Long ago, in one City in Germany, a shoemaker, Friedrich, lived with his wife Hannah, who sold vegetables. The two of them had a handsome, slender son, Jacob, who was loved by his parents, neighbors and customers. One day an old, wrinkled, poorly dressed old woman approached them. She began to rummage through the vegetables with her hand, stirring and making a mess, but her mother could not say anything.
The old woman began to grumble that all of Hannah’s vegetables were bad, then Jacob could not stand it and said that their vegetables were the best, and the old woman herself had a long nose, a thin neck, and crooked hands. The old woman got angry and grumbled that Jacob himself would soon have the same ones. She bought heads of cabbage and told him to help bring them to her. The boy had to obey. They walked a whole hour, and when they finally arrived, Jacob saw that the outside of the old shack was covered with marble and beautifully furnished. The old woman suggested that he rest, saying that it was hard to carry human heads, and she actually pulled a human head out of the basket. Jacob was scared. She offered him a bowl of soup, after eating which Jacob fell soundly asleep.
He dreamed that he served an old woman for 7 years, and when he woke up, he ran home, but neither his father nor his mother recognized him and kicked him out. It turned out that he had turned into an ugly dwarf with a big nose. In despair, Jacob left. He decided to go to the Duke to become a cook. Over the years of serving the old woman, he learned to cook a variety of dishes. He got a job as a cook, worked for two years and became a respected man in the Duke's castle.
One day he bought geese at the market, and one goose asked not to kill her. The surprised dwarf spared her and left her to live in his room. She said that she was actually bewitched, and her name was Mimi. He also told her his story.
When his friend the prince came to the duke, the dwarf was tasked with preparing the king's pie, but he did not know how. Then the goose told him how to do it. But because no special herbs were added to the pie, it did not turn out so tasty. Angry, the Duke threatened to execute the dwarf if he did not prepare the pie properly. Together with the goose, he went into the garden to look for this grass, and when he found it, smelled it, he became his former self again. He took the money and the goose and went to the wizard, Mimi's father. He cast a spell on his daughter, and gave Jacob a lot of money and gifts. Jacob returned home to his parents, they recognized him and were glad to see their son return.
Picture or drawing of a dwarf nose
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In a large city in Germany, many years ago, a shoemaker lived modestly and quietly with his wife. The shoemaker usually sat in a shop on the corner of the street and mended shoes. Sometimes he had the opportunity to sew new shoes if there were customers, but for this he had to buy leather every time, since due to his poverty he did not have supplies. The shoemaker's wife sold vegetables and fruits, which she grew in a small garden outside the city, and many willingly bought from her, since she was always neatly dressed and knew how to attractively display her goods.
The shoemaker had a son, a handsome twelve-year-old boy, very slender, even tall for his age. He usually sat at the market next to his mother and took home the provisions bought by the women or cooks. It rarely happened to him to return without some kind of gift: sometimes he would bring some flower, then a piece of pie, or a small coin, because the city residents who bought from his mother loved the handsome boy very much and almost never sent him away empty-handed. hands.
One day, as usual, the shoemaker’s wife was sitting in the market, and in front of her stood several large baskets with cabbage, various roots and seeds, and in one smaller basket, there were pears and apricots. Little Yakov - that was the boy's name - stood next to his mother and beckoned to customers in a ringing voice.
Come here! Look how good the cabbage is, what fragrant roots! Would you like some pears, apples and apricots? Mother sells it cheap, buy it!
Just at this time a strange old woman appeared in the market; her dress was torn, her face was small, sharp, wrinkled with age, with red eyes and a long hooked nose. She walked, leaning on a long stick, limped, staggered from side to side, as if she had wheels on her legs, and just look, she could plop down with her sharp nose on the pavement.
The shoemaker's wife looked at her in surprise. For sixteen years now she has been sitting at the market every day, but she has never seen such a strange person. She involuntarily shuddered when the old woman, limping and staggering, approached her and stopped in front of her basket.
Are you Anna, the greengrocer? - asked the old woman in an unpleasant, hoarse voice, constantly shaking her head.
Yes, it’s me,” answered the shoemaker’s wife. - What do you want?
“But let’s see if you have what I need,” answered the old woman and, bending over the baskets, she began to rummage through them with her ugly black hands. She pulled roots out of the basket, brought them one by one to her long nose and sniffed them.
The shoemaker's wife was unpleasant to see how the old woman handled her vegetables, but she did not dare to say anything: after all, every buyer has the right to inspect the goods, and besides, the old woman instilled in her some kind of incomprehensible fear.
Finally, the old woman, breaking the whole basket, muttered:
Bad goods, bad roots! There's nothing I need. It’s the same thing fifty years ago... Bad product... bad.
These words angered little Yakov.
Oh, you shameless old woman! - he cried with annoyance. - First, she rummaged with her ugly fingers and crushed all the greens, then she sniffed everything with her long nose, so that anyone who saw this would not want to buy from us, and now she is also scolding our product! The Duke's cook himself buys from us, not like beggars like you.
The old woman glanced sideways at the brave boy, laughed a nasty laugh and said in her hoarse voice:
That's it, son! Don't you like my beautiful long nose? Just wait, and you will have the same one, right up to your chin!
Having said this, she moved to another basket, in which the cabbage lay, and again began to sort through the magnificent white cabbages with her hands, squeezing them so that they cracked loudly, after which she threw them back into the basket in disarray and said:
Bad product... bad cabbage.
Don't shake your head so ugly! - the boy exclaimed fearfully. “Your neck is thin, like a stalk, it can break, and then your head will fall into the basket.” And no one will buy it!
So you don't like my thin neck? - the old woman muttered with a laugh. - Well, you won’t have it at all; the head will stick straight out from the shoulders so as not to be torn away from the body.
Don't say such words to the boy! - the shoemaker’s wife finally said, angry at this long examination and sniffing. - If you want to buy something, then hurry up; After all, you are only driving away other buyers from me.
Okay, have it your way! - exclaimed the old woman with a furious look. - I will buy these six cabbages from you. Just this: I have to lean on a stick and I can’t carry them myself, so tell your son to take the goods to my house. I'll pay him for this.
The boy did not want to go because he was afraid of the ugly old woman, but his mother strictly ordered him to carry the cabbage, as she pitied the weak, decrepit woman. The boy obeyed, but with tears in his eyes. Folding the cabbage into a scarf, he followed the old woman through the market.
The old woman walked very slowly, and so it took her a good three-quarters of an hour until she reached a remote part of the city and stopped in front of a small, ramshackle house. She took an old rusty key from her pocket, quickly inserted it into the keyhole, and the door opened with a noise. But how amazed little Yakov was when he entered the house! Its interior was superbly decorated; the ceiling and walls were marble, the furniture was made of the best ebony, decorated with gold and precious stones; the floor was all glass and so smooth that the boy slipped and fell several times.
Meanwhile, the old woman took a silver whistle from her pocket. There was a sharp, piercing sound. At that same moment several guinea pigs ran down the stairs. It seemed very strange to Yakov that they walked on two legs, wearing instead of shoes nut shells, wore human clothes and even hats in the latest fashion.
Where are my shoes, you worthless creatures? - the old woman shouted and hit her with a stick so hard that the pigs jumped up screaming. - How long do I have to stand here?
In one minute the pigs ran up the stairs and, returning with a pair of coconut shells lined with leather, quickly put them on the old woman’s feet.
And at that very moment the previous lameness and staggering disappeared. The old woman threw the stick aside and quickly ran across the glass floor, dragging little Yakov along with her. Finally they stopped in a room filled with all sorts of utensils that gave it the appearance of a kitchen, although the mahogany tables and sofas covered with precious carpets could have stood in any luxurious living room.
“Sit down here,” the old woman said very affectionately, seating Yakov in the corner of the sofa and placing a table in front of him in such a way that he could not leave there. - Sit down! You had to bear a lot of weight: human heads are not very light.
What are you, old woman, what are you saying? - the boy exclaimed. True, I was really tired, but what I was carrying were only cabbages that you bought from my mother.
Wow, you know a lot! - the old woman said with a laugh and, lifting the lid from the basket, pulled out a human head by the hair.
The boy almost froze with fear. He could not understand how all this could happen, but at the same time he involuntarily thought about the danger that threatened his mother if anyone found out about these human heads.
“We need to reward you with something for being so polite,” the old woman muttered. - Just wait a little, I’ll cook you a soup that you won’t forget for the rest of your life.
Then she whistled again. Several guinea pigs appeared again in human dresses and aprons; Kitchen spoons and chef's knives stuck out from their belts. A lot of squirrels in wide Turkish trousers and green velvet caps came skipping behind them. They were apparently cooks. With the greatest agility, they climbed the shelves hanging on the walls, took out pots and dishes from there, brought eggs and butter, roots and flour, and put it all on the stove.
The old woman in her coconut shells ran and bustled around the room, and the boy saw that she was trying to cook him something very tasty.
The fire began to crackle under the stove, the pan began to boil, and a pleasant aroma spread throughout the room. But the old woman continued to run back and forth, the guinea pigs behind her, and every time she passed the stove, she stuck her long nose straight into the pot.
Finally, the food began to boil, steam poured out of the pot in thick clouds, and foam poured onto the stove. Then the old woman took the pot off the stove, poured its contents into a silver plate and placed it in front of little Yakov.
Here you go, son! - she said. - Eat this soup, then you will have everything that you liked so much from me. You too will be a skilled cook, but you won’t find the root, the root, because it wasn’t in your mother’s basket!
The boy did not understand what the old woman was talking about; Yes, he didn’t even try to understand: all his attention was absorbed in the soup, which he really liked. True, his mother had prepared various tasty dishes for him more than once, but he had never tried such soup before. The soup emanated a wonderful aroma of herbs and roots; at the same time, it was both sweet and sour, and extremely strong.
While Jacob was finishing the last spoonfuls of the delicious dish, the guinea pigs lit Arabian incense, and the room was filled with bluish smoke. This smoke became thicker and thicker, and the smell of incense had a soporific effect on the boy. Several times he remembered that it was time for him to return to his mother, but after that he was again overcome by a strong drowsiness - he forgot himself and finally fell sound asleep on the old woman’s sofa.
He had strange dreams. It seemed to him as if the old woman was taking off his dress and dressing him in squirrel skin. Now he could jump and climb without worse than squirrels. He lived with squirrels and guinea pigs, who turned out to be very well-bred individuals, and together with them he served the old woman. At first he was entrusted only with cleaning boots, that is, he had to rub the coconut shells that served as the old woman’s shoes until they shined with oil. Since he often had to do similar work in his father’s house, he coped with it the best way. A year later, he dreamed, they began to entrust him with more delicate work. Together with several other squirrels, he had to catch and collect dust particles, and then sift them through the finest hair sieve. The fact is that the old woman considered dust particles to be nutrients, and since she, for lack of teeth, could not chew anything solid, they baked bread for her exclusively from dust particles.
A year later he was transferred to the category of servants who collected water for the old woman to drink. Don’t think, however, that she ordered a pool to be dug for this purpose or a barrel to be delivered to the yard to collect rainwater; no, she arranged things more cunningly. The squirrels, including Jacob, had to collect dew from the roses in nutshells, which the old woman used for drinking, and since she drank a lot, the water carriers had a difficult job.
Another year passed, and little Yakov was transferred to domestic work. He was entrusted with keeping the floor clean, but since the latter was made of glass, on which the slightest breath could be seen, this work was also not an easy one. To wipe the floor, Yakov had to wrap his feet in old cloth and thus move around all the rooms.
Finally, in his fifth year, he was transferred to the kitchen. It was an honorable position that could only be achieved after lengthy training. Yakov went through all the grades, from cook to first cook, and achieved such dexterity and skill in everything related to the kitchen that he often marveled at himself. The most intricate dishes, pates from two hundred potions, soups from all kinds of roots and herbs - he learned to prepare all this, and, moreover, unusually quickly and tasty.
So he spent about seven years in the service of the old woman. But then one day she took off her coconut shoes and, taking a basket and a stick in her hand, got ready to leave. She ordered Yakov to pluck the chicken before she returned, stuff it with herbs and fry it thoroughly. That's what Yakov did. Wringing the chicken's neck, he scalded it with boiling water, skillfully plucked the feathers, scraped off the skin so that it became smooth and tender, and took out the insides of the chicken. Then he began to collect the roots with which he was supposed to stuff it. In the pantry he saw a wall cabinet, the door of which was half open and which he had never noticed before. He looked there curiously. There were many baskets in the closet, from which a strong pleasant smell emanated. He opened one of the baskets and found in it a plant of some special shape and color. Its stems and leaves were bluish-green, and the flower was fiery red, with a yellow border. Yakov looked thoughtfully at this flower, smelled it and remembered that it smelled just as strongly as the soup that the old woman had once treated him to. The smell was so strong that he had to sneeze - once, twice, and finally he began to sneeze so much that he woke up.
He lay on the old woman's sofa and looked around in surprise. “It’s amazing how you can have such absurd dreams,” he said to himself, and with such clarity! After all, I could bet that I was a squirrel, a companion to guinea pigs and all other evil spirits, and finally became a great cook. Mama will laugh when I tell her all this! However, won’t she scold me for falling asleep in someone else’s house instead of helping her at the market?” With these thoughts, little Yakov rose from his seat to go home, but his whole body was so numb from sleep, especially the back of his head, that he could not turn his head. He involuntarily laughed at himself and at his drowsiness, since every minute he bumped his nose first on the closet, then on the wall, or brushed it against the door frame. Squirrels and guinea pigs ran around him squealing, as if wanting to see him off. On the threshold, he turned around and invited them to follow him, but they ran back into the house and only saw him off from afar with pitiful squeals.
The street where the old woman led him was in a very remote part of the city, and Yakov could hardly get out of the narrow alleys. There was a terrible crush there. In all likelihood, he thought, a dwarf was being shown somewhere nearby, since he constantly heard exclamations:
Oh, look at the ugly dwarf! Where did he come from? What a long nose he has and how funny his head sticks out right on his shoulders! And his hands, what black, ugly hands he has!
At another time, Yakov himself would have run after the crowd, because he loved to look at giants, dwarfs and all sorts of wonders in general, but this time he had no time for that: he was in a hurry to return to his mother.
He felt somehow creepy when he came to the market. His mother was still sitting in her place, and she had quite a lot of vegetables left in her basket, so he did not sleep for long. However, from a distance it seemed to him that his mother was sitting somewhat sad, because she did not invite customers, but sat motionless, resting her head on her hand; and when he came closer, it even seemed to him that she was paler than usual. For a minute he stood indecisive, not knowing what to do, but then he gathered his courage, walked up to her from behind, gently laid his hand on her shoulder and said:
What's wrong with you, mommy, are you angry with me?
The mother turned around, but at the same moment recoiled from him with a cry of horror.
What do you want from me, you ugly dwarf! - she exclaimed. Get away, get away from me, I can't stand jokes like that!
But, mommy, what's wrong with you? - Yakov asked with fear. - You must be unwell. Why are you persecuting me, your son?
I already told you: get away! - she objected with anger. “You won’t get a penny from me for your jokes, you ugly creature!”
“Oh woe, she’s completely crazy! - thought the distressed Yakov. “How can I take her home?”
Dear mother, be reasonable, take a good look at me, because I am your son, your Yakov...
No, this is too much! - the mother exclaimed, turning to her neighbor. Look at the ugly dwarf! Here he stands in front of me and drives away customers, and even dares to mock my misfortune. This unscrupulous freak is not ashamed to assure me that he is my son, my Yakov.
Here the neighbors rose up noisily and showered Yakov with the choicest abuse: after all, the merchants, as you know, are experts in this regard. They scolded him for laughing at misfortune poor woman, whose handsome son was stolen seven years ago. They threatened, if he did not leave, to immediately attack him and claw out his eyes.
Poor Yakov didn’t know what to think about everything that was happening. After all, just this morning he went with his mother to the market, helped her lay out the goods, then went after the old woman, ate soup from her, took a little nap and returned to the market, and meanwhile both mother and neighbors are talking about some seven years and They also call him an ugly dwarf. What happened to him? However, having made sure that his mother did not want to know him, he could hardly restrain himself from tears and sadly wandered to the shop where his father spent the day mending shoes. “Let's see,” he thought, “maybe he will recognize me; I will stand at the door and speak to him.”
Having reached the shoemaker's shop, he stopped in front of the door and looked in. The father was so engrossed in his work that at first he did not notice him, but when his gaze accidentally fell on the door, he dropped his boot, awl, and dredge from his hands and exclaimed in horror:
Lord have mercy, what do I see?
Good evening, master! - said the dwarf, entering the shop. - How are things going?
Bad, very bad, little sir! - the father answered, to Yakov’s great amazement: apparently, he also did not recognize his son. “My business isn’t going well, I’m lonely, I’m getting old, and I can’t afford to keep an apprentice.”
Don’t you have a son whom you could little by little teach to work? - Yakov continued to ask.
Yes, I had a son named Yakov. Now he would already be a slender, agile twenty-year-old guy and could become an excellent assistant to me. That would be life! When he was still twelve years old, he already showed great agility and dexterity and already knew something about the craft. And what a handsome man he was! If he were with me, I would have so many customers that I would stop repairing old things and would only sew new shoes. Yes, apparently, this is not destined to come true!
Where is your son now? - Yakov asked in a trembling voice.
Only God knows about that! - answered the shoemaker. - About seven years ago it was stolen from our market.
Seven years! - Yakov exclaimed in horror.
Yes, little sir, seven years ago. I still remember, as now, how my wife returned home screaming and crying that the boy had not returned all day, and that she looked for him everywhere and could not find him. I was always afraid that this would happen. Yakov was a handsome boy - his wife was proud of him and was pleased when strangers praised him. Often she sent him with vegetables to rich houses; Let’s say it was profitable, because every time he was generously rewarded for it, but still, more than once I told her: “Beware, the city is big, there are a lot of evil people, keep an eye out for Jacob!” And so it happened. One day an ugly old woman came to the market and bought so many vegetables that she could not carry them home herself; My wife has a compassionate heart, so she sent the boy with her, and since then it’s all we’ve seen.
And this happened seven years ago, you say?
Yes, I will be seven years old in the spring. We looked for him and looked for him, went from house to house and asked about him everywhere. Many knew the pretty boy, loved him and helped us in our search, but it was all in vain. And the old woman who bought vegetables from us also could not be found. Only one old, old woman, who had already lived in the world for ninety years, said that this was probably an evil sorceress who came to the city every five to ten years to buy various herbs for herself.
Having said this, Yakov’s father again took the shoe in his hands and pulled out the blade with both hands. And only then Yakov finally realized that what seemed to him a dream had actually happened and that he had actually served with the old woman for seven years under the guise of a squirrel. His heart was filled with grief and anger: how, seven whole years of his youth had been stolen from him by the old woman, and what did he receive in return? Is it the fact that he can clean shoes made of coconut shells, sweep glass floors, or that he learned all the secrets of the art of cooking from guinea pigs?
He stood there for several minutes, thinking about his fate, until his father asked him.
Would you like to order something for me, young master? Maybe a pair of new shoes or,” he added, smiling, “a case for your nose?”
What do you care about my nose? - asked Yakov. - Why do I need a case for it?
Well,” the shoemaker objected, “everyone has their own taste.” As for me, if I had such a terrible nose, I would certainly order a pink leather case for it. Look, I just have a nice piece. True, your nose will require no less than an arshin, but at least you will be safe. After all, you probably bump your nose on every doorframe, on every carriage that you want to move away from?
Yakov was speechless with amazement. He felt his nose. Oh God! The nose turned out to be unusually thick, and almost two palms long. So, the old woman even disfigured his appearance! That's why his mother didn't recognize him, that's why everyone called him an ugly dwarf!
“Master,” he said, almost crying, “do you have a small mirror in which I could look at myself?”
“Young man,” the father objected in a serious tone, “you don’t have the appearance to be vain, and you really shouldn’t be constantly looking in the mirror. Try to wean yourself from this funny habit.
Oh, let me look in the mirror after all! - said the dwarf. I assure you that I am not doing this out of vanity...
Leave me alone! My wife has a mirror, but I don’t know where she hid it. If you really want to look at yourself, then over there, across the street, lives the barber Urban; it has a mirror twice the size of your head; go to him, and for now, goodbye!
With these words, his father quietly escorted him out of the shop, locked the door behind him and sat down to work again. Yakov, deeply upset, went across the street to the barber Urban, whom he still remembered from the old time.
Hello Urban! - he told him. - I came to ask you for a small favor: please, let me look in your mirror.
With pleasure, here it is! - the barber exclaimed, laughing, and all the visitors whose beards he was going to shave laughed after him. - Needless to say, you are a handsome man, slim, graceful! You have a neck like a swan, arms like a queen, and a nose that you won’t find better. True, you are a little vain, but so be it, look at yourself! Let not good people say that out of envy I did not allow you to admire me.
The uncontrollable laughter of those present accompanied the barber's words. Meanwhile, Yakov went to the mirror and looked at himself. Tears welled up in his eyes. “Yes, of course, in this form you could not recognize your Yakov, dear mother! - he said to himself. “He wasn’t like that in those happy days when you were proud of him in front of everyone!”
And indeed, the change was terrifying: the eyes became tiny, like a pig’s, the huge nose hung below the chin, the neck seemed to completely disappear, so that the head stuck straight out on the shoulders, and only with difficulty could he turn it to the right or to the left. He was no taller than when he was twelve years old. But while other young men from twelve to twenty years of age grow in height, he grew only in width: his back and chest were wide and arched and looked like tightly stuffed bags. This thick body was supported by small, weak legs that could not bear such a weight. But his arms were the same length as those of an ordinary adult. The palms are thick, brown, the fingers are long, spider-like, and when he stretched out his arms, he could reach the floor with them without bending. This is what an ugly dwarf little Yakov has now become...
Now he remembered that morning when the old woman came to his mother's baskets. Everything he laughed at then: her long nose, her ugly fingers - she gave it all to him, with the exception of her long, trembling neck.
Well, I’ve had enough of admiring myself, my prince,” said the barber, approaching Yakov and looking at him with a laugh. - Really, even in a dream you can’t imagine anything more funny. You know, I'll make you an offer, little man. Although my barber is one of the best, but Lately I don’t have as many visitors as before, and this is due to my neighbor, the barber Penkin, who somewhere found a giant luring the public to him. But a giant is not a rarity, but a person like you is a different matter. Enter into my service, my dear! You will receive an apartment, a table, clothes - everything you need, and for this you will stand at the door every morning and invite visitors. You will whip up the foam and serve the towel to the guests, and be sure that both of us will not lose money. I will have more visitors than my neighbor and his giant, and everyone will be happy to tip you.
Yakov, deep down in his soul, was deeply outraged by this proposal. But - alas! - He had to get used to such insults now. Therefore, as calmly as possible, he told the barber that he did not have time for such a service, and moved on.
But although the evil old woman gave him an ugly appearance, she still, apparently, could not do anything with him. mental abilities. He was aware of this quite clearly, because now he thought and felt far differently than seven years ago. During this period of time, Yakov became smarter and more reasonable. And indeed, he did not grieve over his lost beauty, did not cry because of his ugliness; The only thing that upset him was that he was driven out of his home like a dog. However, he decided to make another attempt and talk to his mother.
He approached her at the market and begged her to listen to him calmly. He reminded her of the day when he followed the old woman, reminded her of various incidents from his childhood, he told her that she had bewitched him because he laughed at her in the market. The shoemaker's wife didn't know what to think. Everything that Yakov told about his childhood was absolutely true, but when he started talking about how he served as a squirrel for seven years, she could not imagine that this was possible. And when she still looked at the dwarf, she was horrified by his ugliness and completely refused to believe that this was her son. However, she considered it more prudent to talk to her husband. Having collected her baskets, she told Yakov to follow her, and they went to the shoemaker's shop.
Listen,” she told her husband, “this man claims that he is our missing Yakov. He told me everything: how he was stolen from us seven years ago and how he was bewitched by a sorceress.
That's how! - the shoemaker interrupted her angrily. - So he told you this! Wait, you scoundrel! After all, I told him all this myself an hour ago, and then he went to you to deceive you. So were you bewitched, son? Wait, I’ll take the spell off you now!
With these words, he grabbed a bunch of straps that he had just cut, rushed at the dwarf and hit him so hard on the back and long arms that he screamed in pain and ran away crying.
It was not easy to find a person in the city who was ready to help the unfortunate man with such a funny appearance. The poor dwarf remained all day without food or drink, and in the evening he had to choose the church porch for the night, despite the fact that its steps were hard and cold.
The next morning, waking up at dawn, Yakov seriously thought about how to find food for himself, since his father and mother finally drove him away. His pride did not allow him to serve as a sign for a barber or to show himself off for money. What could he do? But then it suddenly occurred to him that, being a squirrel, he had made great strides in the art of cooking. He rightly believed that he would not be inferior to any cook in this matter, and decided to use his knowledge in this area.
As soon as the streets began to liven up, he went into town. He knew that the Duke, the ruler of the country, was a great lover good table and gathered skilled chefs from different countries of the world; Our dwarf went to his palace. When he approached the outer gate, the guards asked what he wanted and began to mock him. But he demanded to be taken to the head keeper above the kitchen. The guards laughed and led him through the front doors. Everywhere along his path, servants stopped, looked at him and accompanied him with laughter, so that when he began to climb the stairs of the palace, a long tail of all kinds of servants was already trailing behind him. The grooms abandoned their combs, the walkers ran as fast as they could, the floor polishers forgot to beat out the carpets; everyone was running and fussing as if the enemy were at the gate. Shouts were heard from all sides: “Dwarf, dwarf! Have you seen the dwarf? Finally, the palace keeper appeared at the door with an angry face, holding a huge whip in his hand.
What's all this noise? Don't you know, dogs, that the Duke is still sleeping?
With these words, he waved his whip and, not quite delicately, lowered it onto the backs of the nearest grooms and gatekeepers.
Ah, sir! - they cried. - Don't you see? After all, we brought a dwarf, and one such as you have probably never seen.
The caretaker of the palace had just seen Yakov and could hardly restrain himself from laughing, because he was afraid of losing his dignity. Therefore, he, having dispersed the crowd with a whip, led the dwarf into the house and asked what he needed. But when he heard that he wanted to see the caretaker over the kitchen, he objected:
You must have been mistaken, my dear! After all, you want to come to me, to the caretaker of the palace? You want to become the Duke's dwarf, don't you?
No, sir,” answered Yakov, “I am a skilled cook and can prepare all kinds of rare dishes.” Kindly take me to the head keeper above the kitchen; perhaps my services will be useful to him.
As you wish, small man, but still you are an unreasonable fellow. To the kitchen - I just made it up! After all, being a life-dwarf, you could do nothing, eat and drink to your heart's content and wear a beautiful dress. Well, we'll see if you're really skilled enough to be the Duke's cook. And you're too good for a cook.
With these words, the palace keeper took him by the hand and led him to the chief keeper's rooms above the kitchen.
Your Majesty! - said the dwarf and bowed so low that his nose touched the carpet that covered the floor. - Don't you need a skilled cook?
The head kitchen keeper looked him up and down and burst into loud laughter.
How, do you want to be a chef? Do you really think that you can reach the stove even if you stand on your tiptoes and stick your head out of your shoulders? No, baby, the one who sent you to me apparently wanted to laugh at you.
As he said this, the caretaker of the kitchen burst into laughter, and the caretaker of the palace and everyone in the room echoed him loudly.
But the dwarf was not at all embarrassed by this reception.
Listen,” he continued, “is it worth risking a couple of eggs, a little wine, flour and roots?” After all, you have plenty of this goodness. Order me to prepare some tasty dish, give me everything I need for this, and it will be prepared before your very eyes, so much so that you yourself will have to say: “He cooks according to all the rules of art.”
These were the words the dwarf spoke, and it was strange to see how he sparkled with his tiny eyes, how he gestured with his thin spider-like fingers and how his long nose turned in all directions.
Okay, have it your way! - the caretaker finally exclaimed over the kitchen and took the palace caretaker’s hand. - Well, let's try, at least for fun! Let's all go to the kitchen.
They passed several halls and corridors and finally came to the kitchen. It was a large, very spacious room, superbly arranged. A fire burned under twenty slabs; A clear stream flowed in the middle of the room, which also served as a fish pool. In cabinets made of marble and precious wood, various supplies were stored that must always be at hand, and on both sides of the kitchen there were ten halls in which everything that could be found rare and tasty in all countries of the East and West was stored. Kitchen servants of all kinds ran back and forth, rattling pots and pots, forks and ladles. But when the chief keeper of the kitchen appeared among them, they all silently lined up, so that only the crackling of the fire and the gurgling of the water could be heard.
What breakfast did the Duke order for today? - the caretaker asked the first cook in charge of breakfast.
His Highness was pleased to order Danish soup and red Hamburg dumplings.
“Okay,” continued the caretaker above the kitchen. - Did you hear what the Duke ordered? Do you consider yourself capable of preparing this sophisticated soup? As for the dumplings, in any case you won’t make them - that’s our secret.
Nothing is easier! - the dwarf objected, to everyone’s surprise, since, being a squirrel, he often prepared this dish. “There is nothing easier: for soup you give me such and such roots, such and such spices, boar fat and eggs.” “As for the dumplings,” he continued in a low voice, so that only the kitchen superintendent and the first cook could hear him, “for them I need four types of meat, a little wine, duck fat, ginger and one herb called “gastric.”
Yes, you must have been apprenticed to some wizard! - the cook exclaimed in amazement. - After all, he called everything as it is, but we ourselves didn’t know about stomach weed. There is no doubt that it will make the dumplings even tastier; positively, you are not a cook, but perfection!
I would never have believed this! - said the chief caretaker above the kitchen. - Well, let him show a sample of his art. Give him everything he needs and let him prepare breakfast.
And so it was done. They prepared everything for breakfast on the stove, but then it turned out that the dwarf could barely reach it with his nose. Then two chairs were placed against the stove, a marble board was placed on them, and the little man climbed onto it to show his art. Around on all sides were cooks, cooks and all other kitchen servants. Everyone looked in amazement at how quickly and deftly everything came together in his hands. When all the necessary preparations were completed, he ordered both dishes to be put on the fire and cooked until he ordered them to be removed. Then he began to count: one, two, three, etc., and when he counted exactly five hundred, he shouted: “Stop!” Immediately the pots were removed from the fire, and the dwarf invited the caretaker to taste his food.
The head cook ordered the cook to bring a golden spoon, rinsed it in the stream and handed it to the caretaker above the kitchen. He walked up to the stove with a solemn look, scooped up a spoonful of soup, tasted it, closed his eyes and even clicked his tongue in pleasure.
Magnificent, by the health of the Duke, magnificent! Won't you also try it, Mr. Warden of the Palace?
He bowed, took a spoon, tasted it, and in turn was delighted:
No, Mr. Cook, you are, of course, an expert in your craft, but you have never before succeeded in such soup and such dumplings as this dwarf prepared!
The cook himself tasted it, after which he respectfully shook the dwarf’s hand and said:
Yes, baby, you are an expert in your field! This stomach herb gives everything a special taste.
Just at that moment the Duke's valet entered the kitchen and announced that the Duke wanted to have breakfast. Immediately the dishes were placed on silver trays and sent to the duke, while the senior keeper of the kitchen took the dwarf by the arm and led him into his room, where he entered into conversation with him. But not even a few minutes had passed before a messenger from the Duke appeared to call the caretaker of the kitchen to him. He hastily changed into formal dress and followed the messenger.
The Duke was in excellent spirits: he had eaten everything that was served to him on silver trays, and was wiping his beard, when the caretaker of the kitchen came to him.
Listen, caretaker, - said the Duke, - I have always been pleased with your cooks, but tell me, who prepared my breakfast today? Since I sit on the throne of my ancestors, I have never eaten anything like this. Tell me the name of this cook so that I can send him a few ducats as a reward.
Sir, this is a strange story! - answered the caretaker of the kitchen and told how in the morning they brought to him a dwarf who certainly wanted to become a cook.
The surprised duke ordered the dwarf to be called to him and asked who he was and where he was from. But poor Yakov, of course, could not say that he was bewitched and was previously a squirrel. However, he did not completely evade the truth, but only said that he had neither father nor mother and that he learned to cook from an old woman. The Duke did not ask any more questions; He was most interested in the strange appearance of the new cook.
Stay with me! - he said. - You will receive annually fifty ducats, a festive dress and, in addition, two pairs of trousers. For this, you will prepare my breakfast every day, supervise the preparation of lunch and generally look after the kitchen. And since everyone in my palace receives a special nickname, you will henceforth be called Nose and occupy the position of junior caretaker of the kitchen.
Dwarf Nose thanked the Duke and promised to serve him faithfully.
So, Jacob was now settled. And, we must give him justice, he did his job as well as possible.
He became something of a celebrity. Many cooks turned to the superintendent of the kitchen with a request to allow them to be present while the dwarf cooked, and some of the nobles obtained the permission of the duke to send their servants to him for training, which brought him considerable income. However, in order not to arouse envy in the other cooks, the dwarf Nose gave in their favor the money that the gentlemen paid him for training the cooks.
So the dwarf Nose lived for almost two years in contentment and honor, and only the thought of his parents at times darkened his happiness. His life flowed serenely, without any adventures, until the following incident occurred.
It should be noted that the dwarf Nose knew how to successfully make all kinds of purchases. Therefore, whenever time allowed, he went to the market himself to buy game and greens. One morning he went to the bird row and began looking for fat geese, which the Duke was a big hunter of.
He walked through the rows several times, inspecting the provisions.
Suddenly, at the end of one row, he noticed a woman selling geese, but, unlike other traders, she did not invite customers. He approached her and began weighing and examining her geese. Finding them fat enough, he bought three of them along with the cage, put them on his broad shoulders and headed home. However, on the way, it seemed very strange to him that only two of the geese cackled and screamed like real geese, while the third, the goose, sat quietly and sighed like a person. “We must stab her as quickly as possible,” thought the dwarf, “or else she will die.” But then the goose said quite clearly and loudly:
If you want to stab me, I will bite you; If you break my neck, you will go to the grave with me.
Beside himself with amazement, the dwarf Nose put the cage on the ground, but the goose still looked at him with her beautiful, intelligent eyes and continued to sigh.
What miracles! - exclaimed the dwarf Nose. The goose can speak humanly. I really didn’t expect it! Well, well, calm down, I'm not so cruel and I won't take such a life rare bird. But I’m willing to bet that you weren’t always one of the birds, because I was once a pathetic squirrel.
“You’re right,” answered the goose. - I, too, was not born in this shameful guise. Alas, who would have imagined that Mimi, the daughter of the great Wetterbock, would be stabbed to death in the Duke’s kitchen...
Be calm, dear Mimi! - the dwarf consoled her. - I swear on my honor, nothing bad will be done to you. I’ll arrange a place for you in my room, I’ll bring you food, and we’ll talk in our free time. At the first opportunity, I will set you free. I will tell the other cooks that I am feeding you special herbs for the Duke.
The goose thanked him with tears in her eyes. And the dwarf really did as he promised. He slaughtered two other geese, but set aside a separate room for Mimi under the pretext that he wanted to fatten her for the Duke. But he did not give her ordinary goose food, but brought her cookies and sweet dishes. When he had free time, he went to her, talked with her and consoled her. They each told each other their story, and Nose thus learned that the goose was the daughter of the wizard Wetterbock on the island of Gotland. Wetterbock once quarreled with an old fairy, who defeated him with the help of cunning and turned his daughter into a goose. When did the dwarf Nose tell Mimi his own story, She said:
I also know a little about these matters: my father passed on some of his knowledge to me and my sisters. Your argument at the basket of vegetables, your sudden transformation when you smelled some herb, and those words of the old woman that you remembered indicate that your charms are in connection with herbs, that is, if you find that herb, which the fairy cooked before your transformation, you will be freed from your ugliness.
All this, of course, was little consolation for the dwarf; Indeed, how can you find a herb that you don’t even know by name? But nevertheless, he thanked Mimi and in the depths of his soul he felt some hope.
Soon after this, his friend, one of the neighboring princes, came to visit the Duke. On this occasion the Duke called the dwarf to him and said to him:
The time has come when you must prove that you are an expert in your field. The prince who came to visit me is considered, after me, the greatest connoisseur of food, and his cuisine is one of the best in the world. Try to make my table arouse surprise even in him. Try also, under pain of my disfavor, so that during the entire time that he spends at my court, not a single dish is served twice. Whatever you need, you can demand from my treasurer; even if you had to melt my gold and diamonds for this, you must stop at nothing. I am ready to remain poor rather than lose face in front of my guest.
Thus spoke the duke, and the dwarf answered:
Your will, sir, will be fulfilled! I will make sure that your guest enjoys everything here.
The tiny cook now found an opportunity to show his art in all its splendor. He did not spare his master’s treasures, and he did not take care of himself at all: all day long he could be seen in front of the stove, shrouded in clouds of steam, and his voice constantly sounded in the huge kitchen, giving orders to a whole army of cooks and scullions.
The visiting prince had already spent two weeks visiting the duke and, apparently, felt great. Every day the guest and the host sat down at the table five times, and the Duke was in highest degree pleased with the dwarf's art. On the fifteenth day, the Duke called the dwarf to his table, introduced him to his guest and asked the latter if he was pleased with his cook.
“You are an excellent cook,” the guest answered, turning to the dwarf, “and you know how to diversify the table.” During the entire time I have been here, you have never repeated a single dish, and you have succeeded in all of them superbly. But tell me, why have you never yet served the king of all dishes - pate suzerain - to the table of the king?
The dwarf was frightened: he had never heard of such pate. But he maintained outward calm and answered:
O sir, I hoped that you would illuminate our courtyard for a long time, which is why I hesitated with this dish. How else could I honor you on the day of departure, if not the king of pates?
That's how! - the Duke remarked, laughing. “As for me, you were probably waiting for the day of my death to treat me to this dish.” After all, you have never served me this pate before. Well, no, my dear, think of something else for the farewell dinner, and you must serve this pate on the table tomorrow.
As you please my sovereign! - answered the dwarf and left. But his soul was far from cheerful. He felt that the day of his shame and misfortune had come: after all, he had no idea how to prepare this pate. He went to his room and burst into tears at the thought of the fate awaiting him. But then Mimi, who was pacing in his room, turned to him with a question about the cause of his grief.
“Don’t be sad,” said the goose, having learned what was the matter, “this dish was often served at my father’s table, and I can tell you approximately what is needed for it.” Take such and such in such and such quantity; maybe this is not exactly the way it should be, but I hope that these gentlemen will not figure out what’s going on.
Hearing this, the dwarf jumped up joyfully, blessing the day he bought the goose, and began to prepare for tomorrow. He first made a small test pate and found it successful; he gave it to the chief superintendent of the kitchen to taste, and he, as usual, was full of praise for his art.
The next day, he prepared the pate properly and sent it to the Duke’s table straight from the oven, after decorating it with flowers. He himself put on his best formal dress and went to the dining room. He entered just as one of the servants was busy cutting the pate, which he then presented on silver platters to the Duke and his guest. The Duke cut himself a decent piece and, having swallowed it, raised his eyes to the ceiling and said:
Yes, it’s not for nothing that they call him the king of pates! But my dwarf is the king of all cooks, isn’t it, dear friend?
The guest did not answer immediately: he first swallowed several pieces with the air of a connoisseur, but then smiled mockingly and mysteriously.
Yes, the thing was cooked well,” he finally answered, pushing the plate away, “but still, this is not what is called pate suzerain.” However, that's what I expected.
Here the Duke frowned with annoyance and even blushed with shame.
Oh, you dog-cook! - he exclaimed. - How did you dare to embarrass your sovereign like that? You deserve that I have your big head cut off as punishment for your bad cooking.
For God's sake, sir, do not be angry: I prepared this dish according to all the rules of art; “there is everything you need here,” said the dwarf, trembling with fear.
You're lying, scoundrel! - the Duke objected, pushing him with his foot. “My guest would not say in vain that something is missing here.” I will order you to be cut into pieces and baked into pate.
Have mercy! - exclaimed the dwarf. - Tell me what is missing in this pate so that you like it. Don't let me die because of some missing grain of flour or piece of meat.
“That won’t help you much, dear Nose,” the guest answered with a laugh. - Yesterday I was sure that you would not cook this pate like my cook. Know that it lacks one herb, which is not known at all here in your country and which is called “sneeze-grass.” Without it, the pate will not be a pate suzerain, and your sovereign will never be able to eat it in the form in which it is served to me.
At these words the Duke became furious.
But we will still eat it! - he cried with sparkling eyes. “I swear by my ducal crown, either tomorrow I will treat you to the pate you want, or the head of this dwarf will be displayed on the gates of the palace.” Go away, dog! I give you twenty-four hours.
Full of despair, the dwarf went back to his room and began to complain to the goose about his bitter fate, since until now he had never heard of such a herb.
Well, if that's all it is, - said Mimi, - then I can help your grief, because my father taught me to recognize all the herbs. Perhaps at another time you would not have escaped death, but, fortunately, now it is the new moon, and this grass blooms at the beginning of the month. But tell me, are there any old chestnut trees nearby?
Oh yeah! - Nose answered with a relieved heart. “There are a lot of these trees growing by the lake, two hundred steps from the palace. But why do you need chestnuts?
Yes, because this grass blooms only at the foot of old chestnut trees! - said Mimi. - However, there is no need to hesitate. Let's go find what you need. Take me in your arms and, when we leave the palace, lower me to the ground - I will help you in your search.
The dwarf did as the goose said and went to the gates of the palace, but then the guard held out a gun to him and said:
My good Nose, your situation is bad: you do not dare leave the palace, I am strictly forbidden to let you out.
But can I go out into the garden? - objected the dwarf. - Do me a favor, send one of your comrades to the caretaker of the palace and ask him if I can go to the garden to look for the herbs I need.
The guard inquired and permission was granted. The garden was surrounded by high walls, so there was no way to escape from it. When the dwarf Nose and the goose found themselves in the open air, he carefully lowered her to the ground, and she quickly ran to the lake where the chestnuts grew. He himself followed her with a constricted heart: after all, this was his last, his only hope! If Mimi did not find the grass, then he firmly decided that it would be better to throw himself into the lake than to allow himself to be beheaded. Mimi searched in vain. She walked around all the chestnuts, turned over the smallest grass with her beak - everything was unsuccessful. Out of pity and fear, she even began to cry, because the night was approaching and it was becoming increasingly difficult to see in the dark.
Suddenly the dwarf's gaze turned to the other side of the lake, and he exclaimed:
Look, over there, across the lake, there is another big old tree. Let's go look: maybe my happiness will bloom there!
The goose took off and flew ahead, and the dwarf ran after her as soon as his little legs allowed. The chestnut tree cast a large shadow, and it was so dark all around that almost nothing could be made out. But suddenly the goose stopped, flapped her wings in joy, then hastily lowered her head into the tall grass, picked something and brought it in her beak to the astonished dwarf.
Here's your weed! There is so much of it growing here that you will not have a shortage of it.
The dwarf looked thoughtfully at the grass: it emanated a special aroma that involuntarily reminded him of the scene of his transformation. The stem and leaves of the plant were greenish-blue, and among them stood a dazzling red flower with a yellow border.
Finally! - he exclaimed. - What happiness! You know, it seems to me that this is the very grass that turned me into a pathetic dwarf. Shouldn't I try to take on my real appearance now?
Wait a little longer,” said the goose, “pick up a handful of this grass, and then let’s go into the room.” There you will take your money and everything you have saved, and then we will test the power of this herb.
So they did. The dwarf's heart beat strongly with anticipation. Having taken the fifty or sixty ducats that he had managed to save, and putting his dress in a small bundle, he said:
Finally I will be free from this burden! And sticking his nose deeply into the grass, he began to inhale its aroma.
Something seemed to crackle and stretch in his body; he felt himself stretching out, his head protruding from his shoulders; he glanced sideways at his nose and noticed that it was getting smaller and smaller; the back and chest began to level out, the legs became longer and longer.
Mimi looked at him in amazement.
Oh, how big you are, how beautiful! - she exclaimed. - Now there is nothing left in you that would remind you of your former ugliness.
The delighted Yakov, despite his joy, still did not forget how much he owed to his savior Mimi. True, his heart tempted him to go straight to his parents, but out of gratitude he suppressed this desire and said:
To whom, if not you, do I owe my healing? If it weren’t for you, I would never have found this herb and would have to remain a dwarf forever, or even die completely at the hands of the executioner. But I will try to thank you. I will take you to your father - perhaps he, so experienced in magic, will be able to free you from evil spells.
Mimi burst into tears of joy and accepted his proposal. Yakov managed to get out of the palace safely with her, after which they set off on their way towards seashore, Mimi's homeland.
We will not describe in detail how they made their journey, how Wetterbock lifted the spell from his daughter and sent Jacob away with rich gifts, how Jacob returned to his hometown and how his parents joyfully recognized him as a beautiful young man his missing son.
Let us add only one thing: after his disappearance from the Duke’s palace, a terrible turmoil arose there.
When the next day the Duke, having not received the pate, wanted to fulfill his oath and ordered the dwarf’s head to be cut off, the latter could not be found anywhere.
The prince claimed that the duke himself gave him the opportunity to escape secretly so as not to lose his best cook, and reproached him for breaking his word.
Because of this, a long war arose between both sovereigns, which is known to historians as the “Grass War.” Both sides fought several battles, but in the end a peace was concluded, which received the name “Pate”, since at the holiday in honor of reconciliation, the prince’s cook served the overlord’s pate to the table, to which the duke gave due honor.
Information for parents: Wilhelm Hauff's cautionary tale "Dwarf Nose" tells the story of a boy who is bewitched by an evil witch for mocking her. So the handsome boy became an ugly dwarf, whom his parents did not recognize. Fairy tale“Dwarf Nose” is suitable for reading to children from 7 to 10 years old.
Read the fairy tale Dwarf Nose
Many years ago, in one large city of my dear fatherland, Germany, the shoemaker Friedrich once lived with his wife Hannah. All day he sat by the window and put patches on his shoes. He would also undertake to sew new shoes if someone ordered them, but then he had to buy leather first. He could not stock up on goods in advance - there was no money. And Hannah sold fruits and vegetables from her small garden at the market. She was a neat woman, knew how to arrange goods beautifully, and she always had a lot of customers.
Hannah and Friedrich had a son, Jacob - a slender, handsome boy, quite tall for his twelve years. He usually sat next to his mother at the market. When a cook or cook bought a lot of vegetables from Hannah at once, Jacob helped them carry the purchase home and rarely returned empty-handed.
Hannah's customers loved the pretty boy and almost always gave him something: a flower, a cake, or a coin.
One day Hannah, as always, was trading at the market. In front of her stood several baskets with cabbage, potatoes, roots and all sorts of greens. There were also early pears, apples, and apricots in a small basket.
Jacob sat next to his mother and shouted loudly:
- Here, here, cooks, cooks!.. Here is good cabbage, greens, pears, apples! Who needs? Mother will give it away cheaply!
And suddenly a poorly dressed old woman with small red eyes, a sharp face wrinkled with age and a long, very long nose that went down to her chin approached them. The old woman leaned on a crutch, and it was surprising that she could walk at all: she limped, slid and waddled, as if she had wheels on her legs. It seemed that she was about to fall and poke her sharp nose into the ground.
Hannah looked at the old woman with curiosity. She has been trading at the market for almost sixteen years now, and she has never seen such a wonderful old woman. She even felt a little creepy when the old woman stopped near her baskets.
— Are you Hannah, the vegetable seller? - asked the old woman in a creaky voice, shaking her head all the time.
“Yes,” answered the shoemaker’s wife. - Do you want to buy something?
“We’ll see, we’ll see,” the old woman muttered under her breath. “We’ll look at the greens, we’ll look at the roots.” Do you still have what I need...
She bent down and began to rummage with her long brown fingers in the basket of bunches of greenery that Hannah had arranged so beautifully and neatly. He will take a bunch, bring it to his nose and sniff from all sides, and after it - another, a third.
Hannah's heart was breaking - it was so hard for her to watch the old woman handle the greens. But she could not say a word to her - the buyer has the right to inspect the goods. Moreover, she became more and more afraid of this old woman.
Having turned over all the greens, the old woman straightened up and grumbled:
- Bad product!.. Bad greens!.. There is nothing that I need. Fifty years ago it was much better!.. Bad product! Bad product!
These words angered little Jacob.
- Hey you, shameless old woman! - he shouted. “I sniffed all the greens with my long nose, crushed the roots with my clumsy fingers, so now no one will buy them, and you still swear that it’s a bad product!” The Duke's chef himself buys from us!
The old woman looked sideways at the boy and said in a hoarse voice:
“Don’t you like my nose, my nose, my beautiful long nose?” And you will have the same one, right up to your chin.
She rolled up to another basket - with cabbage, took out several wonderful, white heads of cabbage and squeezed them so hard that they crackled pitifully. Then she somehow threw the heads of cabbage back into the basket and said again:
- Bad product! Bad cabbage!
- Don’t shake your head so disgustingly! - Jacob shouted. “Your neck is no thicker than a stump, and the next thing you know, it will break off and your head will fall into our basket.” Who will buy what from us then?
- So, in your opinion, my neck is too thin? - said the old woman, still grinning. - Well, you will be completely without a neck. Your head will stick straight out of your shoulders - at least it won’t fall off your body.
- Don't say such nonsense to the boy! - Hannah finally said, seriously angry. - If you want to buy something, buy it quickly. You will drive away all my customers.
The old woman looked at Hannah angrily.
“Okay, okay,” she grumbled. - Let it be your way. I'll take these six heads of cabbage from you. But I only have a crutch in my hands, and I can’t carry anything myself. Let your son bring my purchase home to me. I will reward him well for this.
Jacob really didn’t want to go, and he even cried - he was afraid of this terrible old woman. But his mother strictly ordered him to obey - it seemed sinful to her to force the old, weak woman bear such a heavy burden. Wiping his tears, Jacob put the cabbage in the basket and followed the old woman.
She did not wander very quickly, and almost an hour passed until they reached some distant street on the outskirts of the city and stopped in front of a small dilapidated house.
The old woman took some kind of rusty hook out of her pocket, deftly stuck it into a hole in the door, and suddenly the door swung open with a noise. Jacob entered and froze in place in surprise: the ceilings and walls of the house were marble, armchairs, chairs and tables were made of ebony, decorated with gold and precious stones, and the floor was glass and so smooth that Jacob slipped and fell several times.
The old woman put a small silver whistle to her lips and whistled in a special way, loudly, so that the whistle crackled throughout the whole house. And now guinea pigs quickly ran down the stairs - completely unusual guinea pigs that walked on two legs. Instead of shoes, they had nutshells, and these pigs were dressed just like people - they even remembered to take hats.
“Where did you put my shoes, you scoundrels!” - the old woman shouted and hit the pigs with a stick so hard that they jumped up screaming. - How much longer will I stand here?..
The pigs ran up the stairs, brought two coconut shells on a leather lining and deftly put them on the old woman’s feet.
The old woman immediately stopped limping. She tossed her stick aside and quickly slid across the glass floor, dragging little Jacob behind her. It was even difficult for him to keep up with her, she moved so quickly in her coconut shells.
Finally, the old woman stopped in a room where there was a lot of all kinds of dishes. This, apparently, was a kitchen, although the floors were covered with carpets, and embroidered pillows lay on the sofas, as in some palace.
“Sit down, son,” the old woman said affectionately and sat Jacob down on the sofa, moving the table to the sofa so that Jacob could not leave his place. - Take a good rest - you're probably tired. After all, human heads are not a light burden.
- What are you talking about! - Jacob shouted. “I was really tired, but I was not carrying heads, but heads of cabbage.” You bought them from my mother.
“It’s wrong to say that,” the old woman said and laughed.
And, opening the basket, she pulled out a human head by the hair.
Jacob almost fell, he was so scared. He immediately thought about his mother. After all, if anyone finds out about these heads, they will immediately report her, and she will have a bad time.
“We also need to reward you for being so obedient,” the old woman continued. “Be patient a little: I’ll cook you such soup that you’ll remember it until you die.”
She blew her whistle again, and the guinea pigs rushed into the kitchen, dressed like people: in aprons, with ladle and kitchen knives in their belts. Squirrels came running after them - a lot of squirrels, also on two legs; they were wearing wide trousers and green velvet caps. Apparently these were cooks. They quickly, quickly climbed the walls and brought bowls and pans, eggs, butter, roots and flour to the stove. And the old woman herself was bustling around the stove, rolling back and forth on her coconut shells - she, apparently, really wanted to cook something good for Jacob. The fire under the stove was growing hotter, something was hissing and smoking in the frying pans, and a pleasant, tasty smell was wafting throughout the room. The old woman rushed here and there and kept poking her long nose into the pot of soup to see if the food was ready.
Finally, something began to bubble and gurgle in the pot, steam poured out of it, and thick foam poured onto the fire.
Then the old woman took the pot off the stove, poured soup from it into a silver bowl and placed the bowl in front of Jacob.
“Eat, son,” she said. - Eat this soup and you will be as beautiful as me. And you will become a good cook - you need to know some kind of craft.
Jacob didn’t quite understand that it was the old woman muttering under her breath, and he didn’t listen to her - he was more busy with the soup. His mother often cooked all sorts of delicious things for him, but he had never tasted anything better than this soup. It smelled so good of greens and roots, it was both sweet and sour, and also very strong.
When Jacob had almost finished the soup, the pigs lit some kind of smoking with a pleasant smell on a small brazier, and clouds of bluish smoke floated throughout the room. It became thicker and thicker, enveloping the boy more and more tightly, so that Jacob finally became dizzy. In vain did he tell himself that it was time for him to return to his mother; in vain did he try to get to his feet. As soon as he got up, he fell back onto the sofa - he suddenly wanted to sleep so much. Not even five minutes had passed before he actually fell asleep on the sofa, in the kitchen of the ugly old woman.
And Jacob saw an amazing dream. He dreamed that the old woman took off his clothes and wrapped him in a squirrel skin. He learned to jump and hop like a squirrel and made friends with other squirrels and pigs. They were all very good.
And Jacob, like them, began to serve the old woman. At first he had to be a shoe shiner. He had to oil the coconut shells that the old woman wore on her feet and rub them with a cloth so that they would shine. At home, Jacob often had to clean his shoes and shoes, so things quickly improved for him.
About a year later he was transferred to another, more difficult position. Together with several other squirrels, he caught dust particles from sunbeam and sifted them through the finest sieve, and then they baked bread for the old woman. She didn’t have a single tooth left in her mouth, which is why she had to eat buns made from specks of sunshine, softer than which, as everyone knows, there is nothing in the world.
A year later, Jacob was tasked with getting the old woman water to drink. Do you think she had a well dug in her yard or a bucket placed to collect rainwater? No, the old woman didn’t even take plain water into her mouth. Jacob and the squirrels collected dew from flowers in nut shells, and the old woman only drank it. And she drank a lot, so the water-carriers had their hands full.
Another year passed, and Jacob began working in the rooms - cleaning the floors. This also turned out to be not a very easy task: the floors were glass - you can breathe on them, and you can see it. Jacob cleaned them with brushes and rubbed them with cloth, which he rolled on his feet.
In the fifth year, Jacob began working in the kitchen. This was an honorable job, to which one was admitted with scrutiny, after a long trial. Jacob went through all the positions, from cook to senior cake maker, and became such an experienced and skillful cook that he even surprised himself. Why hasn't he learned to cook? The most intricate dishes - two hundred varieties of cake, soups from all the herbs and roots that there are in the world - he knew how to cook everything quickly and tasty.
So Jacob lived with the old woman for seven years. And then one day she put her nut shells on her feet, took a crutch and a basket to go to the city, and ordered Jacob to pluck a chicken, stuff it with herbs and brown it thoroughly. Jacob immediately got to work. He twisted the bird's head, scalded it all with boiling water, deftly plucked its feathers, scraped out the skin so that it became soft and shiny, and took out the insides. Then he needed herbs to stuff the chicken with. He went to the pantry, where the old woman kept all sorts of greens, and began to select what he needed. And suddenly he saw a small cabinet in the wall of the pantry, which he had never noticed before. The locker door was ajar. Jacob looked into it with curiosity and saw that there were some small baskets there. He opened one of them and saw strange herbs that he had never come across before. Their stems were greenish, and on each stem there was a bright red flower with a yellow rim.
Jacob brought one flower to his nose and suddenly felt a familiar smell - the same as the soup that the old woman fed him when he came to her. The smell was so strong that Jacob sneezed loudly several times and woke up.
He looked around in surprise and saw that he was lying on the same sofa in the old woman’s kitchen.
“Well, what a dream it was! It's like it's real! - Jacob thought. “Mother will laugh when I tell her all this!” And I’ll get it from her because I fell asleep in someone else’s house, instead of returning to her at the market!”
He quickly jumped up from the sofa and wanted to run to his mother, but he felt that his whole body was like wood, and his neck was completely numb - he could barely move his head. Every now and then he would touch his nose against a wall or a closet, and once, when he quickly turned around, he even hit the door painfully. Squirrels and pigs ran around Jacob and squeaked - apparently, they did not want to let him go. Leaving the old woman's house, Jacob beckoned them to follow him - he, too, was sorry to part with them, but they quickly rolled back to the rooms on their shells, and the boy heard their plaintive squeak from afar for a long time.
The old woman’s house, as we already know, was far from the market, and Jacob made his way for a long time through narrow, winding alleys until he reached the market. There were a lot of people crowding the streets. There must have been a dwarf being shown somewhere nearby, because everyone around Jacob was shouting:
- Look, there’s an ugly dwarf! And where did he even come from? Well, he has a long nose! And the head sticks out right on the shoulders, without a neck! And the hands, the hands!.. Look - right down to the heels!
At another time, Jacob would have gladly run out to look at the dwarf, but today he had no time for that - he had to rush to his mother.
Finally Jacob reached the market. He was quite afraid that his mother would get him. Hannah was still sitting in her place, and she had a fair amount of vegetables in her basket, which meant Jacob hadn’t slept very long. Already from a distance he noticed that his mother was saddened by something. She sat silently, resting her cheek on her hand, pale and sad.
Jacob stood for a long time, not daring to approach his mother. Finally he gathered his courage and, creeping up behind her, put his hand on her shoulder and said:
- Mom, what’s wrong with you? Are you mad at me? Hannah turned around and, seeing Jacob, screamed in horror.
- What do you want from me, scary dwarf? - she screamed. - Go away, go away! I can't stand jokes like that!
- What are you doing, mother? - Jacob said fearfully. - You are probably unwell. Why are you chasing me?
“I’m telling you, go your way!” - Hannah shouted angrily. “You won’t get anything from me for your jokes, you disgusting freak!”
"She went crazy! - thought poor Jacob. “How can I take her home now?”
“Mommy, take a good look at me,” he said, almost crying. - I’m your son Jacob!
- No, this is too much! - Hannah shouted, turning to her neighbors. - Look at this terrible dwarf! He scares away all the buyers and even laughs at my grief! He says - I am your son, your Jacob, such a scoundrel!
Hannah's neighbors jumped to their feet and began to scold Jacob:
- How dare you joke about her grief! Her son was kidnapped seven years ago. And what a boy he was - just a picture! Get out now, or we'll claw your eyes out!
Poor Jacob didn’t know what to think. After all, this morning he came with his mother to the market and helped her lay out the vegetables, then he took cabbage to the old woman’s house, went to her, ate soup from her, slept a little and now returned. And the traders talk about some seven years. And he, Jacob, is called a nasty dwarf. What happened to them?
With tears in his eyes, Jacob wandered out of the market. Since his mother does not want to acknowledge him, he will go to his father.
“We’ll see,” Jacob thought. “Will my father also drive me away?” I’ll stand at the door and talk to him.”
He went up to the shoemaker’s shop, who, as always, was sitting there and working, stood near the door and looked into the shop. Friedrich was so busy with work that he did not notice Jacob at first. But suddenly he accidentally raised his head, dropped the awl and dredge from his hands and screamed:
- What it is? What's happened?
“Good evening, master,” said Jacob and entered the shop. - How are you doing?
- It’s bad, my sir, it’s bad! - answered the shoemaker, who also apparently did not recognize Jacob. - Work is not going well at all. I am already many years old, and I am alone - there is not enough money to hire an apprentice.
- Don’t you have a son who could help you? - Jacob asked.
“I had one son, his name was Jacob,” answered the shoemaker. - Now he would be twenty years old. He would have been great at supporting me. After all, he was only twelve years old, and he was so smart! And he already knew something about the craft, and he was a handsome man. He would have been able to attract customers, I wouldn’t have to put on patches now - I’d only sew new shoes. Yes, apparently, this is my destiny!
-Where is your son now? - Jacob asked timidly.
“Only God knows about that,” the shoemaker answered with a heavy sigh. “Seven years have passed since he was taken away from us at the market.”
- Seven years! - Jacob repeated with horror.
- Yes, sir, seven years. As I remember now, my wife came running from the market, howling and screaming: it was already evening, but the child had not returned. She looked for him all day, asked everyone if they had seen him, but she didn’t find him. I always said this would end. Our Jacob - which is true, it is true - was a handsome child, his wife was proud of him and often sent him to take vegetables or something else to kind people. It’s a shame to say that he was always well rewarded, but I often said:
“Look, Hannah! The city is big, there are a lot of evil people in it. No matter what happens to our Jacob!” And so it happened! That day, some woman, old, ugly, came to the market, chose and selected goods, and finally bought so many that she could not carry them herself. Hannah, kind soul, and they sent the boy with her... So we never saw him again.
- And that means seven years have passed since then?
- It will be seven in the spring. We already announced about him, and went around to people, asking about the boy - after all, many knew him, everyone loved him, a handsome man, - but no matter how much we looked, we never found him. And no one has seen the woman who bought vegetables from Hannah since then. One ancient old woman - she had been living in the world for ninety years - told Hannah that it might be the evil witch Kreiterweiss, who came to the city once every fifty years to buy provisions.
This is what Jacob's father said, tapping his boot with a hammer and pulling out a long waxed slab. Now, finally, Jacob understood what had happened to him. This means that he didn’t see this in a dream, but really was a squirrel for seven years and served with an evil witch. His heart was literally breaking with frustration. An old woman stole seven years of his life, and what did he get for it? I learned how to clean coconut shells and polish glass floors, and learned how to cook all sorts of delicious foods!
For a long time he stood on the threshold of the shop without saying a word. Finally the shoemaker asked him:
“Perhaps you liked something about me, sir?” Would you take a pair of shoes or at least,” here he suddenly burst out laughing, “a nose case?”
- What's wrong with my nose? - said Jacob. - Why do I need a case for it?
“It’s your choice,” answered the shoemaker, “but if I had such a terrible nose, I would, dare I say, hide it in a case - a good case made of pink husky.” Look, I have just the right piece. True, your nose will need a lot of skin. But as you wish, my sir. After all, you probably often touch doors with your nose.
Jacob could not say a word from surprise. He felt his nose - the nose was thick and long, about two quarters long, no less. Apparently, the evil old woman turned him into a freak. That's why his mother didn't recognize him.
“Master,” he said, almost crying, “do you have a mirror here?” I need to look in the mirror, I definitely need to.
“To tell you the truth, sir,” answered the shoemaker, “you don’t have the kind of appearance to be proud of.” There is no need for you to look in the mirror every minute. Give up this habit - it really doesn’t suit you at all.
- Give me, give me a mirror quickly! - Jacob begged. - I assure you, I really need it. True, I’m not out of pride...
- Oh, come on! I don't have a mirror! - the shoemaker got angry. “My wife had one tiny one, but I don’t know where she touched it.” If you really can’t wait to look at yourself, over there is Urban’s barber’s shop. He has a mirror, twice the size of you. Look at it as much as you like. And then - I wish you good health.
And the shoemaker gently pushed Jacob out of the shop and slammed the door behind him. Jacob quickly crossed the street and entered the barber, whom he had known well before.
— Good morning"Urban," he said. “I have a big request to ask: please, let me look in your mirror.”
- Do me a favor. There it stands in the left wall! - Urban shouted and laughed loudly. - Admire, admire yourself, you are a real handsome man - thin, slender, swan-like neck, hands like a queen’s, and a snub nose - there is nothing better in the world! Of course, you flaunt it a little, but whatever, look at yourself. Let them not say that out of envy I did not allow you to look in my mirror.
The visitors who came to Urban for a shave and haircut laughed deafeningly as they listened to his jokes. Jacob walked up to the mirror and involuntarily recoiled. Tears welled up in his eyes. Is it really him, this ugly dwarf! His eyes became small, like those of a pig, his huge nose hung below his chin, and it was as if there was no neck at all. His head sunk deep into his shoulders, and he could hardly turn it at all. And he was the same height as seven years ago - very small. Other boys grew taller over the years, but Jacob grew wider. His back and chest were very wide, and he looked like a large, tightly stuffed sack. Thin short legs could barely carry his heavy body. On the contrary, the arms with hooked fingers were long, like those of an adult man, and hung almost to the ground. Such was poor Jacob now.
“Yes,” he thought, taking a deep breath, “no wonder you didn’t recognize your son, mother! He wasn’t like this before, when you loved to show him off to your neighbors!”
He remembered how the old woman approached his mother that morning. Everything he laughed at then - his long nose and ugly fingers - he received from the old woman for his ridicule. And she took his neck away, as she promised...
- Well, have you seen enough of yourself, my handsome man? - Urban asked with a laugh, going to the mirror and looking Jacob from head to toe. “Honestly, you wouldn’t see such a funny dwarf in your dreams.” You know, baby, I want to offer you one thing. There are quite a few people in my barbershop, but not as many as before. And all because my neighbor, the barber Shaum, got himself a giant somewhere who lures visitors to him. Well, becoming a giant, generally speaking, is not so tricky, but becoming a little one like you is a different matter. Come into my service, baby. You will receive housing, food, and clothing - everything from me, but all you have to do is stand at the door of the barber shop and invite people. Yes, perhaps, still whip up the soap foam and hand over the towel. And I’ll tell you for sure, we will both benefit: I will have more visitors than Shaum and his giant, and everyone will give you an extra tip.
Jacob was very offended in his heart - how could he be offered to be bait in a barber shop! - but what can you do, I had to endure this insult. He calmly replied that he was too busy and could not take on such work, and left.
Although Jacob's body was disfigured, his head worked as well as before. He felt that during these seven years he had become quite an adult.
“It’s not a problem that I became a freak,” he thought, walking down the street. “It’s a shame that both my father and mother drove me away like a dog.” I'll try to talk to my mother again. Maybe she will recognize me after all.”
He went to the market again and, approaching Hannah, asked her to calmly listen to what he wanted to tell her. He reminded her how the old woman took him away, listed everything that happened to him in childhood, and told her that he had lived for seven years with a witch, who turned him first into a squirrel, and then into a dwarf because he laughed at her.
Hannah didn't know what to think. Everything that the dwarf said about his childhood was correct, but she could not believe that he had been a squirrel for seven years.
- This is impossible! - she exclaimed. Finally, Hannah decided to consult her husband.
She collected her baskets and invited Jacob to go with her to the shoemaker's shop. When they arrived, Hannah said to her husband:
- This dwarf says that he is our son Jacob. He told me that seven years ago he was stolen from us and bewitched by a sorceress...
- Oh, that's how it is! - the shoemaker interrupted her angrily. - So he told you all this? Wait, stupid! I myself was just telling him about our Jacob, and he, you see, comes straight to you and lets fool you... So, you say, they have bewitched you? Come on, I’ll break the spell on you now.
The shoemaker grabbed the belt and, jumping up to Jacob, whipped him so hard that he ran out of the shop crying loudly.
The poor dwarf wandered around the city all day without eating or drinking. Nobody pitied him, and everyone just laughed at him. He had to spend the night on the church stairs, right on the hard, cold steps.
As soon as the sun rose, Jacob got up and again went to wander the streets.
And then Jacob remembered that while he was a squirrel and lived with an old woman, he managed to learn how to cook well. And he decided to become a cook for the Duke.
And the Duke, the ruler of that country, was a famous eater and gourmand. He loved to eat well most of all and hired chefs from all over the world.
Jacob waited a little until it was completely dawn and headed towards the ducal palace.
His heart was beating loudly when he approached the palace gates. The gatekeepers asked him what he needed and began to make fun of him, but Jacob was not taken aback and said that he wanted to see the main head of the kitchen. He was led through some courtyards, and everyone who saw him from the duke's servants ran after him and laughed loudly.
Soon Jacob had a huge retinue. The grooms abandoned their combs, the boys raced to keep up with him, the floor polishers stopped beating the carpets. Everyone crowded around Jacob, and there was such a noise and hubbub in the courtyard, as if enemies were approaching the city. Screams were heard everywhere:
- Dwarf! Dwarf! Have you seen the dwarf? Finally, the palace caretaker came out into the courtyard - sleepy fat person with a huge whip in his hand.
- Hey you dogs! What is this noise? - he shouted in a thunderous voice, mercilessly beating his whip on the shoulders and backs of the grooms and servants. “Don’t you know that the Duke is still sleeping?”
“Sir,” answered the gatekeepers, “look who we brought to you!” A real dwarf! You've probably never seen anything like this before.
Seeing Jacob, the caretaker made a terrible grimace and pressed his lips together as tightly as possible so as not to laugh - his importance did not allow him to laugh in front of the grooms. He dispersed the crowd with his whip and, taking Jacob by the hand, led him into the palace and asked what he needed. Hearing that Jacob wanted to see the head of the kitchen, the caretaker exclaimed:
- It's not true, son! It's me you need, palace caretaker. You want to join the Duke as a dwarf, don't you?
“No, sir,” Jacob answered. “I’m a good cook and I can cook all sorts of rare dishes.” Please take me to the kitchen manager. Maybe he will agree to try my art.
“Your will, baby,” answered the caretaker, “you’re still a stupid guy.” If you were a court dwarf, you could do nothing, eat, drink, have fun and go to beautiful clothes, and you want to go to the kitchen! But we'll see. You are hardly a skilled enough cook to prepare food for the Duke himself, and you are too good for a cook.
Having said this, the caretaker took Jacob to the head of the kitchen. The dwarf bowed low to him and said:
- Dear Sir, do you need a skilled cook?
The kitchen manager looked Jacob up and down and laughed loudly.
- Do you want to be a cook? - he exclaimed. - Why do you think the stoves in our kitchen are so low? After all, you won’t see anything on them, even if you stand on tiptoe. No, my little friend, the one who advised you to become a cook for me played a bad joke on you.
And the head of the kitchen burst out laughing again, followed by the palace caretaker and all those who were in the room. Jacob, however, was not embarrassed.
- Mr. Kitchen Manager! - he said. “You probably wouldn’t mind giving me one or two eggs, a little flour, wine and seasonings.” Instruct me to prepare some dish and order me to serve everything that is needed for it. I will cook a meal in front of everyone, and you will say: “This is a real cook!”
He spent a long time persuading the head of the kitchen, glistening with his small eyes and convincingly shaking his head. Finally the boss agreed.
- OK! - he said. - Let's try it for fun! Let's all go to the kitchen, and you too, Mr. Warden of the Palace.
He took the palace keeper's arm and ordered Jacob to follow him. They walked for a long time through some large luxurious rooms and long corridors and finally came to the kitchen. It was a tall, spacious room with a huge stove with twenty burners, under which a fire burned day and night. In the middle of the kitchen there was a pool of water in which live fish were kept, and along the walls there were marble and wooden cabinets full of precious utensils. Next to the kitchen, in ten huge pantries, all kinds of supplies and delicacies were stored. Cooks, cooks, and dishwashers rushed back and forth around the kitchen, rattling pots, pans, spoons and knives. When the head of the kitchen appeared, everyone froze in place, and the kitchen became completely quiet; only the fire continued to crackle under the stove and the water continued to gurgle in the pool.
“What did Mister Duke order for his first breakfast today?” - the head of the kitchen asked the head breakfast manager - an old fat cook in a high cap.
“His Lordship deigned to order Danish soup with red Hamburg dumplings,” the cook answered respectfully.
“Okay,” continued the kitchen manager. “Have you heard, dwarf, what Mister Duke wants to eat?” Can you be trusted with such difficult dishes? There's no way you can make Hamburg dumplings. This is the secret of our chefs.
“Nothing is easier,” answered the dwarf (when he was a squirrel, he often had to cook these dishes for the old woman). - For soup, give me such and such herbs and spices, wild boar lard, eggs and roots. And for the dumplings,” he spoke more quietly so that no one could hear him except the head of the kitchen and the breakfast manager, “and for the dumplings I need four types of meat, a little beer, goose fat, ginger and an herb called “stomach comfort.”
- I swear on my honor, that’s right! - shouted the surprised cook. “Which sorcerer taught you how to cook?” You have listed everything down to the finest detail. And this is the first time I’ve heard about weed “comforting the stomach.” The dumplings will probably come out even better with it. You are truly a miracle, not a cook!
- I would never have thought that! - said the head of the kitchen. “However, we’ll do a test.” Give him supplies, dishes and everything he needs, and let him prepare breakfast for the Duke.
The cooks carried out his orders, but when they put everything that was needed on the stove, and the dwarf wanted to start cooking, it turned out that he could barely reach the top of the stove with the tip of his long nose. I had to move a chair to the stove, the dwarf climbed onto it and began to cook. The cooks, cooks, and scullery maids surrounded the dwarf in a tight ring and, with their eyes wide open in surprise, watched how quickly and deftly he handled everything.
Having prepared the food for cooking, the dwarf ordered to put both pans on the fire and not remove them until he ordered. Then he began to count: “One, two, three, four...” - and, having counted exactly to five hundred, he shouted: “That’s enough!”
The cooks moved the pots from the fire, and the dwarf invited the head of the kitchen to try his cooking.
The head cook ordered a golden spoon, rinsed it in the pool and handed it to the head of the kitchen. He solemnly approached the stove, removed the lids from the steaming pots and tried the soup and dumplings. Having swallowed a spoonful of soup, he closed his eyes with pleasure, clicked his tongue several times and said:
- Wonderful, wonderful, I swear on my honor! Would you like to be convinced, Mr. Palace Warden?
The palace caretaker took the spoon with a bow, tasted it and almost jumped with pleasure.
“I don’t want to offend you, dear breakfast manager,” he said, “you are a wonderful, experienced cook, but you have never managed to cook such soup and such dumplings.”
The cook also tried both dishes, respectfully shook the dwarf’s hand and said:
- Baby, you are a great master! Your “stomach comfort” herb gives the soup and dumplings a special taste.
At this time, the Duke's servant appeared in the kitchen and demanded breakfast for his master. The food was immediately poured into silver plates and sent upstairs. The head of the kitchen, very pleased, took the dwarf into his room and wanted to ask him who he was and where he came from. But as soon as they sat down and began to talk, a messenger from the Duke came for the boss and said that the Duke was calling him. The head of the kitchen quickly put on his best dress and followed the messenger to the dining room.
The Duke sat there, lounging in his deep armchair. He ate everything on the plates clean and wiped his lips with a silk handkerchief. His face was shining and he was squinting sweetly with pleasure.
“Listen,” he said, seeing the head of the kitchen, “I have always been very pleased with your cooking, but today breakfast was especially delicious.” Tell me the name of the cook who prepared it: I will send him a few ducats as a reward.
- Sir, it happened today amazing story, - said the head of the kitchen.
And he told the duke how a dwarf was brought to him in the morning, who certainly wants to become the palace cook. The Duke, after listening to his story, was very surprised. He ordered to call the dwarf and began to ask him who he was. Poor Jacob didn’t want to say that he had been a squirrel for seven years and served with an old woman, but he didn’t like to lie either. Therefore, he only told the duke that he now had neither father nor mother and that he was taught to cook by an old woman. The Duke made fun of the strange appearance of the dwarf for a long time and finally said to him:
- So be it, stay with me. I will give you fifty ducats a year, one festive dress and, in addition, two pairs of trousers. For this, you will cook my breakfast every day, watch how lunch is prepared, and generally manage my table. And besides, I give nicknames to everyone who serves me. You will be called Dwarf Nose and will receive the title of assistant kitchen manager.
Dwarf Nose bowed to the Duke and thanked him for his mercy. When the Duke released him, Jacob joyfully returned to the kitchen. Now, finally, he could not worry about his fate and not think about what would happen to him tomorrow.
He decided to thank his master thoroughly, and not only the ruler of the country himself, but also all his courtiers could not praise the little cook enough. Since Dwarf Nose moved into the palace, the Duke has become, one might say, a completely different person. Before, he often happened to throw plates and glasses at the cooks if he didn’t like their cooking, and once he got so angry that he threw a poorly fried calf’s leg at the head of the kitchen himself. The foot hit the poor guy in the forehead, and after that he lay in bed for three days. All the cooks trembled with fear as they prepared the food.
But with the advent of Dwarf Nose, everything changed. The Duke now ate not three times a day, as before, but five times, and only praised the dwarf’s skill. Everything seemed delicious to him, and he became fatter day by day. He often invited the dwarf to his table along with the head of the kitchen and forced them to taste the food they had prepared.
Residents of the city could not marvel at this wonderful dwarf.
Every day, a crowd of people crowded at the door of the palace kitchen - everyone asked and begged the chief cook to let him have at least one glimpse of how the dwarf prepared the food. And the city's rich tried to get permission from the duke to send their cooks to the kitchen so that they could learn to cook from the dwarf. This gave the dwarf a considerable income - for each student he was paid half a ducat a day - but he gave all the money to other cooks so that they would not envy him.
So Jacob lived in the palace for two years. He would, perhaps, even be satisfied with his fate if he had not so often remembered his father and mother, who did not recognize him and drove him away. That was the only thing that upset him.
And then one day such an incident happened to him.
Dwarf Nose was very good at purchasing supplies. He always went to the market himself and chose geese, ducks, herbs and vegetables for the ducal table. One morning he went to the market to buy geese and for a long time could not find enough fat birds. He walked around the market several times, choosing a better goose. Now no one laughed at the dwarf. Everyone bowed low to him and respectfully made way. Every trader would be happy if he bought a goose from her.
Walking back and forth, Jacob suddenly noticed at the end of the market, away from the other traders, a woman whom he had not seen before. She also sold geese, but did not praise her goods like others, but sat silently, without saying a word. Jacob approached this woman and examined her geese. They were just the way he wanted them. Jacob bought three birds along with the cage - two ganders and one goose - put the cage on his shoulder and went back to the palace. And suddenly he noticed that two birds were cackling and flapping their wings, as good ganders should be, and the third - the goose - was sitting quietly and even seemed to sigh.
“This goose is sick,” thought Jacob. “As soon as I arrive at the palace, I will immediately order her to be slaughtered before she dies.”
And suddenly the bird, as if guessing his thoughts, said:
- Don't cut me -
I'll lock you up.
If you break my neck,
You will die before your time.
Jacob almost dropped the cage.
- These are miracles! - he shouted. “It turns out you can talk, Mrs. Goose!” Don't be afraid, I won't kill such an amazing bird. I bet you didn't always wear goose feathers. After all, I was once a little squirrel.
“Your truth,” answered the goose. - I was not born a bird. No one thought that Mimi, the daughter of the great Wetterbock, would end her life under a chef’s knife on the kitchen table.
- Don't worry, dear Mimi! - Jacob exclaimed. - If I weren't fair man and his lordship's chief cook, if anyone touches you with a knife! You will live in a beautiful cage in my room, and I will feed you and talk to you. And I’ll tell the other cooks that I feed the goose with special herbs for the Duke himself. And not even a month will pass before I figure out a way to release you into freedom.
Mimi thanked the dwarf with tears in her eyes, and Jacob fulfilled everything he promised. He said in the kitchen that he would fatten the goose in a special way that no one knew, and he placed her cage in his room. Mimi did not receive goose food, but cookies, sweets and all sorts of delicacies, and as soon as Jacob had a free minute, he immediately ran to chat with her.
Mimi told Jacob that she was turned into a goose and brought to this city alone old witch, with whom her father, the famous wizard Wetterbock, once quarreled. The dwarf also told Mimi his story, and Mimi said:
“I understand something about witchcraft - my father taught me a little of his wisdom.” I guess that the old woman bewitched you with a magic herb that she put in the soup when you brought cabbage home to her. If you find this grass and smell it, you might become like other people again.
This, of course, did not particularly console the dwarf: how could he find this grass? But he still had a little hope.
A few days after this, a prince, his neighbor and friend, came to stay with the duke. The Duke immediately called the dwarf to him and said to him:
“Now it’s time to show whether you serve me faithfully and whether you know your art well.” This prince, who came to visit me, loves to eat well and understands cooking. Look, prepare for us such dishes that the prince will be surprised every day. And don’t even think about serving the same dish twice while the prince is visiting me. Then you will have no mercy. Take from my treasurer everything you need, even give us baked gold, just so as not to disgrace yourself before the prince.
“Don’t worry, your grace,” Jacob replied, bowing low. “I’ll be able to please your dainty prince.”
And Dwarf Nose eagerly set to work. All day long he stood at the flaming stove and ceaselessly gave orders in his thin voice. A crowd of cooks and cooks rushed around the kitchen, hanging on his every word. Jacob spared neither himself nor others in order to please his master.
The prince had been visiting the duke for two weeks already. They ate at least five times a day, and the Duke was delighted. He saw that his guest liked the dwarf's cooking. On the fifteenth day, the Duke called Jacob into the dining room, showed him to the Prince and asked if the Prince was satisfied with the skill of his cook.
“You cook well,” the prince said to the dwarf, “and you understand what it means to eat well.” During the entire time I’ve been here, you haven’t served a single dish on the table twice, and everything was very tasty. But tell me, why haven’t you treated us to the Queen’s Pie yet? This is the most delicious pie in the world.
The dwarf's heart sank: he had never heard of such a pie. But he didn’t even show that he was embarrassed, and answered:
“Oh, sir, I hoped that you would stay with us for a long time, and I wanted to treat you to the “queen’s pie” as a farewell. After all, this is the king of all pies, as you yourself well know.
- Oh, that's how it is! - said the Duke and laughed. “You’ve never treated me to the queen’s pie either.” You will probably bake it on the day of my death so that last time pamper me. But come up with another dish for this occasion! Let the “queen’s pie” be on the table tomorrow! Do you hear?
“I hear you, Mister Duke,” Jacob answered and left, preoccupied and upset.
That's when his day of shame came! How does he know how this pie is baked?
He went to his room and began to cry bitterly. Mimi the goose saw this from her cage and felt sorry for him.
-What are you crying about, Jacob? - she asked, and when Jacob told her about the “queen’s pie,” she said: “Wipe your tears and don’t be upset.” This pie was often served in our home, and I seem to remember how to bake it. Take so much flour and add such and such seasoning - and the pie is ready. And if it lacks something, it’s not a big deal. The Duke and Prince won't notice anyway. They don't have such a picky taste.
Dwarf Nose jumped for joy and immediately began baking a pie. First he made a small pie and gave it to the head of the kitchen to try. He found it to be very tasty. Then Jacob baked a large pie and sent it straight from the oven to the table. And he put on his festive dress and went to the dining room to see how the Duke and Prince liked this new pie.
When he entered, the butler was just cutting off a large piece of pie, serving it to the prince on a silver spatula, and then another similar piece to the duke. The Duke took half a bite at once, chewed the pie, swallowed it and leaned back in his chair with a satisfied look.
- Oh, how delicious! - he exclaimed. “It’s not for nothing that this pie is called the king of all pies.” But my dwarf is the king of all cooks. Isn't it true, prince?
The prince carefully bit off a tiny piece, chewed it thoroughly, rubbed it with his tongue and said, smiling indulgently and pushing the plate away:
- Not a bad dish! But he is far from being the “queen’s pie.” I thought so!
The Duke blushed with annoyance and frowned angrily:
- Nasty dwarf! - he shouted. “How dare you disgrace your master like that?” You should have your head cut off for cooking like that!
- Master! - Jacob shouted, falling to his knees. — I baked this pie properly. Everything you need is included in it.
- You're lying, scoundrel! - the Duke shouted and pushed the dwarf away with his foot. “My guest would not be in vain to say that there is something missing in the pie.” I’ll order you to be ground up and baked into a pie, you such a freak!
- Have mercy on me! - the dwarf cried pitifully, grabbing the prince by the hem of his dress. “Don’t let me die over a handful of flour and meat!” Tell me, what’s missing in this pie, why didn’t you like it so much?
“That won’t help you much, my dear Nose,” the prince answered with a laugh. “I already thought yesterday that you wouldn’t be able to bake this pie the way my cook bakes it.” It's missing one herb that no one knows about. It's called "sneeze for health." Without this herb, the “queen’s pie” will not taste the same, and your master will never have to taste it the way I make it.
- No, I’ll try it, and very soon! - the Duke shouted. “I swear on my ducal honor, either you will see such a pie on the table tomorrow, or the head of this scoundrel will stick out on the gates of my palace.” Get out, dog! I give you twenty-four hours to save your life.
The poor dwarf, crying bitterly, went to his room and complained to the goose about his grief. Now he can no longer escape death! After all, he had never heard of the herb called “sneeze for health.”
“If that’s the problem,” said Mimi, “then I can help you.” My father taught me to recognize all the herbs. If it had been two weeks ago, you might really have been in danger of death, but, fortunately, now there is a new moon, and at this time that grass is blooming. Are there any old chestnuts somewhere near the palace?
- Yes! Yes! - the dwarf shouted joyfully. — There are several chestnuts growing in the garden, very close to here. But why do you need them?
“This grass,” answered Mimi, “grows only under old chestnut trees.” Let's not waste time and go look for her now. Take me in your arms and carry me out of the palace.
The dwarf took Mimi in his arms, walked with her to the palace gates and wanted to go out. But the gatekeeper blocked his way.
“No, my dear Nose,” he said, “I have strict orders not to let you leave the palace.”
“Can’t I even take a walk in the garden?” - asked the dwarf. “Please, send someone to the caretaker and ask if I can walk around the garden and collect grass.”
The gatekeeper sent to ask the caretaker, and the caretaker allowed it: the garden was surrounded by a high wall, and it was impossible to escape from it.
Going out into the garden, the dwarf carefully put Mimi on the ground, and she, hobbling, ran to the chestnut trees that grew on the shore of the lake. Jacob, saddened, followed her.
“If Mimi doesn’t find that grass,” he thought, “I’ll drown in the lake. It’s still better than letting your head be cut off.”
Meanwhile, Mimi visited every chestnut tree, turned over every blade of grass with her beak, but in vain - the “sneeze to health” grass was nowhere to be seen. The goose even cried out of grief. Evening was approaching, it was getting dark, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish the stems of the grass. By chance the dwarf looked at the other side of the lake and shouted joyfully:
- Look, Mimi, see - there’s another big old chestnut on the other side! Let's go there and look, maybe my happiness is growing under it.
The goose flapped her wings heavily and flew away, and the dwarf ran after her at full speed on his little legs. Crossing the bridge, he approached the chestnut tree. The chestnut was thick and spreading, almost nothing was visible under it in the semi-darkness. And suddenly Mimi flapped her wings and even jumped for joy. She quickly stuck her beak in the grass, picked a flower and said, carefully handing it to Jacob:
- Here is the herb “sneeze for health.” There is a lot of it growing here, so it will last you a long time.
The dwarf took the flower in his hand and looked at it thoughtfully. There was a strong pleasant smell coming from it, and for some reason Jacob remembered how he stood in the old woman’s pantry, picking up herbs to stuff the chicken with, and found the same flower - with a greenish stem and a bright red head, decorated with a yellow border.
And suddenly Jacob trembled all over with excitement.
“You know, Mimi,” he shouted, “this seems to be the same flower that turned me from a squirrel into a dwarf!” I'll try to smell it.
“Wait a little,” said Mimi. — Take a bunch of this grass with you, and we’ll go back to your room. Collect your money and everything you earned while serving with the Duke, and then we will try the power of this wonderful herb.
Jacob obeyed Mimi, although his heart was beating loudly with impatience. He ran to his room. Having tied a hundred ducats and several pairs of clothes into a bundle, he stuck his long nose into the flowers and smelled them. And suddenly his joints began to crack, his neck stretched, his head immediately rose from his shoulders, his nose began to become smaller and smaller, and his legs became longer and longer, his back and chest straightened out, and he became the same as all people. Mimi looked at Jacob with great surprise.
- How beautiful you are! - she screamed. - Now you don’t look like an ugly dwarf at all!
Jacob was very happy. He wanted to immediately run to his parents and show himself to them, but he remembered his savior.
“If it weren’t for you, dear Mimi, I would have remained a dwarf for the rest of my life and, perhaps, would have died under the executioner’s ax,” he said, gently stroking the goose’s back and wings. - I have to thank you. I will take you to your father and he will break your spell. He's smarter than all the wizards.
Mimi burst into tears of joy, and Jacob took her in his arms and pressed her to his chest. He quietly left the palace - not a single person recognized him - and went with Mimi to the sea, to the island of Gotland, where her father, the wizard Wetterbock, lived.
They traveled for a long time and finally reached this island. Wetterbock immediately broke the spell on Mimi and gave Jacob a lot of money and gifts. Jacob immediately returned to his hometown. His father and mother greeted him with joy - he had become so handsome and brought so much money!
We also need to tell you about the Duke.
The next morning, the Duke decided to fulfill his threat and cut off the dwarf's head if he did not find the herb that the prince spoke about. But Jacob could not be found anywhere.
Then the prince said that the duke had hidden the dwarf on purpose so as not to lose his best cook, and called him a deceiver. The Duke became terribly angry and declared war on the Prince. After many battles and fights, they finally made peace, and the prince, to celebrate the peace, ordered his cook to bake a real “queen pie.” This world between them was called “Cake World”.
That's the whole story about Dwarf Nose.
Wilhelm Hauff
Little Longnose
Artist Eleonora LevandovskayaMister! How wrong are those who think that only during the time of Harun al-Rashid, the ruler of Baghdad, were there fairies and wizards, and even claim that there is no truth in those stories about the tricks of spirits and their rulers that can be heard in the bazaar. Fairies are still found today, and not so long ago I myself witnessed an incident in which spirits clearly took part, which I will tell you about.
In one large city of my dear fatherland, Germany, once lived a shoemaker Friedrich with his wife Hannah. All day he sat by the window and put patches on his shoes. He would also undertake to sew new shoes if someone ordered them, but then he had to buy leather first. He could not stock up on goods in advance - there was no money.
And Hannah sold fruits and vegetables from her small garden at the market. She was a neat woman, knew how to arrange goods beautifully, and she always had a lot of customers.
Hannah and Friedrich had a son, Jacob - a slender, handsome boy, quite tall for his twelve years. He usually sat next to his mother at the market. When a cook or cook bought a lot of vegetables from Hannah at once, Jacob helped them carry the purchase home and rarely returned empty-handed.
Hannah's customers loved the pretty boy and almost always gave him something: a flower, a cake, or a coin.
One day Hannah, as always, was trading at the market. In front of her stood several baskets with cabbage, potatoes, roots and all sorts of greens. There were also early pears, apples, and apricots in a small basket.
Jacob sat next to his mother and shouted loudly:
Here, here, cooks, cooks!... Here is good cabbage, greens, pears, apples! Who needs? Mother will give it away cheaply!
And suddenly a poorly dressed old woman with small red eyes, a sharp face wrinkled with age and a long, very long nose that went down to her chin approached them. The old woman leaned on a crutch, and it was surprising that she could walk at all: she limped, slid and waddled, as if she had wheels on her legs. It seemed that she was about to fall and poke her sharp nose into the ground.
Hannah looked at the old woman with curiosity. She has been trading at the market for almost sixteen years now, and she has never seen such a wonderful old woman. She even felt a little creepy when the old woman stopped near her baskets.
Are you Hannah, the greengrocer? - asked the old woman in a creaky voice, shaking her head all the time.
Yes,” answered the shoemaker’s wife. - Do you want to buy something?
We’ll see, we’ll see,” the old woman muttered to herself.
Let's look at the greens, look at the roots. Do you still have what I need...
She bent down and began to rummage with her long brown fingers in the basket of bunches of greenery that Hannah had arranged so beautifully and neatly. He will take a bunch, bring it to his nose and sniff it from all sides, followed by another, a third.
Hannah's heart was breaking - it was so hard for her to watch the old woman handle the greens. But she could not say a word to her - the buyer has the right to inspect the goods. Moreover, she became more and more afraid of this old woman.
Having turned over all the greens, the old woman straightened up and grumbled:
Bad product!... Bad greens!... There is nothing that I need. Fifty years ago it was much better!... Bad product! Bad product!
These words angered little Jacob.
Hey you, shameless old woman! - he shouted. “I sniffed all the greens with my long nose, crushed the roots with my clumsy fingers, so now no one will buy them, and you still swear that it’s a bad product!” The Duke's chef himself buys from us!
The old woman looked sideways at the boy and said in a hoarse voice:
Don't you like my nose, my nose, my beautiful long nose? And you will have the same one, right up to your chin.
She rolled up to another basket - with cabbage, took out several wonderful, white heads of cabbage and squeezed them so hard that they crackled pitifully. Then she somehow threw the heads of cabbage back into the basket and said again:
Bad product! Bad cabbage!
Don't shake your head so disgustingly! - Jacob shouted. “Your neck is no thicker than a stump, and just like that, it’ll break off, and your head will fall to our cart. Who will buy what from us then?
So, do you think my neck is too thin? - said the old woman, still grinning. - Well, you will be completely without a neck. Your head will stick straight out of your shoulders - at least it won’t fall off your body.
Don't say such nonsense to the boy! - Hannah finally said, seriously angry. - If you want to buy something, buy it quickly. You will drive away all my customers.
The old woman looked at Hannah angrily.
Okay, okay,” she grumbled. - Let it be your way. I'll take these six heads of cabbage from you. But I only have a crutch in my hands, and I can’t carry anything myself. Let your son bring my purchase home to me. I will reward him well for this.
Jacob really didn’t want to go, and he even cried - he was afraid of this terrible old woman. But his mother strictly ordered him to obey - it seemed sinful to her to force an old, weak woman to bear such a burden. Wiping his tears, Jacob put the cabbage in the basket and followed the old woman.
She did not wander very quickly, and almost an hour passed until they reached some distant street on the outskirts of the city and stopped in front of a small dilapidated house.
The old woman took some kind of rusty hook out of her pocket, deftly stuck it into a hole in the door, and suddenly the door swung open with a noise. Jacob entered and froze in place in surprise: the ceilings and walls of the house were marble, armchairs, chairs and tables were made of ebony, decorated with gold and precious stones, and the floor was glass and so smooth that Jacob slipped and fell several times.
The old woman put a small silver whistle to her lips and somehow in a special way, loudly, whistled - so that the whistle crackled throughout the whole house. And now guinea pigs quickly ran down the stairs - completely unusual guinea pigs that walked on two legs. Instead of shoes, they had nutshells, and these pigs were dressed just like people - they even remembered to take hats.
Where did you put my shoes, you scoundrels! - the old woman shouted and hit the pigs with a stick so hard that they jumped up screaming. - How much longer will I stand here?...
The fairy tale "Dwarf Nose" is one of the most famous works German writer We have known her since childhood. Its essence is that external attractiveness is always more important. In this tale, the author emphasizes the importance and significance of family in the life of every person. Here is a summary of the work. For ease of understanding, it is divided into three parts.
Wilhelm Hauff. “Dwarf Nose” (summary). Introduction
In one German city lived a poor couple, Hannah and Friedrich, with their son Jacob. The father of the family was a shoemaker, and the mother sold vegetables at the market. Their son Yakov was tall and handsome boy. They loved him very much and spoiled him as best they could with their gifts. The boy tried to be obedient in everything and helped his mother at the market.
Wilhelm Hauff. “Dwarf Nose” (summary). Developments
One day, when Yakov and his mother were trading, as always, at the market, an ugly old woman approached them and began to pick and choose, choosing vegetables and herbs. The boy insulted her, pointing out her physical flaws: short stature, a hump and a large hooked nose. The old woman was offended, but did not show it. She chose six heads of cabbage and asked Yakov to take her home. He readily agreed. Having brought the boy to her extraordinary house, the evil witch fed him a magical soup with some fragrant roots and herbs. After eating this broth, Yakov fell into a deep sleep. He dreamed that he turned into a squirrel and served the old woman in this guise for seven years. One day, when he was looking for spices in the closet to cook chicken for the witch, Yakov came across a basket with fragrant herbs, the same as what was in his soup. He sniffed it and woke up. “Go back to the market to his mother,” was the boy’s first thought. So he did.
When his parents saw him, they did not recognize their son. It turned out that in seven years he had turned into an ugly dwarf, and Hannah and Friedrich did not accept him like that. To feed himself, Jacob goes to the ducal palace to offer his services as a cook. They take him, and soon everyone is praising the food he has prepared.
Wilhelm Hauff. “Dwarf Nose” (summary). Denouement
One day, the dwarf Jacob himself went to the market to choose fat geese for dinner. There he acquired Mimi the goose, who, as it turned out later, spoke human voice. It was an enchanted girl. When Yakov understood everything, he began to guard the goose and feed it. One day the prince came to visit the duke and demanded that a real royal pie be baked for him. The dwarf fulfilled this order, but his baked goods did not turn out the way they should be. After all, it was missing one special herb, which is added only to this pie. The prince and duke were angry, but Yakov promised them to fulfill this order. Mimi promised to help him find the right herb. In the old garden, under a large chestnut tree, she found it and handed it to the dwarf. It turned out that this is the same spice that the witch added to the magic soup that changed Jacob. When he smelled it, he turned into a tall and handsome young man. After that, he and the goose went to where Mimi’s father, the old wizard Wetterbock, lived. He removed the evil spell from his sweet daughter, and she turned into a beautiful girl. Wetterbock gave Yakov many gifts and money and took him to his parents. So the young man returned to his hometown.
This work (even its brief content) allows us to plunge into the mysterious world of mythical creatures, magic and magic. Dwarf Nose is the main character of the fairy tale, kind and talented person. He believes in justice and is ready to help other people. And for this he was generously rewarded.
Good defeated evil in the fairy tale “Dwarf Nose.” Summary it allowed us to remember all the main points of this wonderful work.