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do
oh i know what you've come for
you can tell them the rosemary will be
ready in a while
i remembered another story if you have a
moment to listen
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there was an ordinary couple who lived
in an ordinary simple house
they worked very hard and they had
enough to live their
simple ordinary life
no matter how hard they worked they
could never
afford to buy any extra things
they worked and saved money but whenever
they had enough to buy something they
really wanted
something they needed had to be replaced
something vital
it grew very tiresome and they began to
take out their frustrations on each
other
but many an evening was spent with them
arguing
about what they really wanted and what
they really needed
and so it was one day the man was on his
way to work
and there sat on the side of the road a
peddler wrapped up
tightly in his cloak selling his wares
he had a wooden bucket
the man knew they needed one of those
and some really nice looking spoons
they were shorter spoons at home some
rope they needed some of that
and some thread buttons lots of
practical things the man could have
spent his money on
he stopped to have a look well surely he
wouldn't be able to afford it all
and then he noticed in the middle of the
peddler's tray
a beautiful knife its handle
was intricately decorated and
it looked the perfect size
he'd wanted a new knife for a long time
now
the peddler saw how the man was looking
at the knife and the joy it brought to
his face
and so he offered it so you get a closer
look
the feel of the knife it was as if it
was made for him
a tingle of excitement went up his arm
and threw his body
its blade looked really really sharp
it was the perfect knife
how much asked the man twenty shillings
replied the peddler the man sighed and
came to his senses
even if he did have twenty shillings he
couldn't spend it on one
knife he put it back on the tray
he then looked properly for the first
time at the peddler
he wasn't sure he'd seen anyone
so um well awful looking
he had one those faces that gave the
impression that he was thinking nasty
horrible thoughts
it was ugly the peddler's expression was
ugly horrible off-putting the man was
quite taken aback he was
breathing heavily with his mouth open
and spittle running down his chin
and there was an horrible smell about
him his hands grey with dirt his
fingernails black but thought the man
it's his
face it's the peddler's face that makes
him look
truly ugly i could let you have it
and you could pay me in a week said the
peddler shaking the man from his
thoughts and before he knew it
the knife was back in his hand his knife
um i could pay in a week that suits
said the man turning the knife over in
his hand yes but it wouldn't be twenty
shillings i'd require
you'd have to bring me something worth
nothing and if you haven't found
something worth nothing in a week
then i will take your soul as payment
very good said the man for he was
distracted and
clearly thought the peddler was mad
something worth nothing
or my soul he turned the knife over once
more
and then went off to work
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when he got home that night after work
he didn't tell his wife about his new
purchase
i'll wait until i found something worth
nothing he thought
but that evening he couldn't think of
anything worth nothing what is
worth nothing what has no value and what
was it that the peddler had asked for
his soul what did it mean to give up
your soul
he didn't sleep very well that night and
the next morning when he awoke he was
ill
with worry what could he do he needed to
think some more
he couldn't go to work well that night
he didn't sleep at all
and the next day he couldn't go to work
in fact he didn't go to work all week
he didn't eat he didn't sleep and he
didn't find something worth nothing
what had he done all too soon
that fateful day came
the man knew it was the peddler he fell
to his knees in fear
and there on the floor he saw a feather
a feather
that was worth nothing what do people
use and then he remembered
people use fellas for all sorts of
things some people write with them
oh he scrambled across the floor and as
he did so he noticed a piece of straw
his wife must have missed it when she
was sweeping straw
straw was worth nothing surely what then
he remembered there was straw in his
mattress
they used straw for the animals there
was even straw in the walls of his house
he scrambled to the darkness by the open
window
and there he could smell his animals the
the pigs and the chickens
pooh dung dung was worth nothing
and then he remembered you use it on
crops to make them grow and in fact he
could list a few things
that pooh was used for on his fingers it
was then
that his wife came in what are you doing
down there on the floor she demanded
and he had to confess it all whispering
he told her
about the knife the ugly man and
something worth
nothing leave this to me she said go on
get out
i'll deal with this i'll call you when
i'm done oh but before you go
can you pass me the jug with a really
narrow neck he did so
and as he was leaving he noticed that
she put it on that shelf he hated the
one really high up
he wasn't very tall and his wife
made ready to answer the door
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i've never seen anything so ugly the
wife thought to herself
as she looked at the wrinkled face with
the sneer a snarl
almost of the peddler and his breath
every time he breathed out
she stepped aside to let the peddler in
i know what you've come for
she said yes said the peddler spraying
the wife with spittle
i've come for something worth nothing
or your husband's soul
well what you're looking for is in that
jug on the shelf
said the wife smiling to herself as
clearly
this little old ugly man couldn't reach
it
and then to her surprise
the man straightened up and he grew
taller and taller and
taller he stretched out his arm which
grew longer
and longer and longer and then
he reached in to the jug he searched
around
it contains nothing he said yes
said the wife the jug contains something
worth nothing he then screamed
and fled from the house and as he did so
the wife was sure she saw sticking out
the back of the cloak
a tail and was that a fork at the end of
it
and were his shoes really hooves
and that is the story of how
a very ordinary couple escaped their
brush
with the devil and they learnt
to be content with what they had
now how much of this rosemary do you
think you'll need
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you