"'You come in the nick of time,' said the old man, grinning. 'I'll take you as my cook; you'll not have much to do.'
"'But,' answered the young man, 'I'm not very clever as a cook.'
"'It doesn't matter; you'll only have to keep a pot boiling and be ever stirring what's in it.'
"He then led the young man into a kind of underground kitchen, where there was an immense pot hanging on a hook, and underneath a roaring fire was burning. Then the old gentleman gave the youth a ladle as big as a shovel, and bade him stir continually, and every now and then add more fuel to the fire.
"The youth stirred on and on for twenty-five years, and then he grew tired and stopped for a while. When he was about to begin again he heard a voice coming out of the cauldron, which said:
"'You've been mixing us up for a good long while; couldn't you let us have a little rest?'
"The cook—who was no more a youth, but an elderly man—got frightened. He left the kitchen and went to find his master.
"'Well,' said the elderly gentleman, who was not a day older than he had been twenty-five years before, 'what is it you want?'
"'I'm rather tired of always stirring that pot, and I'd like to go home.'
"'Quite right,' replied the master. 'I suppose you want your wages?'