to make quickly and
efficiently.

Seven years had thus passed away in the service of the old woman, when
one day, pulling off her shoes of cocoa-nut, and taking her basket and
crutch in hand in order to go out, she told him to pluck a chicken,
stuff it with herbs, and roast it nice and brown, during her absence.
He did this according to the rules of his art; twisted the chicken's
neck, scalded it in hot water, pulled out the feathers cleverly,
scraped its skin smooth and fine, and then drew it. Next he began
gathering the herbs with which he was to stuff the chicken. Now when
he came to the chamber where these herbs were kept, he perceived a
small cupboard in the wall that he had never before noticed, and
finding the door of it half open, he had the curiosity to go near, in
order to see what it contained, when behold! there stood a great many
little baskets in it, from which proceeded a strong pleasant smell. He
opened one of these little baskets, and found in it a herb of a most
singular form and colour; its stalks and leaves were of a bluish green,
and it had a flower of burning red fringed with yellow at the top. He
looked thoughtfully at this flower, and smelled it, when it emitted the
same powerful odour as the soup which the old woman had cooked for him
when he first came there. But the smell was so strong that he began to
sneeze, was obliged to keep sneezing, and at last awoke, sneezing still.

He now found himself upon the old woman's sofa, and looked around him
with astonishment. "Heavens!" he said to himself, "how vividly one may
dream; I would almost have sworn that I was a wanton squirrel,--a
companion of guinea-pigs and other vermin, but at the same time had
become a great cook. How my mother will laugh when I tell her all
this! But will she not also scold me for falling asleep in a strange
house instead of helping her in the market?" While engaged in these
thoughts, he started up to run away; but his limbs were still quite
stiff with sleep, and particularly his neck, for he was unable to move
his head well to and fro. He could not help smiling at himself and his
drowsiness, for every moment, before he was aware, he ran his nose
against a cupboard or the wall, or turning suddenly round, struck it
against a door-post.