The Golden Goose

A parson, a sexton who looked after the church bell, two farmers with hoes still in their hands, and the three daughters of an innkeeper: many of them had never known one another before. Yet in a single night and a single morning, all seven of them were suddenly stuck fast together in a long line. They ran one behind the other after a young man and a goose with shining golden feathers, and no one could pull free. On they went, stumbling and tripping, turning left and then right, following the young man wherever he went. So many people had fallen into a fix that was half funny and half pitiful. It all began with a farming family in Germany who had three sons, and with a gray-haired old man waiting beside a path deep in a forest.

This is an old tale from Germany. Two scholars, the Brothers Grimm, gathered it, along with hundreds of other folk stories, and wrote them all down in one collection of old tales. Whoever hears it remembers best the part with the seven people running in a line. Each time the story reaches them, everyone bursts out laughing and cannot stop, just like the princess in the tale.

The farmer had three sons. The youngest was always looked down on by his two brothers, who called him clumsy and slow, though he had done nothing to deserve it. Even his father did not have much faith in him. The father thought to himself that his youngest would hardly amount to anything worth mentioning. Yet this youngest son would one day make a whole kingdom burst out laughing.

One day, the eldest son asked permission to go into the forest to cut wood. His mother packed him a sweet, fragrant cake and a flask of good wine, so that he would not go hungry or thirsty on the way. Deep in the forest, he met a small, gray-haired old man standing by the path. The old man asked for a bite of cake and a sip of wine, saying he was very hungry and thirsty. The eldest son did the sums in his head. If he shared with the old man, there would be little left for himself. So he refused flatly and walked on, leaving the old man standing there alone. He had not been in the forest long when he swung his axe at a tree and struck his own arm by mistake. It hurt so much that he had to leave the work unfinished and drag himself home to have it bandaged.

A few days later, the second son also asked to go and cut wood. His mother again packed him a sweet cake and a flask of good wine, just as before. In the middle of the forest, he met the very same gray-haired old man and heard the same request for a bite of cake and a sip of wine. He thought exactly as his brother had, that giving any away would leave too little for himself. So he refused and hurried on. After only a few strokes, the axe slipped and struck his leg. It hurt so much that he could not take a single step, and he had to be carried home.

Then it was the youngest son's turn. He too asked his father to let him try cutting wood in the forest. At first the father waved him off. His brothers had been hurt doing that very work, the father said, and he knew nothing about it. But the boy kept begging until his father gave in. With a sigh, the father told him to go, since a few knocks would make him wiser. His mother got food ready for him to take, but this time it was not sweet cake and good wine like his brothers had. It was only a cake of flour and water, baked in the ashes of the hearth, with a flask of sour beer. The youngest son took it without a word of complaint and set off cheerfully.

In the forest, he too met the same small, gray-haired old man. The old man greeted him and asked for a bite to eat and a sip of anything at all, to ease his hunger and thirst. The young man answered honestly. All he had was an ash cake and sour beer, he said, but if the old man did not mind, they could sit down and eat together for company. The two of them sat down on the ground at the foot of a tree, and the young man took out the cake to share. Then a strange thing happened. In his hands, the ash cake turned fragrant and sweet, like a cake fresh from the oven. The sour beer poured out as rich as the finest wine. The two ate and talked, their stomachs full and their hearts warm in the quiet forest.

When they had finished, the old man stood up. He told the young man that he had a kind heart and was willing to share though he had so little. For that, the old man would bring him good luck. He pointed to an old tree nearby and told him to cut it down. Beneath its roots, he said, something would be waiting. Having said this, the old man turned and slowly disappeared among the trees. The young man did as he was told and swung his axe until the old tree fell. As it came down, a goose appeared among the roots. Its feathers shone gold from head to foot, every last one of them. He picked up the goose, held it in his arms, and went to find an inn nearby to rest for the night.

The innkeeper had three daughters. When they saw the goose with its glittering golden feathers, they were very curious. Each of them secretly thought how nice it would be to pull out a feather and keep it for herself. As soon as the young man stepped outside, the eldest sister crept up and seized the goose by the wing, meaning to pluck a feather. But the moment her hand touched it, the hand stuck fast, and no matter how she tugged, she could not get it free. The second sister saw that something strange had happened and ran over to pull her sister away. The moment she touched her sister, her own hand stuck fast too. Then the youngest girl came running. Her two older sisters cried out to her to stay away and not come close. But she could not see why she should keep away. If her sisters could stand there, she thought, so could she. So she ran over too, and as soon as she touched her sister, she was stuck fast as well. The three sisters had to stand like that all night, joined together in one bundle beside the golden goose.

The next morning, the young man woke up, tucked the goose under his arm and set off at an easy pace. He paid no attention at all to the three girls stuck fast behind him. The three sisters had no choice but to run after him with all their might. When he turned left, they ran left. When he turned right, they ran right. They could not break free.

Out in the middle of a field, a parson came by. He saw three girls running after a young stranger, shook his head and scolded them. Respectable girls, he said, should not go chasing after a young man like that. It was not proper. With that, he took the youngest girl by the hand to pull her out of the line. But the moment his hand touched her, it stuck fast too, and he had to run along with the rest of them.

A little farther on, the sexton of the church saw his own parson running as fast as his legs would carry him behind three girls. He was astonished and called out after him. There was a christening waiting today, he reminded the parson, so where could he be running off to? The sexton ran up and caught the parson by the sleeve to hold him back. But he too stuck fast at once, and had to run along as well.

Five people were running in a line when two farmers came in from the fields with hoes on their shoulders. The parson was overjoyed to see them. He called out loudly, begging them to pull him and the sexton free. Before the two farmers understood what was happening, they reached out, touched the sexton, and stuck fast as well. That made seven people in one long line, running after the young man and his golden goose, and not one of them could get away.

The young man kept walking, and before long he reached a capital city. The king who ruled there had a daughter who was unusually serious. No one had ever seen her laugh, not even once. The king had announced far and wide that whoever could make the princess laugh would have her as his wife. Hearing this, the young man led the whole line of people, goose and all, straight into the palace and before the princess.

The princess sat on her throne, her face as cold as on any other day. Then she saw the seven people running one behind the other, each one tangled up with the next, staggering and jostling. On and on they hurried after a young man and a golden goose. The princess burst out laughing. Her laughter rang through the great hall and she could not stop, as if all her years without laughing had poured into that one moment.

The young man at once asked the king for the princess's hand in marriage. A grand wedding was held straight afterward. Later, when the old king died, the young man took the throne and lived a long, contented life with his wife.

For so many years, the palace had been silent, without a single laugh. Now the princess's laughter rang out there every day, cheerful and carefree, as if it never grew tired. It drifted from one window to the next, all through the castle.