The Golden Goose

There was once a man who had three sons. The youngest of them was called Simpleton, and he was scorned and mocked and pushed aside at every turn.

It happened that the eldest wished to go into the forest to cut wood, and before he set out his mother gave him a fine, sweet cake and a bottle of wine, so that he should not suffer hunger or thirst. When he came into the forest, he met a little old grey man who wished him good day and said, "Do give me a piece of cake from your pocket, and let me have a mouthful of your wine. I am so hungry and thirsty." But the clever son answered, "If I give you my cake and my wine, I shall have nothing for myself. Be off with you." And he left the little man standing there and went on. But when he began to chop at a tree, it was not long before he swung amiss, and the axe cut into his arm, so that he had to go home and have it bound up. And that came of the little grey man.

After that the second son went into the forest, and his mother gave him, as she had given the eldest, an egg cake and a bottle of wine. The little old grey man met him too, and asked him for a small piece of cake and a drink of wine. But the second son spoke just as sensibly, "What I give you is taken from myself. Be off with you." And he left the little man standing there and went on. His punishment did not stay away either, for when he had struck a few blows at the tree, he cut into his own leg, so that he had to be carried home.

Then Simpleton said, "Father, let me go out and cut wood." The father answered, "Your brothers have hurt themselves at it. Leave it alone, you understand nothing about such things." But Simpleton begged so long that at last the father said, "Go on, then. Getting hurt will teach you sense." His mother gave him a cake baked with water in the ashes, and with it a bottle of sour beer.

When he came into the forest, the little old grey man met him too, and greeted him and said, "Give me a piece of your cake and a drink from your bottle. I am so hungry and thirsty." Simpleton answered, "But I have only a cinder cake and sour beer. If that suits you, we will sit down and eat." So they sat down, and when Simpleton drew out his cinder cake, it had become a fine sweet cake, and the sour beer had turned to good wine. So they ate and drank together, and afterward the little man said, "Because you have a good heart and gladly share what you have, I will grant you good luck. There stands an old tree. Cut it down, and you will find something among the roots." Then the little man said farewell.

Simpleton went and felled the tree, and when it toppled, there in the roots sat a goose with feathers of pure gold. He lifted her out, took her with him, and came to an inn, where he meant to spend the night. Now the innkeeper had three daughters, and when they saw the goose they were curious to know what sort of wonderful bird it might be, and each longed to have one of its golden feathers.

The eldest thought, "A chance will surely come for me to pluck out a feather," and as soon as Simpleton had gone outside, she took hold of the goose by the wing. But her finger and her hand stuck fast to it.

Soon after came the second, thinking only of getting a golden feather for herself. Yet scarcely had she touched her sister than she stuck fast too.

At last the third came with the very same purpose. The other two cried out, "Keep away, for heaven's sake, keep away!" But she could not see why she should keep away. "If they are there," she thought, "then I can be there too." And she sprang over, and as soon as she had touched her sister, she stuck fast to her. So all three had to spend the night beside the goose.

The next morning Simpleton took the goose under his arm and went on his way, without troubling himself about the three girls who hung from it. They had to run along behind him always, left and right, wherever his legs happened to carry him. In the middle of a field the parson met them, and when he saw the procession he said, "Shame on you, you shameless girls! Why are you chasing this young fellow across the fields? Is that proper?" With that he seized the youngest by the hand to pull her away, but as soon as he touched her, he too stuck fast and had to run along behind. It was not long before the sexton came by and saw his master the parson following at the heels of three girls. He was amazed, and called out, "Why, your reverence, where away so fast? Don't forget we have a christening today!" And he ran up and caught the parson by the sleeve, and he too was held fast. While the five went trotting along one behind another, two laborers came from the field with their hoes. The parson called to them and begged them to set him and the sexton free. But no sooner had they touched the sexton than they stuck fast as well, and now there were seven of them running behind Simpleton and the goose.

Presently he came to a city where a king ruled who had a daughter so serious that no one could make her laugh. Because of this the king had made a law that whoever could make her laugh should marry her. When Simpleton heard this, he went before the king's daughter with his goose and all its train, and when she saw the seven people running on and on, one behind another, she began to laugh out loud, and could not stop.

Then Simpleton asked for her as his bride, but the king did not care for the son-in-law. He raised all sorts of objections, and said Simpleton must first bring him a man who could drink up a whole cellar of wine. Simpleton thought of the little grey man, who might well help him, and went out into the forest. On the very spot where he had felled the tree, he saw a man sitting with a most sorrowful face. Simpleton asked him what troubled his heart so. The man answered, "I have such a great thirst, and I cannot quench it. Cold water I cannot bear. A cask of wine I have already emptied, but what is a drop upon a hot stone?" "There I can help you," said Simpleton. "Just come with me, and you shall have your fill." He led him to the king's cellar, and the man set upon the great casks, and drank and drank until his sides ached, and before a day was out he had drunk the whole cellar dry.

Simpleton asked once more for his bride, but the king was vexed that a poor fellow whom everyone called Simpleton should carry off his daughter, and set new conditions. Simpleton must first find a man who could eat up a mountain of bread. Simpleton did not stop to think long, but went straight out into the forest. In the same place sat a man cinching his belly tight with a strap, with a grim face, and he said, "I have eaten a whole ovenful of coarse bread, but what good is that when a man has such a hunger as mine? My stomach stays empty, and I must lace myself up if I am not to die of hunger." Simpleton was glad of this, and said, "Get up and come with me, and you shall eat your fill." He led him to the king's court, where all the flour in the whole kingdom had been gathered and baked into a huge mountain. But the man from the forest stood before it, began to eat, and in one day the whole mountain had vanished.

For the third time Simpleton demanded his bride, but again the king sought a way out, and asked for a ship that could sail on land and on water. "But as soon as you come sailing up in it," he said, "you shall have my daughter for your wife." Simpleton went straight to the forest, and there sat the little old grey man to whom he had given his cake. He said, "I have drunk and eaten for you, and I will give you the ship as well. All this I do because you were kind to me." Then he gave him the ship that sailed on land and on water, and when the king saw it, he could keep his daughter from him no longer.

The wedding was celebrated, and after the king's death Simpleton inherited the kingdom, and lived a long and happy time with his wife.