4 The Secret Workers
The next evening, Grandpa Joe went on with his story.
‘You see, Charlie,’ he said, ‘not so very long ago there used to be thousands of people
working in Mr Willy Wonka’s factory. Then one day, all of a sudden, Mr Wonka had to
ask every single one of them to leave, to go home, never to come back.’
‘But why?’ asked Charlie.
‘Because of spies.’
‘Spies?’
‘Yes. All the other chocolate makers¹, you see, had begun to grow jealous² of the
wonderful sweets that Mr Wonka was making, and they started sending in spies to steal
his secret recipes. The spies took jobs in the Wonka factory, pretending that they were
ordinary workers, and while they were there, each one of them found out exactly how a
certain special thing was made.’
‘And did they go back to their own factories and tell?’ asked Charlie.
‘They must have,’ answered Grandpa Joe, ‘because soon after that, Fickelgruber’s
factory started making an ice cream that would never melt, even in the hottest sun. Then
Mr Prodnose’s factory came out with a chewing-gum that never lost its flavour however
much you chewed it. And then Mr Slugworth’s factory began making sugar balloons that
you could blow up to huge sizes before you popped them with a pin and gobbled them
up. And so on, and so on. And Mr Willy Wonka tore his beard and shouted, “This is
terrible! I shall be ruined! There are spies everywhere! I shall have to close the factory!”
’
‘But he didn’t do that!’ Charlie said.
‘Oh, yes he did. He told all the workers that he was sorry, but they would have to go
home. Then, he shut the main gates and fastened them with a chain. And suddenly,
Wonka’s giant chocolate factory became silent and deserted³. The chimneys⁴ stopped
smoking, the machines stopped whirring, and from then on, not a single chocolate or
sweet was made. Not a soul went in or out, and even Mr Willy Wonka himself
disappeared completely.
‘Months and months went by,’ Grandpa Joe went on, ‘but still the factory remained
closed. And everybody said, “Poor Mr Wonka. He was so nice. And he made such

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