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,” and as soon as Dummling had gone out she seized the goose by
the wing, but her finger and hand remained sticking fast to it. The second 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 also came with the like 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, “I may as well be there too,” and ran to them; but as soon as
she had touched her 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, just as 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 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 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, “Hi, your
reverence, whither away so quickly? do not forget that we have a
christening to-day!” and running after him he 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 parson called out to them and
begged that they would 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 afterwards he came to a city, where a king ruled who had a
daughter who was so serious that no one could make her laugh. So he had
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 quite loudly, and as if she would never leave off. Thereupon
Dummling asked to have her for his wife, and the wedding was
celebrated. After the King’s death, Dummling inherited the kingdom and
lived a long time contentedly with his wife. 65 Allerleirauh

There was once on a time a King who had a wife with golden hair, and
she was so beautiful that her equal was not to be found on earth. It
came to pass that she lay ill, and as she felt that she must soon die,
she called the King and said, “If thou wishest to marry again after my
death, take no one who is not quite as beautiful as I am, and who has
not just such golden hair as I have: this thou must promise me.” And
after the King had promised her this she closed her eyes and died. For a long time the King could not be comforted, and had no thought of
taking another wife. At length his councillors said, “There is no help
for it, the King must marry again, that we may have a Queen.” And now
messengers were sent about far and wide, to seek a bride who equalled
the late Queen in beauty. In the whole world, however, none was to be
found, and even if one had been found, still there would have been no
one who had such golden hair. So the messengers came home as they went. Now the King had a daughter, who was just as beautiful as her dead
mother, and had the same golden hair. When she was grown up the King
looked at her one day, and saw that in every respect she was like his
late wife, and suddenly felt a violent love for her. Then he spake to
his councillors, “I will marry my daughter, for she is the counterpart
of my late wife, otherwise I can find no bride who resembles her.” When
the councillors heard that, they were shocked, and said, “God has
forbidden a father to marry his daughter, no good can come from such a
crime, and the kingdom will be involved in the ruin.”

The daughter was still more shocked when she became aware of her
father’s resolution, but hoped to turn him from his design. Then she
said to him, “Before I fulfil your wish, I must have three dresses, one
as golden as the sun, one as silvery as the moon, and one as bright as
the stars; besides this, I wish for a mantle of a thousand different
kinds of fur and hair joined together, and one of every kind of animal
in your kingdom must give a piece of his skin for it.” But she thought,
“To get that will be quite impossible, and thus I shall divert my
father from his wicked intentions.” The King, however, did not give it
up, and the cleverest maidens in his kingdom had to weave the three
dresses, one as golden as the sun, one as silvery as the moon, and one
as bright as the stars, and his huntsmen had to catch one of every kind
of animal in the whole of his kingdom, and take from it a piece of its
skin, and out of these was made a mantle of a thousand different kinds
of fur. At length, when all was ready, the King caused the mantle to be
brought, spread it out before her, and said, “The wedding shall be
to-morrow.”

When, therefore, the King’s daughter saw that there was no longer any
hope of turning her father’s heart, she resolved to run away from him. In the night whilst every one was asleep, she got up, and took three
different things from her treasures, a golden ring, a golden
spinning-wheel, and a golden reel. The three dresses of the sun, moon,
and stars she put into a nutshell, put on her mantle of all kinds of
fur, and blackened her face and hands with soot. Then she commended
herself to God, and went away, and walked the whole night until she
reached a great forest. And as she was tired, she got into a hollow
tree, and fell asleep. The sun rose, and she slept on, and she was still sleeping when it was
full day. Then it so happened that the King to whom this forest
belonged, was hunting in it. When his dogs came to the tree, they
sniffed, and ran barking round about it. The King said to the huntsmen,
“Just see what kind of wild beast has hidden itself in there.” The
huntsmen obeyed his order, and when they came back they said, “A
wondrous beast is lying in the hollow tree; we have never before seen
one like it.