The Hat

The wizard Yegor went to the market on a hot, sunny day to buy bread and smoked meats. On his way, Yegor stopped to talk with his good friend, the cheese maker. The brewmaster gave the wizard a pint of his best ale, and the three friends chatted the morning away. Yegor removed his hat and placed it firmly on a round of cheese because the weather was so warm.

Suddenly, the baker yelled that she was closing. Yegor dashed to buy his bread and then went to the butcher. With his shopping finished, the wizard walked home, not realizing he had forgotten his hat.

All the sellers were busy, so no one spotted Mucha as she found the wizard’s hat and placed it on her head. The first thing she did was wish to be invisible. “Poof,” she vanished. Wanting to trick her friends, Mucha snuck behind them and screamed, “BOO!” Reappearing, she laughed at her friends running about like scared mice.

The children asked her to do another trick. Mucha insisted that she had to return the hat. Her friends teased her, calling her a scaredy cat. Mucha wasn’t scared. She told them they better watch out or else. “Or else what?” they laughed. “Dragons,” she coldly replied.

They did not believe she had such power, which made her angry. Mucha wished for a horde of dragons to show them who the scaredy cat was. “POOF” fairy dragons appeared and began to fly around. The children also asked if she had tiny monsters.

No one laughed when the boy was dropped into a barrel of live eels. The market filled with screams as the tiny terrors wreaked havoc upon the village square. Hearing the screams, Yegor realized he’d forgotten his hat and rushed back to the market.

Mucha stood in the middle of swirling dragons, desperately trying to calm the little beasts. Yanking the hat off her head, the wizard placed it on his head just as the beasts upset a market table.

“Clip, Clap, Trap be as before,” spoke the wizard. In a flash, the dragons vanished, and the market returned to normal. Pointing a finger toward Mucha’s home, the wizard spoke no word. “Ouch,” cried the child and then rushed home.

She discovered the wizard had given her a present for her naughty behavior. Mucha had grown a small pig’s tail as a reminder to return what does not belong to you.