Grimm's Household Tales

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 chop wood, and before he went his mother gave him a beautiful sweet cake and a bottle of wine so that he would not suffer from hunger or thirst.

When he entered the forest, a little gray-haired old man met him, wished him good day, and said, “Please give me a piece of cake out of your pocket, and let me have a drink of your wine; I am so hungry and thirsty.” But the prudent youth answered, “If I give you my cake and wine, I will have none for myself. Be off with you,” and he left the little man standing there and went on.

But when he began to chop down a tree, it was not long before he made a bad stroke, and the axe cut him in the arm, so that he had to go home and have it bandaged. And this was the little gray 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 gray man met him also and asked him for a piece of cake and a drink of wine. But the second son, too, said quite reasonably, “What I give you will be taken away from me. Be off!” and he left the little man standing there 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, please 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 the father 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 gray man met him also 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 share 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 said goodbye to 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 innkeeper had three daughters, who saw the goose, were curious to know what kind of wonderful bird it might be, and would have liked one of its golden feathers.

The eldest thought, “I will soon find an opportunity to pull out a feather,” and as soon as Dummling had gone out, she seized the goose by the wing, but her finger and hand remained stuck fast to it.

The second came soon afterward, thinking only of how she might get a feather for herself, but she had scarcely touched her sister when she was held fast.

At last the third also came with the same 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, “so I may as well be there too,” and she ran to them; but as soon as she had touched her sister, she remained stuck 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 constantly, now left, now right, whichever way 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 proper?” At the same time he seized the youngest by the hand 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, “Hey, your reverence, where are you going so quickly? Do not forget that we have a christening today!” and, running after him, he took him by the sleeve but was also held fast to it.

While the five were trotting along in this way, one behind the other, two laborers came from the fields with their hoes. The parson called out to them and begged them to 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 afterward he came to a city where a king ruled who had a daughter so serious that no one could make her laugh. So the King had issued a decree that whoever could make her laugh would marry her. When Dummling heard this, he went with his goose and all her retinue 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, as if she would never stop. Then Dummling asked to have her for his wife, and the wedding was celebrated. After the King’s death, Dummling inherited the kingdom and lived contentedly with his wife for a long time.