Folktales from nowhere: Page 4

Portrayed at the exact moment of his spectacular (and grainy) transformation.

One in a hundred chicken feet has the power to grant a wish to anyone who dares to ask for it. The procedure is simple: before you eat the feet, you stare at it while mentally formulate your desire. If it is one of the gifted ones (there is no way to know in advance), your wish will invariably come true when your body has finished with its digestive process.

As usual in these scenarios, the prodigy is the work of a cocky, spiteful and whimsical little demon who enjoys taking your requests in a deceptively literal way, without bothering to consider the disastrous consequences of its strict fulfillment.

Some mystics claim that a foolproof grammar is the best weapon to try to outwit the demon. Others argue that the only effective recipe for reduce or even eliminate the disastrous side effects of granted wishes, no matter how eccentric and dangerous they may seem, is to boil the chicken without the skin and serve it with a frugal portion of potatoes. Some hermetics also suggest that it goes very well with a Malbec wine.