There was a man who had three sons, the youngest of whom was called Dummling. Poor Dummling was despised, mocked, and sneered at on every occasion.

It happened that the eldest wanted to go into the forest to hew wood, and before he went his mother gave him a beautiful sweet cake and a bottle of fine wine in order that he might not suffer from hunger or thirst.

When he entered the forest he met a little grey-haired old man who bade him good-day, and said, "Give me a piece of cake from your pocket. Give me a draught of your wine. I am so hungry and thirsty!"

But the clever son answered, "If I give you my cake and wine, I shall have none for myself. Be off with you!"

And he left the little man standing and went on.

Later, when he started work and he was chopping down a tree, it was not long before he made a false stroke, and the axe cut him in the arm. It was so bad that he had to go home and have it bound up.

"I wonder," murmured the clever son, "if this was the little grey man's doing?"

After this the second son went into the forest. His mother gave him, like the eldest, a cake and a bottle of wine. The little old grey man met him likewise, and asked him for a piece of cake and a drink of wine. But the second son, too, said sensibly enough, "What I give you will be taken away from myself! Be off!" - and he left the little man standing and went on.

His punishment, however, was not delayed. When he had made a few blows at the tree he struck himself in the leg, so that he had to be carried home.

Then Dummling said, "Father, let me go and cut wood."

His father answered, "Your brothers have hurt themselves with it all - leave it alone. You don't understand anything about it."

But Dummling begged so long that at last his father said, "Just go, then. You will get wiser by hurting yourself."

Dummling's 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 grey man met him likewise, and after 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 divide what you have, I will give you good luck. There stands an old tree in a certain clearing. Cut it down, and you will find something at the roots."

Then the little man took leave of 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 took her with him. He went to an inn where he thought he would stay the night. The inn had a 'No Pets' policy, so he had to keep the goose in the stable.

Now the host had three daughters, who saw the goose and were curious to know what such a wonderful bird might be, and would have liked to have one of its golden feathers.

The eldest thought, "I shall soon find an opportunity of pulling out a feather." As soon as Dummling the stable she seized the goose by the wing, but her finger and hand remained sticking fast to it.

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

At last the third daughter also came, with the same intent, and the other sisters screamed out:

"Keep away, for dear sake, keep away!"

But she did not understand why she was to keep away.

"The others are there," she thought. "I may as well be there, too."

She ran to them, but as soon as she had touched a sister, she remained sticking 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 continually, now left, now right, wherever his legs took him.

In the middle of the road the godhi met them, and when he saw the procession he said:

"In the name of Odin! You are good-for-nothing girls! Why are you running down the road after this young man? Is that seemly?"

At the same time he seized the youngest by the hand in order to pull her away, but as soon as he touched her he likewise stuck fast, and was obliged to run behind.

Before long the gydhja came by and saw her colleague, the godhi, running behind three girls. She was astonished at this and called out, "Hej! Where you off to? Don't forget we have a naming-rite today!"

Running after the godhi the gydhja took him by the sleeve, but was also held fast to it. Whilst the five were trotting thus one behind the other, two labourers came with their hoes from the fields. The godhi called out to them and begged that they set him and the gydhja free. No sooner had the labourers touched the gydhja but they too were held fast!

Now there were seven of them running behind Dummling and the goose.

Soon afterwards Dummling came to a rich port.

In this town a king ruled who had a daughter who was so serious that no one could make her laugh. He put forth a decree that whosoever should be able to make her laugh should marry her.

When Dummling heard this, he went with his goose and all her train 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 loudly, as if she would never stop. She laughed so much she rolled on the floor.

Dummling saw this, and thought she would be a cheerful sort to have around. He asked:

"Can I marry her?"

The king did not like the look of this potential son-in-law. He made all sorts of excuses and then he had a brilliant idea.

"You can marry her, Dummling," said the king, "if you can find me a man who can drink a cellar full of wine."

Dummling grinned. "I know just the very person!"

Dummling thought of the little grey man - surely he could help him! So he went to the forest, and in the same place where he had felled the tree, he saw a man sitting, who had a very sorrowful face.

Dummling said: "I hope it never happens!"

The man sighed, and said, "What never happens?"

"Whatever it is that's making your face look so long! I wouldn't take it to heart if I were you!"

"You don't have my problem," replied the long-faced man.

"And just what is your problem?" demanded Dummling.

"I have such a great thirst! I can't find a way to quench it! I don't like cold water - it makes my teeth chatter and gives me a sharp pain right between my eyes. I have just emptied a barrel of wine into me but with this thirst, that's like a single drop on a hot stone."

"Well, I'm very glad I ran into you," said Dummling. "I have a wine cellar that needs emptying. If you come with me, you shall be satisfied."

"I don't believe it!" exclaimed the man with the long face, but he allowed Dummling to lead to the king's cellar.

There the man bent over the huge barrels, and drank and drank till his loins hurt, and before the day was out he had emptied all the barrels.

Then Dummling asked once more for his bride, but the king was vexed that such an ugly fellow, whom everyone called Dummling, should take away his daughter, and he made a new condition.

The king said, "I forgot to tell you about a second condition. I need a man who can eat a whole mountain of bread."

Dummling did not think long. He went straight to the forest, back to the felled tree. There in the same place sat a man who was tying up his body with a strap, and making an awful face.

Dummling stopped beside the man and looked up at the sky with a fearful expression on his face.

The man grumbled and said, "What's the matter with you?"

"I was just looking up to see if the world was about to end. You have the sort of look on your face so bad that only Ragnarok could bake it in."

"You don't have my problem," replied the awful-faced man.

"And just what is your problem?" demanded Dummling.

"I have eaten a whole oven full of rolls, but what good is that when you're as hungry as I! My stomach remains empty, and I must tie myself up if I am not to die of hunger."

"Well, I'm very glad I ran into you," said Dummling. "I have a mountain of bread that needs clearing. Do you think that would fill up your empty stomach and your hollow legs?"

"A mountain of bread?" complained the awful-faced man. "I would need to see it to believe it."

"If you come with me, you shall believe it."

Dummling led him to the king's palace, where all the flour in the whole kingdom was collected, and from it he caused a huge mountain of bread to be baked. The man from the forest stood before it, began to eat, and by the end of one day the whole mountain had vanished.

Then Dummling for the third time asked for his bride, but the king again sought a way out.

The king snapped his fingers, as if something had just come back into his mind. "You know, there's something been bothering me, and it only came back to me this very minute. There's a third condition."

"Oh?" replied Dummling. "Why am I not surprised?"

The king ignored his sarcasm. "There's a ship required."

"A ship? Right." Dummling turned to go, but the king called him back.

"Not just any ship."

"A special ship?" asked Dummling.

"Very special," confirmed the king. "It has to be able to sail on land and on water. As soon as you come sailing back in it," said the king, dismissing Dummling from his sight, "you shall have my daughter for wife."

Dummling went straight to the forest, and there sat the little grey man to whom he had given his cake.

The little grey man said, "What a terrible face, Dummling! You look as if somebody has broken your crayons!"

"Wait till you hear this request from my future father-in-law," said Dummling.

When he heard what Dummling wanted, he said, "Since you have given me bread to eat and beer to drink, I will give you the ship. I do all this because you once were kind to me."

Then he gave him the ship that could sail on land and water, and when the king saw that, he could no longer prevent Dummling from having his daughter.

The wedding was celebrated, and after the king's death, Dummling inherited his kingdom and lived for a long time contentedly with his wife.

Based on The Golden Goose