There was
a man who had
three sons, the youngest of whom was considered very silly, and
everybody
used to mock him and make fun of him. The eldest son wanted to go and
cut
wood in the forest, and before he left home his mother prepared
beautiful
pancakes and a bottle of wine for him to take with him, so that he
might
not suffer from hunger or thirst.
As he
entered the forest
he met a gray old man, who bade him "Good-morning," and said: "Give me
a little piece of cake out of your basket and a drop of wine out of
your
bottle, for I am very hungry and thirsty."
But the
clever son replied:
"What, give you my cake and my wine! Why, if I did, I should have none
for myself. Not I, indeed, so take yourself off!" and he left the man
standing
and went on.
The young
man began cutting
down a tree, but it was not long before he made a false stroke: the axe
slipped and cut his arm so badly that he was obliged to go home and
have
it bound up. Now, this false stroke was caused by the little gray old
man.
Next day
the second son went
into the forest to cut wood, and his mother gave him a cake and a
bottle
of wine. As he entered the wood the same little old man met him, and
begged
for a piece of cake and a drop of wine. But the second son answered
rudely:
"What I might give to you I shall want myself, so be off."
Then he
left the little old
man standing in the road, and walked on. His punishment soon came; he
had
scarcely given two strokes on a tree with his axe, when he hit his leg
such a terrible blow that he was obliged to limp home in great pain.
Then the
stupid son said
to his father, "Let me go for once and cut wood in the forest."
But his
father said: "No,
your brothers have been hurt already, and it would be worse for you,
who
don't understand wood-cutting."
The boy,
however, begged
so hard to be allowed to go that his father said: "There, get along
with
you; you will buy your experience very dearly, I expect."
His mother,
however, gave
him a cake which had been made with water and baked in the ashes, and a
bottle of sour beer.
When he
reached the wood
the very same little old man met him, and after greeting him kindly,
said:
"Give me a little of your cake and a drop from your bottle, for I am
very
hungry and thirsty."
"Oh,"
replied the simple
youth, "I have only a cake, which has been baked in the ashes, and some
sour beer; but you are welcome to a share of it. Let us sit down, and
eat
and drink together."
So they
seated themselves,
and, lo and behold, when the youth opened his basket, the cake had been
turned into a beautiful cake, and the sour beer into wine. After they
had
eaten and drank enough, the little old man said: "Because you have been
kind-hearted, and shared your dinner with me, I will make you in future
lucky in all you undertake. There stands an old tree; cut it down, and
you will find something good at the root."
Then the
old man said "Farewell,"
and left him.
The youth
set to work, and
very soon succeeded in felling the tree, when he found sitting at the
roots
a goose, whose feathers were of pure gold. He took it up, and, instead
of going home, carried it with him to an inn at a little distance,
where
he intended to pass the night.
The
landlord had three daughters,
who looked at the goose with envious eyes. They had never seen such a
wonderful
bird, and longed to have at least one of its feathers. "Ah," thought
the
eldest, "I shall soon have an opportunity to pluck one of them;" and so
it happened, for not long after the young man left the room. She
instantly
went up to the bird and took hold of its wing, but as she did so, the
finger
and thumb remained and stuck fast. In a short time after the second
sister
came in with the full expectation of gaining a golden feather, but as
she
touched her sister to move her from the bird, her hand stuck fast to
her
sister's dress, and neither of them could free herself. At last, in
came
the third sister with the same intention. "Keep away, keep away!"
screamed
the other two; "in heaven's name keep away!"
But she
could not imagine
why she should keep away. If they were near the golden bird, why should
not she be there? So she made a spring forward and touched her second
sister,
and immediately she also was made a prisoner, and in this position they
were obliged to remain by the goose all night.
In the
morning the young
man came in, took the goose on his arm, and went away without troubling
himself about the three girls, who were following close behind him. And
as he walked quickly, they were obliged to run one behind the other,
left
or right of him, just as he was inclined to go.
In the
middle of a field
they were met by the parson of the parish, who looked with wonder at
the
procession as it came near him. "Shame on you!" he cried out. "What are
you about, you bold-faced hussies, running after a young man in that
way
through the fields? Go home, all of you."
He placed
his hand on the
youngest to pull her back, but the moment he touched her he also became
fixed, and was obliged to follow and run like the rest. In a few
minutes
the clerk met them, and when he saw the parson runing after the girls,
he wondered greatly, and cried out, "Halloa, master parson, where are
you
running in such haste? Have you forgotten that there is a christening
to-day?"
And as the procession did not stop, he ran after it, and seized the
parson's
gown.
In a moment
he found that
his hand was fixed, and he also had to run like the rest. And now there
were five trotting along, one behind the other. Presently two peasants
came by with their sickles from the field. The parson called out to
them,
and begged them to come and release him and the clerk. Hardly had they
touched the clerk when they also stuck fast as the others, and the
simpleton
with his golden goose travelled with the seven.
After
awhile they came to
a city in which reigned a king who had a daughter of such a melancholy
disposition that no one could make her laugh; therefore he issued a
decree
that whoever would make the princess laugh should have her in marriage.
Now, when
the simple youth
heard this, he ran before her, and the whole seven trotted after him.
The
sight was so ridiculous that the moment the princess saw it she burst
into
a violent fit of laughter and they thought she would never leave off.
After this,
the youth went
to the king, and demanded his daughter in marriage, according to the
king's
decree; but his majesty did not quite like to have the young man for a
son-in-law, so he said that, before he could consent to the marriage,
the
youth must bring him a man who could drink all the wine in the king's
cellar.
The
simpleton went into the
forest, for he thought, "If anyone can help me, it is the little gray
man."
When he arrived at the spot where he had cut down the tree, there stood
a man with a very miserable face.
The youth
asked him why he
looked so sorrowful.
"Oh," he
exclaimed, "I suffer
such dreadful thirst that nothing seems able to quench it; and cold
water
I cannot endure. I have emptied a cask of wine already, but it was just
like a drop of water on a hot stone."
"I can help
you," cried the
young man; "come with me, and you shall have your fill, I promise you."
Upon this
he led the man
into the king's cellar, where he opened the casks one after another,
and
drank and drank till his back ached; and before the day closed he had
quite
emptied the king's cellar.
Again the
young man asked
for his bride, but the king was annoyed at the thought of giving his
daughter
to such a common fellow, and to get rid of him he made another
condition.
He said that no man should have his daughter who could not find someone
able to eat up a whole mountain of bread.
Away went
the simpleton to
the forest as before, and there in the same place sat a man binding
himself
round tightly with a belt, and making the most horrible faces. As the
youth
approached, he cried, "I have eaten a whole ovenful of rolls, but it
has
not satisfied me a bit; I am as hungry as ever, and my stomach feels so
empty that I am obliged to bind it round tightly, or I should die of
hunger."
The
simpleton could hardly
contain himself for joy when he heard this. "Get up," he exclaimed,
"and
come with me, and I will give you plenty to eat, I'll warrant."
So he led
him to the king's
court, where his majesty had ordered all the flour in the kingdom to be
made into bread, and piled up in a huge mountain. The hungry man placed
himself before the bread, and began to eat, and before evening the
whole
pile had disappeared.
Then the
simpleton went a
third time to the king, and asked for his bride, but the king made
several
excuses, and at last said that if he could bring him a ship that would
travel as well by land as by water, then he should, without any further
conditions, marry his daughter.
The youth
went at once straight
to the forest, and saw the same old gray man to whom he had given his
cake.
"Ah," he said, as the youth approached, "it was I who sent the men to
eat
and drink, and I will also give you a ship that can travel by land or
by
sea, because when you thought I was poor you were kind-hearted, and
gave
me food and drink."
The youth
took the ship,
and when the king saw it he was quite surprised; but he could not any
longer
refuse to give him his daughter in marriage. The wedding was celebrated
with great pomp, and after the king's death the simple wood-cutter
inherited
the whole kingdom, and lived happily with his wife.
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