Jean tried to ask the fairies politely to leave but they took no notice.. She said “I wish these fairies would go away. I wish you would give me some help,” she said to her husband Andrew, but he wouldn’t wake up. And then she had an idea. She decided to go and see a wise man who lived in the village. When the wise man heard her story, he said: “Oh dear! You’ve made a big mistake. You must always think carefully before you wish for anything. You wished for some to help you and now the fairies have come. You won’t get rid of them just by asking them to leave. They’ve put a spell on your husband. That’s why he won’t wake up.”
And then the wise man told Jean what to do. So, Jean thanked the wise man and set off for home. She made her way back to the house, stood outside the door and shouted “One-tree Hill’s on fire!” And when the fairies heard this they all rushed out of the house. Jean shut the door and locked it. Then she turned the spinning wheel upside down, stood the broom on its head, took the water off the fire and turned everything upside down, back-to-front, topsy-turvy. Once the fairies realised the Hill was not on fire they came back to the house. “Open the door”, they shouted. “Let us in!” But Jean said “I can’t, I’m busy. I’m baking bread.”
Then the fairies shouted to the spinning wheel to open the door, but it couldn’t because it had been turned upside down. So they asked the water to open the door but the water couldn’t because it had been taken off the fire. So they asked the broom to open the door but it couldn’t because it had been turned upside down. Then the fairies remembered a piece of bread that was toasting by the fire. Jean had forgotten to do anything about that. So the bread went rolling along the floor to open the door but Jean was too quick for it and she caught it and the fairies shouted louder than ever.
And then Jean remembered what the wise man had told her and she threw a bucket of water over her husband, Andrew. He woke up, went to the door and opened it and at once the fairies became quiet and went away. Jean sat down exhausted. Her husband felt well and happy - he had had a lovely restful evening. After that, Jean was very careful not to make any wishes - and the fairies never came back again.
14 - THE STORY OF TOM AND THE MAGIC FLUTE
This is a story about a boy called Tom who lived in a farmhouse, with an old farmer and his very bad-tempered wife. Tom’s job was to look after the sheep.
One morning he was sitting on a hillside watching the sheep and playing on his flute, when an old man suddenly appeared. The old man was hungry and asked Tom for something to eat. Tom had some food which the farmer’s wife had given him for lunch - some dry bread. It was not a very good lunch, but Tom gave it all to the old man. The old man took the bread and ate it all. Then he said to Tom: “I want to give you a present.” And the old man took a flute out of his pocket and gave it to Tom. He said: “Here’s a new flute for you - a very special flute. It’s a magic flute. It will play very well for you - and when you play it, everyone, except you, will dance.”
Then the old man said: “I want to give you something else as well. Now what would you like?”
Tom said: “The farmer’s wife at the farm where I live is very bad-tempered. She always looks at me angrily. I wish she would smile at me.” The old man said: “I understand the problem. From now on, whenever the farmer’s wife looks at you angrily, she will start to laugh - and she will laugh and laugh until you tell her to stop.”
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