There was a king who had a daughter who never could be induced to laugh;
she was always sad. So the king proclaimed that she should be given to
any one who could cause her to laugh. There was also a shepherd who had
a son named George. He said: "Daddy! I, too, will go to see whether I
can make her laugh. I want nothing from you but the goat." His father
said, "Well, go." The goat was of such a nature that, when her master
wished, she detained everybody, and that person was obliged to stay by
her.
So he took the goat and went, and met a man who had a foot on his
shoulder. George said: "Why have you a foot on your shoulder?" He
replied: "If I take it off, I leap a hundred miles." "Whither are you
going?" "I am going in search of service, to see if any one will take
me." "Well, come with us."
They went on, and again met a man who had a bandage on his eyes. "Why
have you a bandage on your eyes?" He answered, "If I remove the bandage,
I see a hundred miles." "Whither are you going?" "I am going in search
of service, if you will take me." "Yes, I'll take you. Come also with
me."
They went on a bit farther, and met another fellow, who had a bottle
under his arm, and, instead of a stopper, held his thumb in it. "Why do
you hold your thumb there?" "If I pull it out, I squirt a hundred miles,
and besprinkle everything that I choose. If you like, take me also into
your service; it may be to your advantage and ours too." George replied:
"Well, come, too!"
Afterward they came to the town where the king lived, and bought a
silken riband for the goat. They came to an inn, and orders had already
been given there beforehand, that when such people came, they were to
give them what they liked to eat and drink--the king would pay for all.
So they tied the goat with that very riband and placed it in the
innkeeper's room to be taken care of, and he put it in the side room
where his daughters slept. The innkeeper had three maiden daughters, who
were not yet asleep. So Manka said: "Oh! if I, too, could have such a
riband! I will go and unfasten it from that goat." The second, Dodla,
said: "Don't; he'll find it out in the morning." But she went
notwithstanding. And when Manka did not return for a long time, the
third, Kate, said: "Go, fetch her." So Dodla went, and gave Manka a pat
on the back. "Come, leave it alone!" And now she, too, was unable to
withdraw herself from her. So Kate said: "Come, don't unfasten it!" Kate
went and gave Dodla a pat on the petticoat; and now she, too, couldn't
get away, but was obliged to stay by her.
In the morning George made haste and went for the goat, and led the
whole set away--Kate Dodla, and Manka. The innkeeper was still asleep.
They went through the village, and the judge looked out of a window and
said, "Fie, Kate! what's this? what's this?" He went and took her by the
hand, wishing to pull her away, but remained also by her. After this, a
cowherd drove some cows through a narrow street, and the bull came
rushing round; he stuck fast, and George led him, too, in the
procession.
Thus they afterward came in front of the castle, and the servants came
out-of-doors; and when they saw such things they went and told the
king. "Oh, sire, we have such a spectacle here; we have already had all
manner of masquerades, but this has never been here yet." So they
immediately led the king's daughter to the square in front of the
castle, and she looked and laughed till the castle shook.
Now they asked him what sort of person he was. He said that he was a
shepherd's son, and was named George. They said that it could not be
done; for he was of mean lineage, and they could not give him the
damsel; but he must accomplish something more for them. He said, "What?"
They replied that there was a spring yonder, a hundred miles off; if he
brought a goblet of water from it in a minute, then he should obtain the
damsel. So George said to the man who had the foot on his shoulder: "You
said that if you took the foot down, you could jump a hundred miles." He
replied: "I'll easily do that." He took the foot down, jumped, and was
there. But after this there was only a very little time to spare, and by
then he ought to have been back. So George said to the other: "You said
that if you removed the bandage from your eyes, you could see a hundred
miles. Peep and see what is going on." "Ah, sir! Goodness gracious! he's
fallen asleep!" "That will be a bad job," said George; "the time will be
up. You, third man, you said if you pulled your thumb out, you could
squirt a hundred miles; be quick and squirt thither, that he may get up.
And you, look whether he is moving, or what." "Oh, sir, he's getting up
now; he's knocking the dust off; he's drawing the water." He then gave a
jump, and was there exactly in time.
After this they said that he must perform one task more; that yonder, in
a rock, was a wild beast, a unicorn, of such a nature that he destroyed
a great many of their people; if he cleared him out of the world he
should obtain the damsel. So he took his people and went into the
forest. They came to a firwood. There were three wild beasts, and three
lairs had been formed by wallowing as they lay. Two did nothing: but the
third destroyed the people. So they took some stones and some pine-cones
in their pockets, and climbed up into a tree; and when the beasts lay
down, they dropped a stone down upon that one which was the unicorn. He
said to the next: "Be quiet; don't butt me." It said: "I'm not doing
anything to you." Again they let a stone fall from above upon the
unicorn. "Be quiet! you've already done it to me twice." "Indeed, I'm
doing nothing to you." So they attacked each other and fought together.
The unicorn wanted to pierce the second beast through; but it jumped out
of the way, and he rushed so violently after it, that he struck his horn
into a tree, and couldn't pull it out quickly. So they sprang speedily
down from the fir, and the other two beasts ran away and escaped, but
they cut off the head of the third, the unicorn, took it up, and carried
it to the castle.
Now those in the castle saw that George had again accomplished that
task. "What, prithee, shall we do? Perhaps we must after all give him
the damsel!" "No, sire," said one of the attendants, "that cannot be; he
is too lowborn to obtain a king's daughter! On the contrary, we must
clear him out of the world." So the king ordered them to note his words,
what he should say. There was a hired female servant there, and she said
to him: "George, it will be evil for you to-day; they're going to clear
you out of the world." He answered: "Oh, I'm not afraid. When I was only
just twelve years old, I killed twelve of them at one blow!" But this
was the fact: when his mother was baking a flat-cake, a dozen flies
settled upon her, and he killed them all at a single blow.
When they heard this, they said: "Nothing else will do but we must shoot
him." So they drew up the soldiers, and said they would hold a review in
his honour, for they would celebrate the wedding in the square before
the castle. Then they conducted him thither, and the soldiers were
already going to let fly at him. But George said to the man who held his
thumb in the bottle in the place of a stopper: "You said, if you pulled
your thumb out, you could besprinkle everything. Pull it out--quick!"
"Oh, sir, I'll easily perform that." So he pulled out his thumb and gave
them all such a sprinkling that they were all blind, and not one could
see.
So, when they perceived that nothing else was to be done, they told him
to go, for they would give him the damsel. Then they gave him a handsome
royal robe, and the wedding took place. I, too, was at the wedding; they
had music there, sang, ate, and drank; there was meat, there were
cheesecakes, and baskets full of everything, and buckets full of strong
waters. To-day I went, yesterday I came; I found an egg among the
tree-stumps; I knocked it against somebody's head, and gave him a bald
place, and he's got it still.