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Grimms' Fairy Tales
The
Golden Goose
There was a man who had three sons, the youngest
of whom was called Dummling, and was despised, mocked, and
put down on every occasion.
It happened that the eldest wanted to go into the forest
to hew wood, and before he went his mother gave him a beautiful
sweet cake and a bottle of wine in order that he might not
suffer from hunger or thirst.
When he entered the forest there met him a little grey-haired
old man who bade him good-day, and said, "Do give me
a piece of cake out of your pocket, and let me have a draught
of your wine; I am so hungry and thirsty." But the
prudent youth answered, "If I give you my cake and
wine, I shall have none for myself; be off with you,"
and he left the little man standing and went on.
But when he began to hew down a tree, it was not long before
he made a false stroke, and the axe cut him in the arm,
so that he had to go home and have it bound up. And this
was the little grey man's doing.
After this the second son went into the forest, and his
mother gave him, like the eldest, a cake and a bottle of
wine. The little old grey man met him likewise, and asked
him for a piece of cake and a drink of wine. But the second
son, too, said with much reason, "What I give you will
be taken away from myself; be off!" and he left the
little man standing and went on. His punishment, however,
was not delayed; when he had made a few strokes at the tree
he struck himself in the leg, so that he had to be carried
home.
Then Dummling said, "Father, do let me go and cut
wood." The father answered, "Your brothers have
hurt themselves with it, leave it alone, you do not understand
anything about it." But Dummling begged so long that
at last he said, "Just go then, you will get wiser
by hurting yourself." His mother gave him a cake made
with water and baked in the cinders, and with it a bottle
of sour beer.
When he came to the forest the little old grey man met
him likewise, and greeting him, said, "Give me a piece
of your cake and a drink out of your bottle; I am so hungry
and thirsty." Dummling answered, "I have only
cinder-cake and sour beer; if that pleases you, we will
sit down and eat." So they sat down, and when Dummling
pulled out his cinder-cake, it was a fine sweet cake, and
the sour beer had become good wine. So they ate and drank,
and after that the little man said, "Since you have
a good heart, and are willing to divide what you have, I
will give you good luck. There stands an old tree, cut it
down, and you will find something at the roots." Then
the little man took leave of him.
Dummling went and cut down the tree, and when it fell there
was a goose sitting in the roots with feathers of pure gold.
He lifted her up, and taking her with him, went to an inn
where he thought he would stay the night. Now the host had
three daughters, who saw the goose and were curious to know
what such a wonderful bird might be, and would have liked
to have one of its golden feathers.
The eldest thought, "I shall soon find an opportunity
of pulling out a feather," and as soon as Dummling
had gone out she seized the goose by the wing, but her finger
and hand remained sticking fast to it.
The second came soon afterwards, thinking only of how she
might get a feather for herself, but she had scarcely touched
her sister than she was held fast.
At last the third also came with the like intent, and the
others screamed out, "Keep away; for goodness' sake
keep away!" But she did not understand why she was
to keep away. "The others are there," she thought,
"I may as well be there too," and ran to them;
but as soon as she had touched her sister, she remained
sticking fast to her. So they had to spend the night with
the goose.
The next morning Dummling took the goose under his arm
and set out, without troubling himself about the three girls
who were hanging on to it. They were obliged to run after
him continually, now left, now right, just as he was inclined
to go.
In the middle of the fields the parson met them, and when
he saw the procession he said, "For shame, you good-for-nothing
girls, why are you running across the fields after this
young man? is that seemly?" At the same time he seized
the youngest by the hand in order to pull her away, but
as soon as he touched her he likewise stuck fast, and was
himself obliged to run behind.
Before long the sexton came by and saw his master, the
parson, running behind three girls. He was astonished at
this and called out, "Hi, your reverence, whither away
so quickly? do not forget that we have a christening to-day!"
and running after him he took him by the sleeve, but was
also held fast to it.
Whilst the five were trotting thus one behind the other,
two labourers came with their hoes from the fields; the
parson called out to them and begged that they would set
him and the sexton free. But they had scarcely touched the
sexton when they were held fast, and now there were seven
of them running behind Dummling and the goose.
Soon afterwards he came to a city, where a king ruled who
had a daughter who was so serious that no one could make
her laugh. So he had put forth a decree that whosoever should
be able to make her laugh should marry her. When Dummling
heard this, he went with his goose and all her train before
the King's daughter, and as soon as she saw the seven people
running on and on, one behind the other, she began to laugh
quite loudly, and as if she would never leave off. Thereupon
Dummling asked to have her for his wife, and the wedding
was celebrated. After the King's death, Dummling inherited
the kingdom and lived a long time contentedly with his wife.
From Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household Tales, trans. Margaret
Hunt (London: George Bell, 1884), 1:274-277. |
