73 lines
4.9 KiB
Plaintext
73 lines
4.9 KiB
Plaintext
THE GOLDEN GOOSE
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Once upon a time . . . there was a woodcutter called Thaddeus, a dreamy,
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foolish-looking lad though good-hearted. One day, his father sent him to a
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distant wood to chop down trees. Thaddeus thought that these trees were a kind
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he had never seen before and that it was hard work trying to hack through
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their hard trunks. Sweating after all his efforts, he had barely sat down
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against a sawn-off trunk to have a meal, when a strange old man with a white
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beard popped out from behind a bush and asked him for a bite to eat. Kindly
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Thaddeus gave him some bread and cheese and together they cheerily drank a
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flask of wine.
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"Of all the woodcutters that have tried to fell these trees, you're the
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first one who has been nice to me," said the old man, stuttering, perhaps
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after all the wine. "You deserve a reward. If you cut down that tree in the
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centre of the wood, you'll find that all the others will fall down by
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themselves. Have a look in its roots where there's a gift for you! You see,
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I'm the Wizard of the Woods!"
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Not particularly surprised, Thaddeus did as he was told, and in a flash,
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his work was done. From the roots of the tree the Wizard had pointed towards,
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the woodcutter took a golden goose. Slipping the bird under hls arm, Thaddeus
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set off homewards. Now, it may have been too much wine, or maybe the fact he
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was new to these parts, but the fact remains that Thaddeus lost his way. At
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dead of night, he reached a strange village. A tavern was still open, so the
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woodcutter went in.
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"Something to eat for myself and for the Golden Goose that the Wizard of
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the Woods gave me," he ordered the innkeeper's daughter. "That's a bite for me
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and a bite for you," he said, sharing his food with the goose across the
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table. The innkeeper's other two daughters came to stare at the strange sight,
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then all three dared ask: "Why are you so kind to a goose?"
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"This is a magic goose," replied Thaddeus, "and worth a fortune. I shall
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stay the night here and I need a secure room, for I don't want to be robbed."
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However, during the night, one of the sisters was persuaded to steal at
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least one goose feather.
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"If it's a magic bird, then one of its feathers will be precious too!" But
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the second her hand touched the goose's tail, it stuck fast, and nothing would
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unstick it. In a low voice, she called her sisters, but when they tried to
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pull her free, they too stuck fast. A little later, Thaddeus woke, not at all
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surprised to see the three sisters, ashamed at being discovered, stuck to the
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golden goose.
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"How can we get free?" they wailed. But the woodcutter coolly replied:
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"I have to leave with my goose. Too bad for you if you're stuck to her.
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You'll just have to come too!" And when the innkeeper saw the strange little
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procession trip past, he shouted "What's up?" and grabbed the last sister by
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the arm. It was the worst thing he could have done! For he too found himself
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attached to the tail of the little group. The same fate awaited a nosy village
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woman, the plump curate and the baker who had placed a hand on the curate's
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shoulder as he rushed past. Last of all came a guard who had tried to stop the
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procession. People laughed as Thaddeus and his row of followers went by, and
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crowds soon flocked the roads.
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Close to the village where Thaddeus had spent the night stood the Royal
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Palace. Though rich and powerful, the King had a great sorrow: his only
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daughter suffered from a strange illness that no doctor had been able to cure.
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She was always sad and unhappy. The King had once proclaimed that the man who
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succeeded in making his daughter laugh would be granted her hand in marriage.
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But so far, nobody had so much as brought a smile to the Princess's lips.
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As it so happened, the Princess chose that day to drive through the village
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square, just as the woodcutter with the goose under his arm, solemnly marched
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by with his line of unwilling followers. When she heard the people chuckle,
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the Princess raised the carriage curtains. The minute she set eyes on the
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amazing sight, she burst into peals of laughter.
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Everyone was amazed to hear the Princess laugh for the first time. She
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stepped down from the carriage for a closer look at the golden goose and
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that's how she got stuck to the baker! Laughing and chattering, the procession
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headed towards the palace, with the crowds at their heels. When the King saw
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his daughter in fits of laughter, he could hardly believe it.
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"How amazing! How amazing!" he said.
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But in spite of all the mirth, it was a serious situation. That is, until a
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large man with a tall peaked hat and a white beard stepped forward and snapped
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his fingers three times. Suddenly, Thaddeus and the others all became unstuck.
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The woodcutter was about to thank the Wizard of the Woods, for it could be
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none other, but he had vanished into thin air. And that's how the simple
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woodcutter, Thaddeus, found himself married to the King's daughter.
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