[Reading] Fairy tales - The Golden Goose

Once upon a time, there lived a woodcutter and his wife, who had three sons. The eldest two were strong and tall, and their mother and father were always telling them how handsome and clever they were – but the youngest son was, to tell you the truth, just a bit simple in the head. He wasn’t very tall, and he wasn’t very strong, and his family thought he was good for nothing. They hardly ever called him by his real name, but instead they gave him a cruel nickname. They called him Dummy, because they said he was stupid.

One day the eldest son wanted to go to the forest to cut wood. The mother praised him for being such a useful boy, and before he set out she gave him some of her best fruit cake for his lunch, and a bottle of wine to wash it down. While the boy was walking through the forest, he met a little grey old man who said to him: “Do give me a little piece of your cake and a swig of your wine. I’m so terribly hungry and thirsty.”

And the eldest son replied: “Be off with you, you filthy old beggar.”

The little grey old man went away, but not without taking his revenge. He put a curse on the boy, so that when he started to cut a tree down, his axe slipped and went into his leg. The boy limped home to his mother who washed his wound and bandaged him.

The next day, the second eldest son went out to the forest to cut wood. Before he set out, his mother praised him for being such a useful boy, but especially asked him to be careful with the axe, so as not to have a nasty accident like his brother. The boy promised not to be careless, and his mother gave him some of her best sponge cake for his lunch, and a bottle of wine to wash it down.

It happened that as the boy was walking through the woods, he came across the same little grey old man. The man said to him: “Do please share your sponge cake and your wine with me, for I am so terribly weak with hunger and thirst.”

The boy said: “Be off with you, you lazy old scoundrel. If you want to eat, you’d better work.”

The little grey old man went away, but not without taking his revenge. Not long after, when the boy was cutting down a tree, his axe flew out of his hand and hit him on the head. He crawled home to his mother who bandaged up his wound and asked him why he had not kept his promise to be more careful.

For the rest of the week, the two eldest sons were both lying in bed recovering from their wounds. The father said to the third and youngest son: “Get on your feet, you lazy Dummy. Why are you sitting around doing nothing, when both brothers are hurt and unable to work? Get out to the forest and cut some wood – if you’re not too stupid to do that.”

The mother laughed at him and said: “It’s more than likely that Dummy will cut his own head off – but it won’t be much of a loss to anyone.” Before he left she gave him some cake that she had burned almost to a crust in the oven, and a bottle of sour beer to wash it down.

As the youngest boy was going through the woods, he met the same little grey old man who had crossed the path of his brothers. The man said to him: “Do please share some of your cake and beer with me. I am so terribly hungry and thirsty, and I fear that if I don’t have something to eat and drink soon, I will surely die”

The young boy replied: “Old man, I will gladly share with you what I have – but the cake is burnt and the beer is sour.”

“Never mind that,” said the man. “I am grateful for what you can give me.”

The boy and the little grey old man sat down and shared the cake and the beer. After they had finished their lunch, the man said: “Since you have a good heart, and have shared what you have with me, I will give you a reward. You see that old tree over there. Cut it down with your axe and you will find something of value inside its hollow trunk.”

So when the little grey old man had left, the young boy, whose parents called him “Dummy”, took his axe and cut down the hollow tree just as he had been told. Inside he found a goose – but this was no ordinary bird, for its feathers were made of gold.

The boy realised that he was in luck, and thought to himself: “Why should I go home now and suffer the insults of my parents and brothers? They will take this valuable bird from me, and I shall have nothing