wholesome. But one day I ate a lavender berry -- as the
Ork did -- and immediately I grew so small that I was
scarcely two inches high. It was a very unpleasant
condition and like the Ork I became frightened. I could
not walk very well nor very far, for every lump of earth
in my way seemed a mountain, every blade of grass a tree
and every grain of sand a rocky boulder. For several days
I stumbled around in an agony of fear. Once a tree toad
nearly gobbled me up, and if I ran out from the shelter
of the bushes the gulls and cormorants swooped down upon
me. Finally I decided to eat another berry and become
nothing at all, since life, to one as small as I was, had
become a dreary nightmare.

"At last I found a small tree that I thought bore the
same fruit as that I had eaten. The berry was dark purple
instead of light lavender, but otherwise it was quite
similar. Being unable to climb the tree, I was obliged to
wait underneath it until a sharp breeze arose and shook
the limbs so that a berry fell. Instantly I seized it and
taking a last view of the world -- as I then thought -- I
ate the berry in a twinkling. Then, to my surprise, I
began to grow big again, until I became of my former
stature, and so I have since remained. Needless to say, I
have never eaten again of the lavender fruit, nor do any
of the beasts or birds that live upon this island eat
it."

They had all three listened eagerly to this amazing
tale, and when it was finished the Ork exclaimed: