Once upon a time, in the infinite land of dreams, there was a little fisherman named Jacko. Jacko was fishing mainly in the large lake in front of his house. A lake that in the morning suggested a mirror.

Jacko also liked the strong winds that caused the waves to rise, as if the breath of the sky sucked them up. And once his nets were removed, he would rest as he looked at the castle on the other side of the lake. Recently, it was nicknamed "the castle of unreachable people".

It owed this reputation to Rostre the sorcerer and his voracious wolf who blocked access to the castle. No one entered it. No one came out of it.

When he came home, Jacko split the take three ways. One for the market, one for his meal, and the third in a mixture of secret herbs.

The recipe was perfect! For any stomach, small or large, resistance to pamplito was futile. What a funny name Jacko had chosen for the fish and herbs mixture!

Jacko never ate pamplito. He was preparing it to capture seagulls.

When the seagull was trapped in the cage, Jacko would make conversation with it. It became a forced confidant for a few minutes.

First he talked about fishing, poetry and a little bit of everything. Then he would make up stories about these unreachable people living in the castle. Once the session was over, before releasing the bird, he would reward it with a piece of bread spread with honey.

But one day, he captured a seagull that seemed more hostile than the others.

For her, he was an exception, and only told fantasies about the people of the castle. The fierce bird inspired him only that.

The seagull, which was struggling fiercely, stopped grunting the bars of the cage._ Jacko never had a more attentive listener._ But the fisherman ignored this detail and concluded this series of stories with the bird's release.

The next day, the wild gull was back. Chasing away the other birds with one blow of the wing, it shouted for attention. The seagull wanted to facilitate her own capture!

Jacko smiled, because he could see the animal being trained. So he offered the seagull a little pamplito and even honey bread.

Then he invented new tales for the daring little beast.

No longer seeking to escape, the seagull listened carefully to her jailer. That night, Jacko felt inspired. He invented thirty-six stories. It was probably too much. The little fisherman, too tired, would go home to bed and fail to release the bird.

In the middle of the night, Jacko heard crying and complaints that bothered him. He lay there because he thought it was a bad dream.

At daybreak, he noticed the bird still trapped in the cage. He opened the door and brought out the seagull. This one looked at Jacko without running away. Then, from her bird's beak, the animal wrote these words on the sand.

- "Lock me up! Watch with me the night coming. "

Somewhat surprised, he obeyed the bird and put it back in a cage.

Fishing was poor. He thought too much about the bird that could write. Jacko came back with only one fish for him and the seagull that was waiting for him.

Jacko was getting ready to spend the night. He made a fire and invented thirty-six other stories about these unreachable people.

- "It's crazy to spend the night with a bird that can write! "he regularly commented between his stories.

The night had just fallen, when an extraordinary metamorphosis occurred. The seagull turned into a beautiful young woman.

- "Open the cage door, please. It's far too narrow and I'm getting hurt. "said the nobly dressed young woman in a firm tone of voice.

He opened it to her. A thousand questions went through Jacko's mind. Too dazzled, he only found a way to keep quiet.

- "I am Marie-Anne, and I live in the castle on the other side of the lake. "she continued, leaving the narrow prison.

- I'm Jacko, and I'm of no interest if you really live there.

- No interest? Oh no! No! Your talent as a storyteller has put a balm on my saddened soul.

- You are as beautiful as a day sky. By what magic do you fly there as a seagull?

- Rostre this old wizard! It's his witchcraft! Rostre wanted my father, the king, to offer him my two sisters and me as apprentices and wives. My father refused categorically. So Rostre put a spell on us.

Every morning, we turn into birds. Different birds from each other. He was afraid to see us sharing the same cry! When night came, once we recover our human bodies, he turns into a huge wolf and prevents us from leaving the castle to get help.

Even in bird shape, escape is impossible, because our instinct brings us back to the castle, our nest," Marie-Anne concluded.

Then she added, looking at the gleams of fire on the fisherman's face: "I knew that by writing on the sand you wouldn't have tried to sell me to a fairground."

This confession being a bit like his tales, Jacko quickly found a solution.

- "I have to go to bed to get a good fishing catch." he said, smiling at Marie-Anne. "...I invite you to enter my humble home. Hopefully in the shape of a seagull you won't be afraid. My little house is the biggest cage I have."

A few hours later, Jacko was singing under the sun as he hauled up his first fishing nets. Never before had he been more skillful and lucky. He had fished so well during the day that he struggled to get his boat back to shore.

Marie-Anne would have helped the fisherman, but as expected, the feathers had returned... Princess Marie-Anne... would only return to the night.

He brought back so many fish that he prepared the pamplito directly in the boat. Then he gave the whole mixture the shape of human silhouettes. It looked like a giant plate of little men.

Jacko had just enough space left to sail. Only two well-filled bags of the same product were next to him.

His sail hoisted and knowing the lake well, he moved fearlessly through the night The wind was blowing as Jacko had hoped. There were no pitfalls to interfere with the crossing.

Once moored not far from the castle, he grabbed both pockets. He took a few steps, then stopped to take some pamplito out. He shaped it into the shape of a little seated man.

A little further on, he did the same. Each portion had the appearance of a small human, it was like a string of leprechauns looking up at the stars.

- "So many good cakes to help the castle." Jacko thought.

When he was near the ramparts, he coated himself with pamplito. He covered himself so much with it that the wolf, who had just seen him, suddenly found him very appetizing..

- "How nice you smell, little man!" said the wolf to Jacko. "I think I'm going to eat you!"

- "Eat me?" Jacko added, "I hope you'll spare me, my little brothers and those in the boat below."

The wolf, who was running, was surprised to see his prey so quickly gone._ Jacko, alert and warned, ran before the claws of the beast had grabbed him.

As the wolf approached, there was always an irresistible pamplito cake to slow it down. No more than any seagull or man, no wolf could resist the smell and taste of Jacko's delectable trap.

The more the wolf stopped to stuff himself with pamplito, the further Jacko went. Jacko fled and the beast only saw the appetizing meal that filled the boat! Jacko waited for the trap to shrink.

The wolf ate everything in one go.

As Jacko had predicted, the wolf ate too much and the boat served as a bed for the one who had a good appetite. In less than two minutes, the silence of the night was questioned by loud snoring.

Taking advantage of the wolf's sleep, he brought his boat to the middle of the lake. Where it was deepest.

He took a spike and pierced the hull. The water quickly poured into the boat. It sank quickly, dragging the wolf too numb to struggle to the depths of the lake.

Jacko swam towards a light coming his way. It was Marie-Anne rowing towards him in a small boat.

They both hurried home before dawn. Jacko feared that Marie-Anne would fly back to the castle in the shape of a bird.

The sun rose, making the lake shine, and illuminating the ravishing face of Marie-Anne who kept all her human form.

Without delay, they returned and headed for the castle. This time Jacko rowed the whole way.

Halfway through, at the site of the wolf's drowning, something surprising caught their attention. Rostre the sorcerer's clothes were floating where Jacko had sunk his boat.

Jacko noticed stains on the clothes and approached his nose to feel them. Then he started laughing.

- "Why are you laughing? "asked Marie-Anne.

- "If by day you became a seagull, by night, Rostre became a wolf. And I laugh with pride, because no one can resist my pamplito. Not even the wicked warlocks!

When she arrived at the castle, she saw again the members of her family running all over the place to find her. They were no longer the victims of the wizard, now drowned. Marie-Anne introduced them to Jacko and explained how he had helped them.

A few days later, the King and his loved ones invited everyone to a great feast.. On the menu: a wedding cake, a delicious pamplito, and Prince Jacko's fairy tales about the castle of the welcoming people.

"Pierre d'Asquitaine", your humble servant.