The Golden Goose 1 (English)

The Golden Goose

 

    There was a man who had three sons. Most people consider his youngest son very silly, and they often mock and make fun of him. One day the eldest son was going to the forest to cut wood. Before he left, his mother prepared delicious pancakes and a bottle of wine for his journey, so he will not suffer from hunger or thirst.

When the eldest son entered the forest, he met a gray old man. The old man greeted him politely. "Good-morning,” said the old man. "Please give me some food and something to drink, because I am very hungry and thirsty.”

The clever son replied: "No. If I give you my cake and wine, I will not have any for myself. So go away!" He left the man standing and went on.

The eldest son began cutting down a tree. But then, somehow he made a false stroke. His axe slipped and cut his arm so badly. He had no other choice than to go home and have his injury taken care of.

The following day, the second son also wanted to go into the forest to cut wood. So his mother gave him a delicious cake and a bottle of wine. When he entered the wood, he met the same old man. The old man begged for a little piece of cake and some wine because he was hungry and thirsty. The second son answered very rudely: "No. I want these for myself, so go away!"

       

He walked on, leaving the old man standing in the road. His punishment came soon after that. Somehow he hit his leg with his axe, got terribly injured, and went home in great pain.

The youngest son said to his father, "Let me go to the forest to cut wood."

But his father replied: "No. Your smart brothers have been hurt already. It would surely be worse for you, who have no experience in wood-cutting."

But the youngest son begged so hard to his father to be allowed to go to the forest. His father finally said : "Fine, go to the forest to cut wood. But don't blame me if something bad happened to you."

Unlike what she prepared for his older brothers, the mother only prepared a badly made cake, and a bottle of water.

When the youngest son reached the wood, the same old man met him. Just like before, the old man said: "Please give me some food and water from your bottle. I am very hungry and thirsty."

"Oh," replied the youngest son, "But I only have a badly made cake, which has been baked in the ashes, and a bottle of water. But let's sit down, and eat and drink together."

So they seated themselves. When the young man opened his basket, he was really surprised. The badly made cake had been turned into a beautiful delicious cake. And the bottle of water turned into wine. After they had eaten and drank, the old man said to him: "Thank you. Because you have been very kind, and shared your dinner with me, I will make you very lucky in the future. There is an old tree in the forest. Cut the tree down, and you will find something good at the root." Then, the old man left him.

The young man set to work. After succeeded in felling the old tree, he found a goose, sitting at the roots. It was not an ordinary goose. The goose's feathers were of pure gold. He took the goose, and, instead of going home immediately, he carried it with him to an inn nearby, where he was going to pass the night.

 

The owner of the inn had three daughters. They looked at the golden goose enviously. They had never seen such a wonderful goose. They all wanted to have at least one of its golden feathers.

    "Ah," thought the eldest daughter, "Soon I will have an opportunity to pluck one feather." After the young man left the room, the eldest daughter quickly approached the bird and took hold of its wing to pluck one feather. But then, her finger and thumb got stuck and she could not set herself free. Minutes later the second sister came in. She also wanted to get a golden feather. But when she touched her sister to move her from the goose, her hand got stuck to her sister’s dress. Neither of them could free herself. Minutes later, the third sister came with the same intention, to pluck a golden feather. "No, keep away, keep away!" screamed the other two. "Don't do it, and keep away!"

The youngest daughter did not understand why she should keep away. So she touched her second sister, and immediately got stuck. They could not free themselves so they all had to remain by the goose all night.

In the morning the young man came in, and took the golden goose. He simply went away. He did not even care about the three girls, who were following close behind him. And because the young man walked very quickly, the three girls had to run one behind the other, because they are magically stuck to the golden goose.