Blackberry Jam

A long time ago, there was a poor woman who needed a new pair of shoes. She
looked for it everywhere, but all the shoes that she wanted were very expensive, and she
only had two coppers. Then she passed a store window and saw a pair of shoes which had a
beautiful colour in her size. And guess what? It’s only two coppers! She tried them on and
they were perfect, so she bought them and went home. But in the night, when she went to
bed, she placed her shoes on the table beside her bed, lay down, and was just drifting off to
sleep when she heard:

“My dear, would you care to dance?” said the sound beside her bed.

“What? Who whas that?” she replied.

“My dear, would you care to dance with me?”

Apparently, that sounds was came from a pair of shoes that she bought a while ago. And the
shoes began to dance. They clickety-clacked and tappity-tapped on the table! When the sun
rose, they set themselves on the table beside her bed. In the morning, she went back to the
store. She had such a headache!

“I want my money back,” she said.

The storekeeper pointed to a sign that said, “No refunds or exchanges.”

Then he said, “this store sells used merchandise. Now if you wanted to donate the shoes,
we could take them, but we can’t give you your money back.”

The woman didn’t like that. She wouldn’t have shoes or money then. So she went to a friend
and told her the story.

“Hmm.. It sounds like your shoes are bewitched. You should go to the wizard on the
mountain. He’ll take that spell away.”

“Oh no, I don’t want to go to a wizard!” said the woman.

“All right, then how about put a brick in the shoes? It might hold them down, and they
won’t dance again!”

“I’ll try that. I hope the shoes will stop dancing.”

Then the woman went home. She was so tired and she went straight to bed. She
placed her shoes on the table beside her bed, kept a brick in the shoes, lay down, and was
just drifting off to sleep when she heard that sound again:

“My dear, would you care to dance?”

The woman not answered, she just looked at that shoes with a confused face. Then the
shoes began to dance. And if you thought they were noisy at the first night, you should have
heard with a brick in them! Stompety-stomp, thoomety-thoom, they tap-danced, they clog-
danced, they danced on the table all night long. When the sun rose, they set themselves on the
table beside her bed.

In the morning, the woman went to her friend’s house.

“The bricks didn’t work, I’ll have to go to the wizard. But I don’t have any money!” she said.

“Oh, that’s all right,” her friend said. “He doesn’t take money for removing spells – he just
takes something real special. And I happen to know he likes blackberry jam – and you make
the best blackberry jam I’ve ever tasted.”

The woman took her prettiest pot of blackberry jam, it up with a ribbon and put it in
a basket, and went to see the wizard on the mountain. The wizard came shuffling out of his
cave. His hair was long and matted, he had warts all over his nose, and he smelled as if he
hadn’t taken a bath in three years.

“What do you want?” he said.

“My shoes have a spell on them. Could you take it off? I brought you some blackberry jam,”
the woman said.

“Blackberry jam! I love blackberry jam,” said the wizard. “But it has to be real special. Let’s
have a taste.”

Now, the wizard didn’t eat jam the same way as you or I do, spread on bread or maybe
eaten with a spoon. No, he dipped his old hairy hand into the jar and sucked the jam off his
fingers.

“Sluuuuurp! Hmmm, nice. But I don’t know if it’s special. Let’s have another taste.” He
dipped his hand in again. “Sluuuurp! No, it’s not special. It’s just ordinary blackberry jam. I
can’t take a spell off for jam that isn’t special. But I’ll give you some advice: Keep your shoes
on when you go to bed tonight. If they can’t touch the floor, they can’t dance.”

The woman wasn’t happy, but she went home. She was so tired she went straight to
bed. She placed her shoes on the table beside her bed, lay down, and was just drifting off to
sleep when she heard:

“My dear, would you care to dance?”

The woman not answered, she just looked at that shoes with a confused face. And suddenly,
the shoes began to dance – with her in them! They danced the waltz, they danced the polka,
they danced the hora, they danced the frug, and they danced the tango. She fell on the floor
and they danced all night the sun rose in the morning. She had such a headache – and she
was mad!

“Leave the shoes on, he says! My jam isn’t special, he says! Well, I’m going to make him
some real special blackberry jam!” She threw blackberries into her pot and began looking
around for something to throw in there with them.
“Aha!” She grabbed a bottle of lemon juice. Not the sweet-flavored kind, but the sour, thick,
and smelly kind. She dumped the whole bottle into the blackberry jam and stirred and
stirred. But the jam wasn’t special enough. She grabbed a bottle of spicy sauce. One drop
will set your tongue on fire. She dumped the whole bottle into the blackberry jam. And he
went to see the wizard on the mountain.

“You’re back!” the wizard said. “Did it work?”

“No,” the woman said. “The shoes danced all night. But I brought you some real special
blackberry jam.”

“Let’s see!” the wizard said. He took off the lid, stuck in his old hairy hand, and sucked off
the jam.

“Sluuuuuurp!” He paused, a funny look on his face. “You put something besides blackberries
in this jam, didn’t you?” “Yes, I did. I wanted it to be real special.”

“Well, let’s see if I can guess what it is!” He stuck his old hairy hand in again. “Sluuuuuuurp!”
He made a face. “Did you put … lemon juice in this blackberry jam?” “Yes, I did. I wanted it
to be real special.”

“That’s what my grandma always puts in her blackberry jam! She says lemon juice makes it
slide down real nice. But you put something else in here, didn’t you?” “Yes, I did. I wanted it
to be real special.”

“Well, let’s see if I can guess what it is!” He stuck his old hairy hand in again. “Sluuuuuuurp!”
He made another face. “Did you put … spicy sauce in this blackberry jam?” “Yes, I did. I
wanted it to be real special.”

“That’s what my Mama always puts in her blackberry jam! She says spicy sauce warms the
tummy!” He waved his hands toward the shoes. “I’m gonna take that spell off right now!”

The woman went home, placed her shoes on the table beside her bed, lay
down, and was just drifting off to sleep when she heard:

“My dear, would you care to … go to sleep?”

The woman smiled to that shoes and they all slept tight that night.