“Now, no one can see what I pour from my pitcher,” he said, “and no one can come in, unless I invite him.”
He went to bed and slept well. Late that night a most remarkable thing happened. Five and twenty little men came to his door and they rapped and they tapped, and he would not let them in!
Then they laid down five and twenty little parcels on his doorstep and they crept away. Next morning the little dwarf went to his door and saw the five and twenty little parcels. They were all from the grocery store.
On each parcel was written, “Compliments from the little dwarfs, with thanks for the borrowed pitcher.”
On one package was written, “Don’t drink too much mud and vinegar!”
The little dwarf went to the brook and asked what all this meant. When the brook told him he laughed until he cried.
The little dwarf may still live in the woods, for all I know, and he may still be drinking out of his magic pitcher.
As soon as the Ink-Bottle Mamma stopped talking all her Babies went to sleep.