The Search For Jessinda

Once upon a time a Gnorf, which is something between a gnome and a dwarf asked an old man if he would pay him a pound for every apple he picked for him.
And because the old man liked apples he agreed to the Gnorfs offer.
Unfortunately, then, not an hour later, the Gnorf returned pulling a cart with a thousand apples upon it and said to the old man,
"There you are old man. A thousand apples. Now as agreed you must pay me a thousand pounds".
Now the old man had some money but certainly not a thousand pounds to pay the Gnorf and so he pleaded with the Gnorf.
"Please", he said, "I do not have that kind of money. The most I can give you, my whole life savings,  is a hundred pounds".
But the Gnorf was not satisfied.
"A deal is a deal",  he said angrilly taking a whip from his belt, "And if I cannot have a pound for every apple I picked then you shall have a thousand lashes from my whip instead".
But then fortunately for the old man, his beautiful daughter Jessinda who had been listening from nearby and who dreaded the thought of her elderly father recieving a thousand lashes stepped forwards and said to the Gnorf,
"Please. Don't whip my father. Please take me instead. I will be your wife and cook for you and clean for you and that will surely make up for my fathers debt".
And, because Jessinda was so incredibly beautiful, the Gnorf agreed and, turning his cartload of apples into a horse and buggy, he took Jessinda away in it.
But then, despairing at what would become of his daughter and feeling guilty, the old man sat upon a log and started to cry.
As he was crying however, an Elfry, which is a cross between an Elf and a fairy, happen to fly by and he asked the old man what was wrong.
"Its my daughter", said the old man, "A wicked Gnorf has taken her away and forced her to marry him".
And hearing the mans sad tale, the Elfry took pity upon him.
"Don't worry", said the Elfry, "Only tell me your daughters name and I shall go and look for her and rescue her for you".
So the old man told the Elfry that his daughters name was Jessinda and then the Elfry flew off quick as a dart into the forest to find Jessinda.
And as he was flying through the forest he called out, "Jessinda! Jessinda! Oh has anyone seen a girl called Jessinda?".
Unfortunately, the Gnorf, with his large pointy ears heard what the Elfry was shouting and, turning himself into an honest and kindly looking old woman, he said to the Elfry,
"I've seen a girl called Jessinda. She was with a Gnorf wasn't she?".
"Yes", said the Elfry, "Thats just so".
"Well then", said the Gnorf in disguise, pointing to an old bottle that was lying open on the ground nearby, "I believe I saw them both shrink up very small and go into that bottle over there. That must be where the Gnorf lives".
And so, raising his cap courteously and thanking what he thought was an old woman, the Elfry shrank himself up very small and flew inside the bottle.
No sooner had he done so, however, when the Gnorf grabbed hold of the bottle and stuck a magic cork in it and then, cackling to himself, the Gnorf threw the bottle down a bottomless wishing well.
And because the well was bottomless, the bottle fell for miles and miles and days and days and, because the cork in the bottle was magic, no matter how he tried to push, the Elfry could not dislodge it from the neck of the bottle.
Fortunately, along the sides of the bottomless well there were sharp jagged rocks and the bottle, striking one of the rocks, got broken and, when it did, quick as a whizz, the Elfry flew out of the bottle and back up out of the bottomless well.
But the Elfry still did not know where the Gnorf had taken Jessinda and so, again, he flew about the forest shouting "Jessinda! Jessinda! Where are you, Jessinda!".
And as he was calling out her named the Gnorf, with his long pointy ears heard him again and this time he turned himself into Jessindas likeness and, running out of the forest, said to the Elfry,
"Oh I'm here! I'm here!".
"You mean you escaped from the Gnorf?", asked the Elfry.
"Yes", said the Gnorf in disguise, "While it was sleeping I crept out of its cave".
"Well then", said the Elfry, "Follow me and I'll take you home to your father".
Then the Elfry turned round to lead the person who he thought was Jessinda home.
But then, no sooner had the Elfry turned his back on the Gnorf, when the Gnorf turned itself back into its true form and threw a sack over the head of the Elfry which it tied up with a magic knot that could never be undone.
Then the gnorf threw the sack into a cave and rolled a boulder infront of the mouth of the cave that, because it was magic, could never be moved.
And, unfortunately, because the sack was tied with a magic knot, no matter how the Elfry inside wrestled with it he could not undo it.
But then, just as the Elfry was giving up hope, he heard the squeaking of mice from nearby.
"Hello?", he called out from inside the sack, "Is that mice I hear?".
"Yes", replied the mother of a little family of mice who were playing near to the sack, "Who wants to know?"
"I'm an Elfry", he said, "Sort of half Elf and half Fairy and I can grant wishes".
"Oh?", asked the mouse mother, excitedly, "Will you grant me a wish for a mountain of cheese and crackers?"
"I will if you will chew a hole in this sack", said the Elfry.
So then the Mouse mother and her children started to nibble at the sack until they had chewed a hole in it and, when they did, the Elfry flew out of the hole in the sack.
Then he made a little mountain of cheese and crackers appear for the mother mouse and her children.
"Oh delicious", she said, diving onto the cheesy, crackery mountain, "Come on children".
"Oh just one more thing", asked the elfry.
"Yes?", replied the mouse mother nibbling on a cracker.
"Do you have any idea how to get out of this cave?", asked the Elfry.
The mouse mother pointed to a tiny mousehole in the wall of the cave, saying, "Thats how we always get in and out".
And thanking the mice again, the Elfry made himself small as a mouse and ran out through the hole.
But the Elfry still did not know where the Gnorf had taken Jessinda and so, yet again, it flew about the forest shouting, "Jessinda! Jessinda! I'm looking for a girl named Jessinda".
Unfortunately, yet again, the Gnorf heard it calling with his long pointy ears and this time it turned itself into a handsome prince and running towards the Elfry said,
"You're looking for a girl named Jessinda? So am I".
"You are?", asked the Elfry, scratching its head, confused.
"Yes, I'm a handsome prince", said the Gnorf in disguise, "We're always looking for beautiful damsels in distress to rescue and, fortunately, I just happen to know where the Gnorf lives".
Then the Gnorf pointed to a hollow in the trunk of a tree nearby and said, "In the hollow of that tree over there, thats where he lives".
And so the Elfry, thanking the person he thought was a prince, flew towards the hollow and it was just about to fly inside when, luckily, it happened to glance back over its shoulder and saw the Gnorf changing from a handsome prince back into its true form.
So the, instead of entering the hollow, it flew round behind the Gnorf and pushed him inside the tree hollow instead, saying, "After you".
And when the Gnorf tried to crawl out again, the Elfry, using its magic, made the hollow disappear so that the Gnorf was sealed inside the trunk of the tree.
"Let me out of here!", protested the Gnorf from inside the tree.
But the Elfry wasn't about to let the Gnorf  out.
Instead he cast a spell upon the tree so that the Gnorf would be imprisoned within the tree forever and then he flew around the forest again, calling, "Jessinda! Jessinda!".
This time however, the real Jessinda heard him and coming out of the Gnorfs little cottage she called out, "Here I am! Here I am!".
Then the Elfry following the sound of her voice found her and no sooner had he done so when he made a magic rug appear upon which he and Jessinda both went flying home to her father.
And when her father saw Jessinda again, he threw his arms around her and wept for joy.
After that the Elfry, because its work was done, went flying home to fairy land and because the Gnorf was sealed forever in the tree and could trouble them no longer, Jessinda and her father lived happily ever after.