Then he went to fetch the herbs to stuff it with . In the store-room he noticed a half-opened cupboard which he did not remember having seen before . He peeped in and saw a lot of baskets from which came a strong and pleasant smell . He opened one and found a very uncommon herb in it . The stems and leaves were a bluish green , and above them was a little flower of a deep bright red , edged with yellow . He gazed at the flower , smelt it , and found it gave the same strong strange perfume which came from the soup the old woman had made him . But the smell was so sharp that he began to sneeze again and again , and at last -- he woke up ! There he lay on the old woman 's sofa and stared about him in surprise . ` Well , what odd dreams one does have to be sure ! ' he said to himself . ` Why , I could have sworn I had been a squirrel , a companion of guinea pigs and such creatures , and had become a great cook , too . How mother will laugh when I tell her ! But wo n't she scold me , though , for sleeping away here in a strange house , instead of helping her at market ! ' He jumped up and prepared to go : all his limbs still seemed quite stiff with his long sleep , especially his neck , for he could not move his head easily , and he laughed at his own stupidity at being still so drowsy that he kept knocking his nose against the wall or cupboards . The squirrels and guinea pigs ran whimpering after him , as though they would like to go too , and he begged them to come when he reached the door , but they all turned and ran quickly back into the house again . The part of the town was out of the way , and Jem did not know the many narrow streets in it and was puzzled by their windings and by the crowd of people , who seemed excited about some show . From what he heard , he fancied they were going to see a dwarf , for he heard them call out : ` Just look at the ugly dwarf ! ' ` What a long nose he has , and see how his head is stuck in between his shoulders , and only look at his ugly brown hands ! ' If he had not been in such a hurry to get back to his mother , he would have gone too , for he loved shows with giants and dwarfs and the like . He was quite puzzled when he reached the market-place .
There sat his mother , with a good deal of fruit still XXXXX her baskets , so he felt he could not have slept so very long , but it struck him that she was sad , for she did not call to the passers-by , but sat with her head resting on her hand , and as he came nearer he thought she looked paler than usual .
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