Far away in a deep forest stood a wooden cottage. It had a red roof, a wooden door, painted windows with coloured curtains and was all green. It looked absolutely fabulous. There lived a good little witch with her husband, the wizard. They were both too old, but because they were magical, it didn’t matter.
They both had a wart on their nose and when they walked, they leaned on a stick. The witch was very fond of cooking, and every day the cottage smelled wonderful. The wizard loved the food from the witch.
One day the wizard decided to go for a walk in the woods. He walked along a forest path past raspberries and blueberries. He turned right, then left again, and suddenly found he didn’t know where he was. He knew the forest very well, but he couldn’t see very well. He was lost. He had no idea where he was. He walked around and around in the forest for a while, trying to find the forest path he had come by, but it was nowhere to be found. After wandering for a while, his feet hurt, so he sat down under a big tree and rested.
Meanwhile, back home, the witch was worried about her dear wizard. She walked nervously around the cottage, looking in all directions, but she didn’t see him coming from anywhere. “He must have wandered off. But how can I guide him back if he can’t see so well?” wondered the witch aloud.
After a few minutes, she had a very good idea. “I’m going to cook the most fragrant food I know. The smell will waft through the forest. As soon as the wizard smells it, he’ll follow his nose straight home,” thought the witch and got to work. It wasn’t easy. First, she had to chop wood so that she would have something to heat the furnace. Then she gathered the most fragrant herbs from the garden and had to fetch water from the well to boil the herbs in. She picked vegetables from her garden and put them and the herbs in the water. She added spices to them. The water began to bubble and the smell of food wafted through the room.
The witch hurriedly opened the windows and the door so that the smell could reach the forest, as far as it could so it could reach the wizard. And to make sure that the fragrance would go through the whole forest, she took a fan and began to wave it from the door towards the forest. Then she uttered the magic phrase: “Scent of herbs fly far, my beloved come back to me, wherever you are.”
The fragnance spread through the forest. It was stronger than the scent of flowers or the pitch on the trees. The magical saying carried the fragnance to the lost wizard, who until then had only sat sadly under the tree. Then the familiar scent of herbs hit his nose. He jumped to his feet, grabbed his wand and sucked in the life-saving scent. He let it guide him until he finally reached his magical house, where a happy witch was waiting for him. She called to him from afar: “I knew you’d recognize the scent and come!”
The wizard was very glad that the witch had brought him home. And when he saw what she had to do to make it happen, he appreciated her even more. To this day they both live in the fairy cottage and help each other with their magic. They appreciate that they are still there for each other.
