Merchant's Remedy

When you look at a map of Europe, you will see a land at the top shaped like a dog named Scandinavia. Below the back paw of the dog, you will see a country called Estonia. Most of its coastline is hugged by large body of waters as its capital Tallinn. With easy access to the ports, many ships reached Tallinn’s shore bringing desirable goods. Among them were almonds discovered by the richest merchant of Tallinn on one of his voyages. And this leads us to one of the most interesting legends of the capital.   

One day after the summer, when some afternoons were still warm giving a break from the cold mornings and nights, the richest merchant of the city was busy inspecting the recently arrived cargo.

“Be gentle!” he instructed one worker, who wasn’t paying attention to the holes in the road while pushing a cart full of wine barrels. “My wine,” he mumbled with his hands holding his head as in distress. 

“Slow down!” he drilled another worker, who almost lost one of the sacks from his pushcart full of spices and nuts.  

So the usual instructions continued throughout the day.

With the sun setting earlier with each day, the merchant liked finishing his work before complete darkness overtook the city. With the first signs of sun going down, he rushed to his house, which was not far, right by the docks facing the water. This gave him just enough time to reach his house and enjoy watching a sunset from the window.

One such evening while admiring the sunset, he developed some cough. As a precautious man, he didn’t like to wait long with any ailment. So this prompted a rush to the pharmacy.

Cling clang, the merchant’s shoes hit the cobblestone road as he gusted with the winds towards the pharmacy. The winds hit his concaved back making his belly look even more protruded. The navy blue velvety sleeves in the shape of bells moved with the motion of his hands, like ringing bells. The white feathers attached to the front of his hat bended forward almost touching and tickling his nose. “Apshu,” he sneezed.

Upon reaching the pharmacy, out of breath he stopped to admire the colorful vessels displayed in the window. His eyes moved from a bright bottle filled with red liquid to a vibrant blue jar and finally his eyes rested on the face of a young apprentice, whose full concentration was on a scale measuring elements to make medicament. With his right hand he was carefully adding tiny weights to the right plate to balance with the left plate filled with components.

“Not him,” the merchant murmured. He appreciated the hard working apprentice, but his sense of humor made him uncomfortable. He was quite a serious man taking all matters seriously.

The cheery apprentice named Mart was carefully preparing remedies according to the written directions of the pharmacist. As soon as he heard the coughing man, he raised his eyes and pleasantly asked, “Oh, do we need something to clear the throat?”

“Yes, yes,” the merchant rushed with his answer. Hesitating for a moment he added, “I hope the remedy is not too bitter.” He never liked the taste of any medicine.  

He was about to leave, when he gazed at the pharmacy room decorated with the rows of shelves filled with the most colorful glass jars and ceramic vessels of different shapes and sizes filled with ointments, preserves, extracts, powder and confections. The last ones were of the most interest to the children. However, that reminded him about the wine, the most popular remedy with the grown-ups. “Is the pharmacist on the premise,” the merchant asked.

“In the storage checking inventory,” the apprentice replied.

“Oh, this is exactly why I need him.” Without any delay, he strolled in the pointed direction.

The wine storage was at the end of the corridor. He was about to knock on the door, when he saw an opened door on the left revealing a wooden frame imitating a ship skeletal turned upside down. This room was a bit more spacious than the wine room as it needed to fit the frame.

“The frame is used for drying medicinal herbs,” explained the pharmacist suddenly appearing in the door frame and seeing the long gaze on merchant’s face.

 “Where do you keep the herbs once they are dried?” the curious merchant enquired.

“I’m pretty sure you already have noticed those small wooden square drawers in the pharmacy main room.” Not expecting any confirmation, the pharmacist continued, “They are jam-packed with the already dried herbs.” After a moment he added to a still speechless merchant, “The drawers seem to be small, but they are deep.”

The merchant was in such awe seeing this amazing structure that upon reaching the house he realized that he had forgot to ask the pharmacist about the wine. “Oh, next time,” he sighed.

A few days went by and the merchant felt better. He continued with his usual work. If he was not inspecting the recently arrived goods, then he was at his store checking on his inventory.  

“How many wine barrels have we sold this month? Do we need to order more spices? Oh, we need more of those eye drop shaped nuts.” He meant almonds. For some reason he had a hard time remembering the name of those nutritious nuts. He walked around the store looking into each nook making sure he had not missed one thing from his list.

“Hh hh,” his throat was throbbing. “Is it dust?” he questioned.

In the evening, sitting in his cushioned green sofa with a cup of hot tea warming his hands, he enjoyed the view of the wood-fire, blazing radiantly in the fireplace and the warmth reaching him.

“Hh hh,” the throat continued bothering him even more now. “Oh no, another visit to the pharmacy and that boy; I just wished he kept quiet.” He murmured.

In the morning, before unlocking the heavy wooden door with squeaky metal hinges of his store, he rushed to the pharmacy first.

At the pharmacy, he learned that the weather was taking toll on the pharmacist himself, resulting in a delay for remedy.

“Why don’t you come back later? I’ll have my apprentice prepare something for you,” the pharmacist announced.

“But sweeter,” insisted the merchant. “Oh, before I forget again, do you need more wine?”

“Yes, I need another barrel by this Friday if possible,” replied the pharmacist.

“Of course,” the merchant left and the young apprentice was left to prepare the remedy.

Mart was a smart boy. He quickly learned the art of mixing different chemicals to achieve exceptional colors or preparing the different forms of remedies such as minerals, seeds, syrups, extracts, herbs and more. It all required some skill, which the young apprentice possessed and even more. The truth is as nice as he was and as hard as he worked, he wasn’t shy of a mischief. It’s hard to admit it, but it was quite charming.

While making the remedy, Mart remembered the merchant bringing some almonds once from the far lands he visited. He crushed the almonds in a small stone bowl making a smooth paste first and then adding some honey, “Just to make it a bit sweeter.” He mixed the ingredients with a grin on his face. The paste was a little bit sticky and to avoid any mess and complaints from the merchant, he rolled the paste and cut it into small pieces rapping them elegantly almost looking like a candy.

The sweet remedy worked like a miracle. The merchant’s throat was not bothering him anymore and for the first time he enjoyed the taste of it. It seemed as his body was injected with energy. He felt much lighter, faster and merrier.    

He became a frequent visitor to the pharmacy ordering more of the exact same remedy and explaining to Mart, “It makes me feel so energetic.”

“Of course,” the apprentice smirked.

On one occasion, while Mart was tediously mixing the powder in the far corner of the main room, the merchant whispered to the pharmacist, “Your apprentice is a very talented boy. His hands create miracles.” The merchant’s heart warmed toward the boy and his serious manner seemed to be changing as well.

On another occasion, he treated his guests with the new sweet remedy.

“What is it?” everybody wanted to know.

“It’s called Mart’s bread,” the merchant came up with the name right on the spot. In honor of the Mart’s creation, he thought to himself.

“Where can we purchase this delicacy?” At that question, the merchant hesitated as an idea sprang into his mind.

“It’s a special remedy made upon request.” He answered evasively. And that was it. Not another word would escape his cherry-colored lips.

As the remedy gained its popularity, the merchant decided this was the time to reveal his plan. He signed an agreement with the pharmacist that he’d help him to sell the delicacy at his store. So the merchant’s remedy was turned into a confection. It was also agreed that from now on they would call it Mart’s bread to avoid any disagreement between them two. The pharmacist was happy to be making lots of it as it was bringing him more profits and merchant was happy to be making his profits.

The confection became well known through-out the world and today we know it as marzipan.