` First you mess all our nice herbs about with your horrid brown fingers and sniff at them with your long nose till no one else will care to buy them , and then you say it 's all bad stuff , though the duke 's cook himself buys all his herbs from us . ' The old woman looked sharply at the saucy boy , laughed unpleasantly , and said : ` So you do n't like my long nose , sonny ? Well , you shall have one yourself , right down to your chin . ' As she spoke she shuffled towards the hamper of cabbages , took up one after another , squeezed them hard , and threw them back , muttering again , ` Bad stuff , bad stuff . ' ` Do n't waggle your head in that horrid way , ' begged Jem anxiously . ` Your neck is as thin as a cabbage-stalk , and it might easily break and your head fall into the basket , and then who would buy anything ? ' ` Do n't you like thin necks ? ' laughed the old woman . ` Then you sha 'n' t have any , but a head stuck close between your shoulders so that it may be quite sure not to fall off . ' ` Do n't talk such nonsense to the child , ' said the mother at last . ` If you wish to buy , please make haste , as you are keeping other customers away . ' ` Very well , I will do as you ask , ' said the old woman , with an angry look . ' I will buy these six cabbages , but , as you see , I can only walk with my stick and can carry nothing . Let your boy carry them home for me and I 'll pay him for his trouble . ' The little fellow did n't like this , and began to cry , for he was afraid of the old woman , but his mother ordered him to go , for she thought it wrong not to help such a weakly old creature ; so , still crying , he gathered the cabbages into a basket and followed the old woman across the Market Place . It took her more than half an hour to get to a distant part of the little town , but at last she stopped in front of a small tumble-down house . She drew a rusty old hook from her pocket and stuck it into a little hole in the door , which suddenly flew open . How surprised Jem was when they went in ! The house was splendidly furnished , the walls and ceiling of marble , the furniture of ebony inlaid with gold and precious stones , the floor of such smooth slippery glass that the little fellow tumbled down more than once . The old woman took out a silver whistle and blew it till the sound rang through the house .
Immediately a lot of guinea pigs came running down the stairs , but XXXXX thought it rather odd that they all walked on their hind legs , wore nutshells for shoes , and men 's clothes , whilst even their hats were put on in the newest fashion .
First Jem cabbage-stalk cabbages chin fall home hour nonsense right