"The Chief Cook looked at me delightedly.
"'If that's all,' he said, 'this gentleman, whose name I am unfortunately unacquainted with, has a remedy which will soon get you out of your trouble, and I shouldn't wonder if, after all, His Supreme Importance's toothache were the means of raising us all to honour and distinction;' and he proceeded to tell the Court Physician how I had been successful in ridding him of the toothache.
"The Court Physician was greatly interested, and after I had read to him the directions in the book, he suggested that he should take me to the Palace at once and into the presence of the Grand Panjandrum.
"'For no doubt the operation must be performed by yourself, since you alone possess the fairy power,' said he. And so we made the best of our way to the beautiful building which I could see in the distance.
"I wish I could describe to you the magnificence of that marvellous place. The jewelled windows and golden staircase; the wonderful velvety carpets and silken hangings; the hundreds of silent servants dressed in the beautiful royal livery of the Grand Panjandrum, who flitted about executing immediately the slightest wish echoed in that wonderful place.
"But it is sufficient to say that, after a lot of ceremony, I was at last ushered into the presence of the Grand Panjandrum himself.
"It is forbidden to anyone, under the most awful penalties, to describe His Supreme Importance's appearance, so I cannot tell you what he was like; but I found him suffering the most excruciating agony with the toothache, and with his face even more swollen than the Chief Cook's had been.
"At a sign from the Court Physician I quickly prepared my nettle leaves, which we had thought to gather on our way to the palace, and began to rub them gently on the Grand Panjandrum's cheek, on the opposite side of his face to that which was swollen.
"To my horror and amazement, they had no effect whatever, except immediately to raise a terrible rash upon His Supreme Importance's cheek, and to cause him such pain that he called out angrily that it was worse than the toothache itself.
"I hurriedly and anxiously consulted my little book to see if by any mischance I had failed in carrying out any of the directions; but no, there it was in black and white—'rub the other side with a stinging nettle.'