The Story of the Witch in the Hut
Once upon a time, a witch lived in a hut in the forest. Everyday she would collect berries, seeds, nuts, fruits, bark, moss, and special plants. She would put all the materials she collected into a giant pot to boil. She would stir her brew very slowly. It would boil all afternoon. It would boil all evening. It would boil all through the night. The fire would get hotter and hotter. In the middle of the night she would pour the brew into bottles, cap the bottles and put labels on each one. Then she put the bottles on the shelves in her hut.
There were hundreds of bottles on the shelves. On the bottom shelf she had regular bottles with regular writing on the labels. On the middle shelf she had unusual bottles with unusual writing on the labels. On the top shelf she had the strangest looking bottles with the strangest looking writing you have ever seen. The symbols in this writing were very odd, indeed.
Once a squirrel from the forest was feeling poorly. He came to the hut and knocked on the door. Knock, knock, knock. The witch came to the door and said, “Ye-eh-eh-ehs...may-ay-ay...I..he-eh-ehlp...you?”
The squirrel said, “I am not feeling very well.” The witch went to the bottom shelf. She took one of the regular bottles with the regular writing on the label. She gave some of the brew to the squirrel and he felt much better after just a little while. The squirrel said, “I will always be your friend because you have helped me.”
Another time, a deer had broken its leg. He limped to the hut and knocked on the door. Knock, knock, knock. The witch came to the door and said, “Ye-eh-eh-ehs...may-ay-ay...I..he-eh-ehlp...you?”
The deer said, “I have broken my leg.” The witch took another of the regular bottles from the bottom shelf and gave the deer a small amount to drink. In no time at all, the deer’s leg was mended. The deer said, “I will always be your friend because you have helped me.”
Another time, a bear was so sick she thought she would die. She came to the hut and knocked on the door. Knock, knock, knock. The witch came to the door and said, “Ye-eh-eh-ehs...may-ay-ay...I..he-eh-ehlp...you?”
The bear said, “I am feeling so very ill. I think I might die.” The witch took a third bottle from the bottom shelf and gave her a drink. In very little time at all, the bear was feeling much better and said, “I will always be your friend because you have helped me.”
The next day, there was a hunter in the forest hunting bear. He knocked on the door of the hut. Knock, knock, knock. The witch came to the door and said, “Ye-eh-eh-ehs...may-ay-ay...I..he-eh-ehlp...you?”
The hunter said, “I am the hunter and I am hunting bear. Have you seen a bear in this part of the woods?”
The witch lied, “No-oh-oh, I...have...no-ah-ah-ah-aht...se-e-e-en...a...bear,” because the bear was her friend. The hunter left and continued hunting bear.
In a few moments, the witch heard knock, knock, knock on her door. She went to the door and said, “Ye-eh-eh-ehs...may-ay-ay...I..he-eh-ehlp...you?”
It was the bear. She said, “I am very frightened. There is a hunter in the forest. He is hunting me. Can you help me?”
This time the witch went to the middle shelf. She took one of the unusual bottles with the unusual writing on the label. She said to the bear, “Thi-ih-ihs...brew...wi-ih-ihl...turn..you-ou-ou-ou...into...to...a-a-a-a...beautiful...human...maiden. The...hunter...wi-ih-ihl...no-ah-ah-ah-aht...be-e-e-e...a-a-a-a-a-ble...to...resist...you-ou-ou-ou. You-ou-ou-ou...must...promise...to...repay...me-e-e...when...I...ask...you.”
The bear quickly agreed for she did not know how else to escape the hunter. As she took a drink from the unusual bottle with the unusual writing, she turned into a most beautiful human maiden. She had raven hair braided around her gloriously fair complexion.
She stepped from the door. The hunter had returned to the hut following her bear tracks. When he saw the maiden, he could not resist her beauty and said, “You must be my wife.” The bear (who now looked like a human) agreed. The hunter took her back to his cabin where they were married and had a child.
One day, a few years later, the child was playing in the forest when she came upon some mushrooms and ate them. (You must never eat mushrooms in the woods.) When she ate them, she began to feel very, very poorly, indeed. She came upon the witch’s hut and knocked. Knock, knock, knock. The witch came to the door and said, “Ye-eh-eh-ehs...may-ay-ay...I..he-eh-ehlp...you?”
The child said, “I have eaten some mushrooms in the woods. I am feeling very poorly, indeed. I wondered if you could help me.”
The witch went to the bottom shelf. She took one of the regular bottles with the regular writing on the label. She gave some of the brew to the child and said, “You-ou-ou...must...ne-eh-eh-eh-eh-ver...e-e-at...the...mushrooms...in...the...woods.”
The child felt much better after just a while and said, “I will always be your friend because you have helped me.”
As she got up to leave, the witch said, “Bring...yo-o-o-o-ur...mother...to...me-e-e-e-e.”
The child ran from the hut to the hunter’s cabin and said to her mother, “Mother, you must come with me. I have found the most wonderful hut with the most wonderful witch. She has given me the most wonderful brew that made me feel so much better after I ate the mushrooms in the woods.”
The mother (who was really the bear) said, “You must never eat the mushrooms in the woods.”
The child said, “Yes, Mother, but you must come with me and see the most wonderful witch.” The mother came along with the child to the hut. She remembered the hut and the witch and her promise.
They knocked on the door. Knock, knock, knock. The witch came to the door and said, “Ye-eh-eh-ehs...may-ay-ay...I..he-eh-ehlp...you?”
The child said, “I have brought you my mother just as you asked.”
The witch said, “Ye-eh-eh-eh-es, child. I...kno-o-o-o-ow...your...mother.” The mother was frightened for she did not know what the witch wanted. The witch said, “Do...you-ou-ou-ou...remember...the...last...ti-i-i-ime...we-e-e-e...met?”
The mother said, “Yes, I do.”
The witch said, “Do...you-ou-ou-ou...remember...that...I...saved...your...li-i-i-i-i-fe?”
The beautiful human mother (who was really the bear) said, “Yes, I remember.”
The witch said, “Do...you-ou-ou-ou...remember...that...you-ou-ou-ou...promised...to...always...be-e-e-e-e...my...friend...and...to...repay...me...when...I...ask?”
The mother said, “Yes, I do.”
Then the witch said, “You-ou-ou...must...give...me-e-e-e-e...this...child!”
The mother was stricken with grief for she had raised the child from birth with the love of mother for child. She knew she had to repay the witch but she could not bear to part from the child. She said, “Please, do not take this child from me.”
The witch said, “Do...not...worry. I...will...not...ke-e-e-e-e-ep...you-ou-ou-ou...from...your child. Now, bring...her...o-o-o-o-ver here.” The witch went to the top shelf. She took one of the strangest bottles you have ever seen with the strangest writing you have ever seen on the label. She gave the child a drink.
Suddenly, the child turned into a bear cub. The human mother was frightened and began to cry. The witch said, “Do...not...worry. I...will...not...ke-e-e-e-e-ep...you-ou-ou-ou...from...your child. You-ou-ou...ma-a-a-ay...drink...from...the...bottle...as...well.”
The human mother took one drink and turned back into the bear she had always been on the inside. She was very happy to return to the forest and live freely with all the delicious berries and the honey from the honeycomb. She was so happy to be with her friends the squirrel and the deer. Most of all, she was happy because she could be with her child, the bear cub.
That evening the hunter came back from the forest to his cabin to find it empty. He did not know where his wife and child could be. He ran into the forest to the witch’s hut and knocked on the door. Knock, knock, knock. But, there was no answer. He knocked again. Knock, knock, knock. But, still there was no answer. He knocked a third time. Knock, knock, knock. But, still there was no answer.
He forced the door open and went inside. There in her chair in the corner sat the very large witch fast asleep. Being the curious sort, the hunter was looking at all the bottles on the shelves; the regular bottles on the bottom shelf, the unusual bottles on the middle shelf and the strangest bottles you have ever seen on the top shelf. He took one of the strangest bottles with the strangest writing on the label from the top shelf. Not being able to help himself, he took a drink.
Instantly, he was turned into a huge bear. He ran out the door and through the forest quite frightened by his new appearance. He did not know what to do as a bear. He had always been the hunter.
He kept running until he found his wife, the bear, and their child, the bear cub. No longer did the bear’s live in fear. No longer was there a hunter in the forest. Safe at last, thanks to the witch in the hut, the bears lived happily in the forest from that day until this.
The Witch in the Hut by C. Walker ©03