The tale is about Jacob, the son of a cobbler, who lives in a small
German town. When he was twelve years old, he is said to have had a
beautiful face and figure. His mother, Hanne, sells vegetables and fruit
at the market and Jacob helps her by carrying home the bags for the
customers.

One day, an ugly old woman, who has a long, crooked nose and a
thin neck, comes to his mother's stand to buy some herbs. It is later
revealed that she is the fairy Wise-herb. She throws everything in into
disarray and makes a mess of the herbs on display so that nobody wants
to buy them anymore. In reaction to this, Jacob insults her and makes
fun of her looks. In response, she wishes him a long nose as well, and
no neck. In the end, she does buy a few cabbages and lets Jacob carry
them home for her.

Arriving at the house of the woman, the cabbages turn into human heads. Guinea pigs and squirrels,
which behave like humans and serve the old woman, are living here. She
offers Jacob some soup while she is talking about a herb that he will
never find. After he eats the soup, Jacob feels like he is falling
asleep and is dreaming about living and working as a squirrel in the
woman's house. He stays for seven years and learns, among other things,
how to cook. By doing that he discovers a herb, smells it and wakes up.

However, when he returns to his family, nobody recognizes him and
everyone, including his own mother and father, call him a hideous dwarf and chase him away. He has turned into an actual dwarf with a long nose, no neck, a hump and brown hands.

After this rejection, Jacob decides to try his luck as a cook and visits the duke (Herzog) of “Frankistan”, who is known as a gourmet (the backstory plays in the Orient, where a German tells this fairy tale from his homeland, the country of the Franks). There he manages to convince the chef of his talent and the duke, who loves his cooking as well, employs him as the sous chef and gives him the name Dwarf Nose. Jacob is now highly respected.

After two years, Jacob buys three geese at the market and one of
them talks to him. The goose tells him that her name is Mimi and that
she was the daughter of the wizard Weatherbuck from the island of Gotland.
She, too, had been cursed by a wicked sorceress, she explained. To be
sure, she continued, she knew a lot about magic herbs and tells Jacob
that he has to find the herb which transformed him in order to be
liberated.

Because the duke is being visited by another nobleman, Jacob is
supposed to prepare an extravagant meal for them. The nobleman enjoys
his meal but then orders the queen of all pâtés , a Souzeraine, which
Jacob does not know how to make but fortunately Mimi does. With her help
he bakes the pâté,
but the earl thinks it lacks the herb "sneeze-with-pleasure". Jacob has
to go and find it to bake another one, otherwise he will be beheaded.
Mimi once again helps him out by looking for the herb with him. Once he
finds and smells it, he transforms back into his old self.

In order to show his gratitude he takes Mimi back to her father who lifts her curse as well.

Everything turns out well for Mimi and him, but the duke and his
guest declare war (herbal war) on each other because of Jacob's curse,
which can only be ended by a perfectly baked pâté (pâté peace).

Audio book and ambient soundtrack.
Import item from MOON Records.