"I've traveled far to bring this here, and leave you all a treat--
My famous stew, like none before, the greatest you will eat!"

And with a wave of his spoon over the large hat, he roared,
"TREMENDOUS STUPENDOUS!"

The hat was magically filled with a stew that smelled delicious to
every single animal in the barn (which is hard to do because the
pigs and the sheep never agree on a meal). One by one the animals
came up to the hat. "I don't think it's wise to eat from this
ferret's magic hat," said the blue jay. "I would find out what's in
that stew before I ate it," said the hawk. But no one listened.

The pigs slopped the stew up. The dog slurped it off the floor. One
goat liked it so much that he gobbled up the ferret's hat, as well.
"It's delicious!" said the horse, "The best I've ever had. It's
...it's...." "TREMENDOUS STUPENDOUS!" cried the dog. "Can you make us
some more?"

"Of course I can, dog, I'm Ferret R. Fable!
I'll bring a new batch as soon as I'm able.
I take credit cards, checks, and cash does just fine,
If you'll stand to my left and please form a straight line."

All the animals looked at each other. "But we have no money," said
the dog. Ferret R. Fable didn't say a word. He just held out his
hand, and the goat coughed up his hat. Then he put the spoon back in
his vest and he walked towards the door.

"But we have food," said the horse in a soft little voice. Ferret
suddenly stopped and scratched at his head.

"For your food," said the ferret, "I'll give you a trade.
I'll share with you all how this stew can be made."

The hawk tried to stop them, "That deal is horrendous!" But it was
too late, "TREMENDOUS STUPENDOUS!"

With a flash, the ferret was gone. He took all the grain, all the
oats, all the apples, all the carrots, all the chickenfeed, and the
slop and the hay. (How he carried it all off, nobody knows.) All
that was left in the barn was a note. The dog picked it up and read
it aloud:
Recipe for Tremendous Stupendous Stew
--1 Part Carrot
--2 Parts Apple
--A bag full of grain
--A bucket of slop
--Some hay and some chickenfeed sprinkled on top

The animals looked around for the ingredients, but there wasn't a
scrap of food left. Realizing what a bad mistake they had made, they
cried themselves to sleep.

The next morning Farmer Duff woke up and saw that all the food was
gone. (How they'd eaten all of the food on the farm in one night, he
couldn't imagine.) He spent the whole aft