The little Witch reached home again towards dusk. Abraxas the raven at once wanted to hear what had happened on her ride.
“I’ll tell you later,” answered the little Witch, her teeth chattering. “First I must m-make t-tea. I’m so c-cold, I c-can hardly s-speak.”
“There you are!” croaked Abraxas. “That’s because you simply would go out riding in this dreadful cold! But you just wouldn’t listen to me.”
The little Witch made herself a big pot of herb tea. She sweetened it with plenty of sugar. Then she sipped the hot brew. It did her good, and soon she grew warmer again.
Then she took off her seven petticoats, down to the bottom one, stripped off her shoes and stockings and got into her slippers.
“I won’t deny it, I did get frozen stiff,” she said. “But it was fun all the same, let me tell you.”
She sat down on the bench by the stove and began to tell her story. Abraxas the raven listened to her in silence.
Not till the story of the chestnut man was told did he interrupt her to say, “You know, I just don’t understand at all. You help this chestnut man to keep warm by witchcraft, but you didn’t help yourself! What’s a reasonable bird supposed to make of that?”
“What do you mean?” asked the little Witch.
“What do you think I mean? If I were you and I could work magic, I wouldn’t need herb tea to warm me up, certainly not! I wouldn’t let things get that far.”
“But I did all I could!” said the little Witch. “I put on two pairs of mittens, and my winter boots, and my woollen headscarf, and seven petticoats.”
“Bah!” said Abraxas. “I’d know a better way to keep the cold off than seven petticoats.”
“Better than seven petticoats?”
“Much better. As sure as I’m a raven and my name’s Abraxas.”
The little Witch still didn’t understand. “Tell me what you think I should have done,” she asked him. “But you must be clearer and not keep talking in riddles.”
“Talking in riddles, am I?” said Abraxas. “It’s as clear as day. If you can cast spells to keep the chestnut man from freezing, why, may I ask, why can’t you cast the same spells for yourself?”
“Goodness me!” cried the little Witch, clapping her hand to her forehead. “That’s perfectly true! Why on earth didn’t I think of that before? You’re quite right – after all, what’s the use of being a witch?”
“Exactly,” Abraxas agreed. “Sometimes you seem to forget you’re a witch at all. It’s a good thing you’ve got someone to remind you now and then.”
The little Witch nodded eagerly in reply.
“Yes,” she said, “you really are the wisest raven that ever hatched out of an egg. Of course – I’ll follow your advice on the spot. And if you like I’ll bewitch you with my spell to keep the cold off too, so you won’t have to stay at home in the future when I go out riding.”
“All right,” said Abraxas. “I don’t mind having you do me a good turn for once.”
So the little Witch cast a spell to keep herself and the raven from getting frozen again. After that they could go out for rides even in the bitterest weather, without feeling the cold at all. They didn’t have to wrap up specially warm, and they didn’t need herb tea afterwards.
And although they went out almost every day after this, they never caught colds again.