After that he stretched himself out on the soft moss and went to sleep . In the morning he ran to the nearest stream to wash himself , but to his horror , when he caught sight of his face , he saw his nose had grown the colour of an apple , and reached nearly to his waist . He started back thinking he was dreaming , and put up his hand ; but , alas ! the dreadful thing was true . ` Oh , why does not some wild beast devour me ? ' he cried to himself ; ` never , never , can I go again amongst my fellow-men ! If only the sea had swallowed me up , how much happier it had been for me ! ' And he hid his head in his hands and wept . His grief was so violent , that it exhausted him , and growing hungry he looked about for something to eat . Just above him was a bough of ripe , brown nuts , end he picked them and ate a handful . To his surprise , as he was eating them , he felt his nose grow shorter and shorter , and after a while he ventured to feel it with his hand , and even to look in the stream again ! Yes , there was no mistake , it was as short as before , or perhaps a little shorter . In his joy at this discovery Tiidu did a very bold thing . He took one of the apples out of his pocket , and cautiously bit a piece out of it . In an instant his nose was as long as his chin , and in a deadly fear lest it should stretch further , he hastily swallowed a nut , and awaited the result with terror . Supposing that the shrinking of his nose had only been an accident before ! Supposing that that nut and no other was able to cause its shrinking ! In that case he had , by his own folly , in not letting well alone , ruined his life completely . But , no ! he had guessed rightly , for in no more time than his nose had taken to grow long did it take to return to its proper size .
` This may make my fortune , ' he said joyfully to himself ; and he gathered some of the apples , which he XXXXX into one pocket , and a good supply of nuts which he put into the other .
Supposing awaited go grown picked put stretch stretched swallowed thinking