ANSWERS: 2
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"Go and catch a falling star, Get with child a mandrake root, Tell me where all past years are, Or who cleft the Devil's foot, Teach me to hear the mermaids singing, Or to keep off envy's stinging, And find What wind Serves to advance an honest mind." That's the verse- I remember that the "envy's stinging" line led them to a Dock leaf and the "past years" was something to do with a calender. Its driving me mad!
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I'm pretty sure the book you are thinking of is Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones.
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