The Golden Goose

The Golden Goose
As Retold by Glenn A. Hascall

You've probably never heard the story of Thaddeus, the woodcutter. To some, Thaddeus seemed as much a dreamer as he was known to be good hearted.

Thaddeus was sent to the forest to chop down some trees. This particular forest was one that Thaddeus had never visited and each tree was harder then the last to chop down. When it was time for lunch, Thaddeus sat on the stump of a tree and wiped his face with a kerchief, for he was hot and tired.

Suddenly a strange man with a white beard walked into view and asked Thaddeus for something to eat. Being a very kind young man, Thaddeus provided a cheese sandwich and he gave the man a drink

"Of all the woodcutters that have tried to chop down these trees, you're the first one who has ever been nice to me," the old man said with a smile. "You deserve a reward.'

Thaddeus was about to tell the man that he didn't need a reward when the man spoke once more, 'If you cut down that tree in the centre of the wood, you'll find that all the others will fall down without the need to swing you axe one more time. When the tree is cut, you should look in its roots ' there will be a gift for you! I know because I am the Wizard of the Woods!"

Thaddeus was a trusting young man and he was not surprised by what the man had said and he did as he was told. In a flash, Thaddeus chopped down the tree.

In the middle of the tree roots, Thaddeus saw a golden goose waiting to be held. Thaddeus slipped the bird under his arm and began walking home. Now, it may be that Thaddeus was new to these parts, but the young man lost his way.

Late that night, Thaddeus reached a strange village. The innkeeper's caf' was still open, so the woodcutter went inside.

"I would like something to eat for myself and for the Golden Goose that the Wizard of the Woods gave me," he said to the innkeeper's daughter.

When the food was brought to the table, Thaddeus said to the goose, "That's a bite for me and a bite for you."

The innkeeper's other two daughters came to see the man with the goose. "Why are you so kind to a goose?" one of them asked

"Ah, this is a magic goose," replied Thaddeus, "and worth a fortune. I have decided to stay here tonight. I certainly don't want to be robbed."

However, during the night, one of the sisters tried to steal at a single goose feather. "If it's a magic bird, then one of its feathers will be precious too!" she thought, but the exact moment her hand touched the goose's tail, it became stuck to the goose, and there was nothing to unstick it. In a low voice, she called her sisters, but when they tried to pull her free, they too became stuck to the goose.

When Thaddeus woke, he wasn't surprised to see the three sisters stuck to the golden goose.

"How can we get free?" they wailed.

But the woodcutter quietly said, "I have to leave with my goose. I suppose you'll just have to come too!"

When the innkeeper saw his daughters walk past, he said "What's going on?"

The innkeeper made the mistake of reaching for his eldest daughter. He too became stuck and found himself walking with his daughters who were all attached to the golden goose.

It wasn't long before the same fate awaited a nosy woman, the baker and a carpenter who also touched the goose by mistake.

People laughed as Thaddeus and his row of followers went by, and crowds soon flocked the roads to see the strange sight.

Thaddeus soon came upon a Royal Palace with his strange group of followers.

The king was very rich and very powerful, but there was something that made him sad. It seems the King's only daughter was very sick and no doctor had been able to cure her.

The King's daughter always seemed very unhappy.

It had been more than a year since the King had proclaimed that the man who succeeded in making his daughter laugh could marry her. However, no one had had even been able to make the Princess smile.

As Thaddeus walk through the village square with his goose, thee innkeeper's daughters, the inn keeper, the baker, the nosy woman and the carpenter - the Princess was also driving down the same street.

The Princess heard people laughing and stopped to see what was going on. The very moment she saw the unusual sight, she began laughing. The princess laughed so hard, tears began to form in her eyes.

Everyone in the village stopped what they were doing so they could listen to the enchanting laughter of the Princess. No one could ever remember hearing her laugh before.

The Princess wanted a closer look at the golden goose which is how she became stuck to the carpenter. Soon the entire group was laughing and talking as they made their way to the palace.

The King saw the Princess laughing and found it hard to believe it was true. "This is a miracle!" he said.

But the King, being a very smart ruler, noticed how serious it would be to have his daughter stuck to a goose for the rest of her life.

He sat thinking about the difficulties when a man with white beard stepped forward and snapped his fingers three times.

Suddenly, Thaddeus and the others were unstuck.

Certainly this strange event was the work of the Wizard of the Woods, but the white haired man had vanished as quickly as he arrived and the only thing Thaddeus knew to do was to accept the King's offer to marry the Princess. All in all, it had been a very good day.


THE END