What a Mistake!
What a Mistake!
Once upon a time the king of Gnome land had a lovely garden, kept near and pretty by twenty-one gardeners. The head gardeners was a fat and surly gnome called Gurgle. He was a good gardeners, but most unpleasant to the gnomes who worked under him. How he scolded them! And never a word of praise did he give them when they did anything good.
They all disliked him, and feared him. He had a horrid habit of creeping round corners very suddenly and pouncing on them to see if they were doing their work properly. He frightened them so much that they dropped whatever they were carrying, and I couldn't tell you how many pots were broken because of Gurgle's sly ways.
Now Gurgle had a special pair of garden scissors that he was very fond of. They were large and sharp, and most comfortable to hold. They were usually kept hanging in the garden shed, and, dear me, wasn't Gurgle angry if anyone borrowed them!
One day the King himself wandered into the shed and saw them. He thought they would be just the thing for cutting off a piece of rose tree that knocked them.
And, of course, it would happen that Gurgle came along that same afternoon and wanted them himself. When he found that they were not in the shed he was very angry indeed.
He went round roaring and grumbling, and even when he discovered that it was the king himself who had borrowed them, he didn't stop roaring.
'Those are my scissors!' he carried. 'I won't have anyone borrowing them, not even the King, that I won't. I'll keep them safely some-where so that no one can borrow them!'
And where do you think he kept them when he got them back? He had a special hat made, and instead of putting a feather into it he put his scissors!
Now Gurgle had a very bad memory indeed. He quite forgot that he had put his scissors into his hat that afternoon, and he went to the garden shed to get them from their usual place. And, of course, they weren't there annoying! How aggravating! How annoying! How very, very vexing!
He began to roar and rage as usual, and everyone came running to see what was the matter.
'My scissors have gone again!' he shouted. 'Who has taken them?'
'Please sir,' said a small gnome, nervously, 'you took them yourself and they . . .'
'I TOOK THEM MYSELF!' shouted the gnome in anger. 'How ridiculous to say a thing like that when I'm looking for them. If I took them myself I'd have them in my hands, wouldn't I?
'But sir, you're got . . .' began the little gnome, trembling. Gurgle wouldn't let him finish.
'How dare you argue with me!' he roared. 'Go and dig for six hours in the kitchen garden for a punishment.' Well, of course, nobody else dared say a word after that. They all stood silently round Gurgle, looking at the scissors struck in his hat, and wishing that Gurgle would remember they were there.
'Now then who's borrowed them? Roared Gurgle in a fury. 'Whoever it is had better own up before I punished him very, VERY severely. I've got this punishment all written out here and the head cook has promised to come and read it out if I don't get my scissors back at once.'
Nobody said anything at all. Nobody dared to. They stared at Gurgle, wondering whatever was going to happen.
Gurgle clapped his hands. The head cook came running down the path. He was not a nice fellow and the little gnomes didn't like him very much. He was only too pleased to read out a dreadful punishment, and see it happen to one of the gnome gardeners.
'Cook, someone has got my scissors again,' said Gurgle, angrily. 'Will you please stand in the middle of us and read out the punishment. I will stand here and watch to see who the gardener is, and I shall box his ears when I know!'
The head cook cleared his throat and looked at the paper Gurgle handed him. Then he began to read, slowly and loudly. This is what he read:
'Now hear the dreadful punishment for the one who has my scissors at this very moment. May his ears grow long like donkey's ears! May his hair fall out! May his nails grow as long as a tiger's claws! May his nose shoot out like a snake! May . . .'
Gurgle looked round to see who was the gnome to have such a dreadful punishment _ and to his surprise no one seemed to change at all! But what was this? Oh, goodness, gracious, what was happening to ears? To his hair, that was dropping down all round him; to his nails, and to his nose! Oh, his poor nose! It grew as long as a snack and waved about in the air!
Gurgle gave such a shriek that the head cook stopped reading and looked at him in surprise. When he saw what had happened he dropped his paper, began to shake like a leaf, and then ran back to his kitchen as fast as his legs could carry him, crying, 'He's got the scissors in his hat! He's got the scissors in his hat! Oooooooooh my!'
The gnome gardeners started at gurgle with wide eyes. Then they began laugh. They couldn't help it. Gurgle looked so funny _ and to think he had brought his own punishment on himself, too!
'Ho, ho, ho,' they roared. 'Ho, ho, ho!'
The king heard all the noise and came to see what the matter was. When he saw Gurgle standing there looking such a dreadful sight, with tears pouring down his long nose, he didn't know what to say.
At last he asked one of the gnomes to explain everything to him, and the little gnome, stammering and trying not to laugh, told the King all that had happened.
The King listened, frowning.
'You are an unkind gnome, Gurgle,' he said, 'to think of such a fearful punishment for someone whose only fault was that they had borrowed your scissors. Why, I myself might have borrowed them again, and this spell would have worked on me then. Well, you are certainly well-punished, Gurgle, and I shall so nothing about it. Keep your long ears, your long nails, you long nose and your bald head! It will help you to remember that bad temper and spit-fulness always come back to the owner, and harm him more than they harm anybody else!'
So there is Gurgle, humble and ashamed, hoping and hoping that one day he will become his own self once more. He tries to be sweet-tempered, he tries to be fair, and sooner or later he will grow right again. But it is a long time to wait.
What a mistake!
