nd ask him whether I may not be allowed to look for vegetables in the
garden." The guard did as requested, and the dwarf received permission
to go into the garden, as it was surrounded by high walls and escape
was impossible. When Nosey was safely outside, he put the goose down
carefully, and she ran on before him to the lake where the chestnut
trees stood. He followed her closely, with beating heart, as his last
hope was centered on the success of their search, and if they did not
find the plant, he was fully resolved that he would throw himself into
the lake, rather than submit to being beheaded. The goose wandered
about under all the trees, turning aside every blade of grass with her
bill, but all in vain was her search, and she began to cry from pity
and anxiety, as the night was at hand, and it was difficult to
distinguish objects around her.

Just then the dwarf chanced to look across the lake and he shouted:
"Look, look! Across the lake stands an old chestnut tree; let us go
over there and search--perhaps we shall find my luck blooming there."
The goose took the lead, hopping and flying, and Nosey ran after as
fast as his little legs would carry him. The chestnut tree cast a large
shadow, so that nothing could be seen under its branches; but the goose
suddenly stopped, clapped her wings with joy, put her head down into
the long grass, and plucked something that she presented with her bill
to the astonished dwarf, saying: "That is the plant, and there are a
lot of them growing there, so that you will never lack for them."

The dwarf examined the plant thoughtfully; it had a sweet odor, that
reminded him involuntarily of the scene of his transformation. The
stems and leaves were of a bluish-green color, and it bore a brilliant
red flower with a yellowish border.

"God be praised!" exclaimed he at length. "How wonderful! Do you know
that I believe this is the very plant that changed me from a squirrel
to this hateful form? shall I make an experiment with it?"

"Not yet," replied the goose. "Take a handful of these plants with you
and let us go to your room; collect what money and other property you
have, and then we will try the virtue of this plant."

Taking some of the plants with them, they went back to his room, the
heart of the dwarf beating so that it might almost be heard. After
packing up his savings, some fifty or sixty ducats, and his shoes and
clothes in a bundle, he said: "God willing, I will now fre