"What sort of nonsense is this?" said one of the fathers.

"This gum," Mr Wonka went on, "is my latest, my greatest, my most fascinating invention! It's a chewing-gum meal! It's… it's… it's… That tiny little strip of gum lying there is a whole three-course dinner all by itself!"

"What do you mean, it's tomato soup, roast beef, and blueberry pie?" said Violet Beauregarde.

"My dear sir!" cried Mr Wonka, "when I start selling this gum in the shops it will change everything! It will be the end of all kitchens and all cooking! There will be no more shopping to do! No more buying of meat and groceries! There'll be no knives and forks at mealtimes! No plates! No washing up! No rubbish! No mess! Just a little strip of Wonka's magic chewing-gum -- and that's all you'll ever need at breakfast, lunch, and supper! This piece of gum I've just made happens to be tomato soup, roast beef, and blueberry pie, but you can have almost anything you want!"

"If you were to start chewing it," said Mr Wonka, "then that is exactly what you would get on the menu. It's absolutely amazing! You can actually feel the food going down your throat and into your tummy! And you can taste it perfectly! And it fills you up! It satisfies you! It's terrific!"

"Just so long as it's gum," shouted Violet Beauregarde, "just so long as it's a piece of gum and I can chew it, then that's for me!" And quickly she took her own world-record piece of chewing-gum out of her mouth and stuck it behind her left ear. "Come on, Mr Wonka," she said, "hand over this magic gum of yours and we'll see if the thing works."

"It's utterly impossible," said Veruca Salt.

"Now, Violet," said Mrs Beauregarde, her mother; "don't let's do anything silly, Violet."

"I would rather you didn't take it," Mr Wonka told her gently. "You see, I haven't got it quite right yet. There are still one or two things…"

"I want the gum!" Violet said obstinately. "What's so silly?"

"Oh, to blazes with that!" said Violet, and suddenly, before Mr Wonka could stop her, she shot out a fat hand and grabbed the stick of gum out of the little drawer and popped it into her mouth. At once, her huge, well-trained jaws started chewing away on it like a pair of tongs.

"Fabulous!" shouted Violet. "It's tomato soup! It's hot and creamy and delicious! I can feel it running down my throat!"

"Don't!" said Mr Wonka.

"Spit it out!" said Mr Wonka.

"Of course it's right!" said Violet. "It's working beautifully! Oh my, what lovely soup this is!"

"Stop!" said Mr Wonka. "The gum isn't ready yet! It's not right!"

"Keep chewing, baby!" said Mr Beauregarde. "Keep right on chewing! This is a great day for the Beauregardes! Our little girl is the first person in the world to have a chewing-gum meal!"

Everybody was watching Violet Beauregarde as she stood there chewing this extraordinary gum. Little Charlie Bucket was staring at her absolutely spellbound, watching her huge rubbery lips as they pressed and unpressed with the chewing, and Grandpa Joe stood beside him, gaping at the girl. Mr Wonka was wringing his hands and saying, "No, no, no, no, no! It isn't ready for eating! It isn't right! You mustn't do it!"

"But how in-teresting, Violet," said Mrs Beauregarde. "You are a clever girl."

"It's changing!" shouted Violet, chewing and grinning both at the same time. "The second course is coming up! It's roast beef! It's tender and juicy! Oh boy, what a flavour! The baked potato is marvellous, too! It's got a crispy skin and it's all filled with butter inside!"

"Oh, be quiet, mother, and let me finish!" said Violet.

"Good heavens, girl!" shrieked Mrs Beauregarde suddenly, staring at Violet, "what's happening to your nose!"

"Your cheeks!" screamed Mrs Beauregarde. "They're turning blue as well! So is your chin! Your whole face is turning blue!"

"Blueberry pie and cream!" shouted Violet. "Here it comes! Oh my, it's perfect! It's beautiful! It's… it's exactly as though I'm swallowing it! It's as though I'm chewing and swallowing great big spoonfuls of the most marvellous blueberry pie in the world!"

"It's turning blue!" screamed Mrs Beauregarde. "Your nose is turning blue as a blueberry!"

"What do you mean?" said Violet, still chewing away.

"Your mother is right!" shouted Mr Beauregarde. "Your whole nose has gone purple!"

"Spit that gum out at once!" ordered Mr Beauregarde.

"Mercy! Save us!" yelled Mrs Beauregarde. "The girl's going blue and purple all over! Even her hair is changing colour! Violet, you're turning violet, Violet! What is happening to you?"

T told you I hadn't got it quite right," sighed Mr Wonka, shaking his head sadly.

"Prick her with a pin!" said one of the other fathers.

"I'm not surprised!" said Mr Beauregarde.

"Like a blueberry," said Mr Wonka.

"I feel sick," Violet said.

But there was no saving her now. Her body was swelling up and changing shape at such a rate that within a minute it had turned into nothing less than an enormous round blue ball -- a gigantic blueberry, in fact -- and all that remained of Violet Beauregarde herself was a tiny pair of legs and a tiny pair of arms sticking out of the great round fruit and little head on top.

Everybody was staring at Violet. And what a terrible, peculiar sight she was! Her face and hands and legs and neck, in fact the skin all over her body, as well as her great big mop of curly hair, had turned a brilliant, purplish-blue, the colour of blueberry juice!

"You're swelling up!" screamed Mrs Beauregarde again.

"Save her!" cried Mrs Beauregarde, wringing her hands.

"I feel most peculiar!" gasped Violet.

"Violet," screamed Mrs Beauregarde, "you're swelling up!"

"I'll say you haven't!" cried Mrs Beauregarde. "Just look at the girl now!"

"Great heavens, girl!" screeched Mrs Beauregarde. "You're blowing up like a balloon!"

"It always goes wrong when we come to the dessert," sighed Mr Wonka. "It's the blueberry pie that does it. But I'll get it right one day, you wait and see."

"Call a doctor!" shouted Mr Beauregarde.

"It always happens like that," sighed Mr Wonka. "I've tried it twenty times in the Testing Room on twenty Oompa-Loompas, and every one of them finished up as a blueberry. It's most annoying. I just can't understand it."

"But I don't want a blueberry for a daughter!" yelled Mrs Beauregarde. "Put her back to what she was this instant!"

Mr Wonka clicked his fingers, and ten Oompa-Loompas appeared immediately at his side.

"The Juicing Room?" cried Mrs Beauregarde. "What are they going to do to her there?"

"Squeeze her," said Mr Wonka. "We've got to squeeze the juice out of her immediately. After that, we'll just have to see how she comes out. But don't worry, my dear Mrs Beauregarde. We'll get her repaired if it's the last thing we do. I am sorry about it all, I really am…"

Already the ten Oompa-Loompas were rolling the enormous blueberry across the floor of the Inventing Room towards the door that led to the chocolate river where the boat was waiting. Mr and Mrs Beauregarde hurried after them. The rest of the party, including little Charlie Bucket and Grandpa Joe, stood absolutely still and watched them go.

"Roll Miss Beauregarde into the boat," he said to them, "and take her along to the Juicing Room at once."

"Listen!" whispered Charlie. "Listen, Grandpa! The Oompa-Loompas in the boat outside are starting to sing!"

Or other people's underclothes,

A pair of boots, the postman's ear,

Than some repulsive little bum

Did any of you ever know

The voices, one hundred of them singing together, came loud and clear into the room:

She chewed while bathing in the tub,

In chewing, chewing all day long.

Who's always chewing chewing-gum.

She went on chewing till, at last,

This dreadful woman saw no wrong

A person called Miss Bigelow?

That chewing gum will never pay;

So please believe us when we say

And once she chewed her boy-friend's nose.

This sticky habits bound to send

(It's very near as bad as those Who sit around and pick the nose.)

And when she couldn't find her gum,

There's almost nothing worse to see

It really was quite ludicrous!

She'd chew up the linoleum,

Or anything that happened near -

She chewed in church and on the bus;

"Dear friends, we surely all agree

She chewed while dancing at her club,

The chewer to a sticky end.

Even with nothing there to bite.

Faster and faster, chop-chop-chop,

Her chewing muscles grew so vast

For years and years she chewed away,

They positively had to move.

On chewing, chewing through the night,

That from her face her giant chin

But now, how strange! Although she slept,

Until at last her jaws decide

Upon a special little tray,

And settled back and went to sleep -

Consuming fifty bits a day,

(She managed this by counting sheep).

They were, you see, in such a groove

Stuck out just like a violin.

Until one summer's eve, alas,

Opening and shutting, snap-snap-snap!

And with the most tremendous chew

Miss Bigelow went late to bed,

To pause and open extra wide,

The noise went on, it wouldn't stop.

In pitchy darkness, loud and clear,

At last, she put her gum away

Chewing and chewing all the while

A horrid business came to pass.

And very grim it was to hear

For half an hour she lay and read,

Those massive jaws of hers still kept

This sleeping woman's great big trap

Like some great clockwork crocodile.

And that is why we'll try so hard

Thereafter, just from chewing gum,

From suffering an equal fate.

They bit the lady's tongue-in two.

And spent her life shut up in some

Disgusting sanatorium.

Miss Bigelow was always dumb,

She's still quite young. It's not too late,

We hope she does. We can't be sure."

Provided she survives the cure.

To save Miss Violet Beauregarde