Longnose the Dwarf

Jakob lives with his parents in a small town. His father is a shoemaker and his mother sells vegetables and herbs on the market. Jakob himself is a handsome, well-shaped boy. He likes to accompany his mother on the market. One day an old woman comes to their vegetable stand. After touching all the goods she rants and raves complaining about the allegedly poor quality. While Jakob immediately gets excited about it and insults her, his mother remains calm. The old woman still buys a few heads of cabbage. Jakob has to carry the basket to her home where the old woman offers him some soup. He eats it and seems to fall asleep and to dream. For seven long years Jakob stays with the woman and learns to cook. When he smells a particular herb one day, he wakes up and quickly runs away. At home, nobody recognizes the boy. Even his parents chase him away. Jakob is desperate because he does not know how long he was away from home and that he is an ugly little dwarf with a big long nose now.