Smiles innocent love

The Story of The Golden Goose

The Golden Goose a Grimms Fairy Tale retold by Ally.

This is a story about a Special Golden Goose and a man who had three sons.

Dummling the youngest was often the victim of horrible bullying.

When the oldest wanted to go and chop wood his mother would always give him a good packed lunch for the day.
On this particular day he met an old man who asked him to please share some food with him. The young man shouted at the old man and said;

 “It is my food – not yours! – away with you!”

Now you see this old man was not any ordinary old man he had special charms and when the young man tried to cut the tree – the axe slipped and he had to return home wounded with no wood.!

Then the second son went out to get wood, his mother gave him a lovely packed lunch and off he went. He too met the old man and the old man asked him to please spare him some food. The second son answered

“If I give it to you – I won’t have any for myself –No I will not share my food with you!”

Needless to say this young man was unable to cut wood either and soon returned home injured but with no wood.

   

That left Dummling, who turned to his father and said

“Let me go out and chop wood!”

His father said, “Your brothers couldn’t what makes you think you can? You don’t even know how to carry an axe!”

But Dummling begged and so his father said to him
“Off with you – go on then but don’t come crying home when you hurt yourself!” -
Dummling’s Mother gave him some water and dry bread and shooed him out.

Now when Dummling entered the forest he too met the old man who asked him for a bite to eat.

Dummling answered,
“I don’t have much but what I do have you we can share.”
The two sat down together and it seemed a fine feast to be sharing.
The Old man turned to Dummling and said;
“You have a good heart, I will give you good luck!
There stands an old tree, cut it down, and you will find something at the roots.”
With that the old man turned and walked away.

 Dummling went and cut down the tree, and when it fell there was a goose sitting in the roots with feathers of pure gold.  This was his ticket to freedom, so he picked up the goose and went to town. He found a Tavern where he thought he would spend the night. There he met three young ladies who were amazed with his goose and eager to have one of it’s fathers.

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 day when Dummling awoke he picked up his Golden Goose which was truely magical and he could not see the girls who were stuck to the Goose. Nor could he feel them – The Goose had turned them invisible.

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 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 laborers 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 he came to a city, where the kings ruled daughter was so serious no one could make her laugh. The king had said who ever could make her laugh could have her hand in marriage.
As soon as she saw Dummling she started laughing for she could see the people trailing behind him stuck to his goose.
Dummling asked to have her for his wife, but the king did not like the son-in-law, and said before he could marry his daughter he had to bring to the King a man who could drink a cellarful of wine.

Dummling thought of the little grey man, who could certainly help him, so he went into 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 asked him what he was taking to heart so sorely, and he answered, I have such a great thirst and cannot quench it, cold water I cannot stand, a barrel of wine I have just emptied, but that to me is like a drop on a hot stone.

There, I can help you, said Dummling, just come with me and you shall be satisfied.

He led him into the king's cellar, and the man bent over the huge barrels, and drank and drank till had emptied all the barrels.

Then Dummling asked once more for his bride, but the king once again changed the rules and asked Dummling, who he really didn’t like because he looked stupid and was not of high standing, to  find a man who could eat a whole mountain of bread. Dummling did not think long, but went straight into the forest, where in the same place there sat a man who was tying up his body with a strap, and making an awful face, and saying, I have eaten a whole ovenful of rolls, but what good is that when one has such a hunger as I. My stomach remains empty, and I must tie myself up if I am not to die of hunger.

At this Dummling was glad, and said, get up and come with me, you shall eat yourself full. He 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, and ordered a ship which could sail on land and on water. As soon as you come sailing back in it, said he, you shall have my daughter for wife.

Dummling went straight into the forest, and there sat the little grey man to whom he had given his cake. When he heard what Dummling wanted, he said, since you have given me to eat and to drink, I will give you the ship, and I do all this because you once were kind to me. Then he gave him the ship which could sail on land and water, and when the king saw that, he could no longer prevent him 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

Always trust your intuition

Some time things seem so tempting
we are inclined to ignore the risks
and take a chance.

Let me tell you about a frog who lived in a marsh and felt quite water logged. He really wasn’t happy living in such wet places even though his family always had, he thought it might be better to live on dry land.

Now to get to the dry land he had to cross a deep river and this river was full of snakes who like to eat little frogs. So froggy was too scared to swim across for fear he may get eaten. He had to find another way to cross the river. He had gone up and down the river bank looking for a bridge or falle tree trunk but he never could find one.

The snakes knew he wanted to cross over and often tried to tease him, come closer and cross over they would say in jest. If we really wanted to eat you we would catch you out of the water. Now the froggy knew he was safer out the water as he could get away from the snakes faster but in the water the snakes had an advantage over him, they could ambush him as he tried to swim across.

Then one day out of the water popped two big eyes, it was something he had never seen before a great big crocodile. Little froggy jumped back in fright, The crocodile asked the little froggy

"Why do you look so sad? What are you doing, Frog? Surely there are enough flies right there for a meal."

Froggy answered. "I'm tired of living in the marsh, and I want to travel to the other side of the river. But if I swim across, the snakes will eat me."

The crocodile smiled and said; "Well, if you're afraid of the snakes, I could give you a ride across,"

Little froggy didn’t think he should trust this huge stranger with such big teeth "Oh no, I don't think so," Frog answered quickly. "You'd eat me on the way over, or go underwater so the snakes could get me!"

"Now why would I let the snakes get you? I think they're a terrible nuisance with all their hissing and slithering! The river would be much better off without them! Anyway, if you're so worried that I might eat you, you can ride on my tail."

The frog considered his offer. He did want to get to dry ground very badly, and there didn't seem to be any other way across the river. He looked at the crocodile from his short, squat buggy eyes and wondered about the crocodile's motives. But if he rode on the tail, the croc couldn't eat him anyway. And he was right about the snakes--no self-respecting crocodile would give a meal to the snakes.

"Okay, it sounds like a good plan to me. Turn around so I can hop on your tail."

The crocodile flopped his tail into the marshy mud and let the frog climb on, then he waddled out to the river. But he couldn't stick his tail into the water as a rudder because the frog was on it -- and if he put his tail in the water, the snakes would eat the frog. They clumsily floated downstream for a ways, until the crocodile said, "Hop onto my back so I can steer straight with my tail." The frog moved, and the journey smoothed out.

From where he was sitting, the frog couldn't see much except the back of Crocodile's head. "Why don't you hop up on my head so you can see everything around us?" Crocodile invited.

"But I don't want to see anything else," the frog answered, suddenly feeling nervous.

"Oh, come now. It's a beautiful view! Surely you don't think that I'm going to eat you after we're halfway across. My home is in the marsh-- what would be the point of swimming across the river full of snakes if I didn't leave you on the other bank?"

Frog was curious about what the river looked like, so he climbed on top of Crocodile's head. The river looked almost pretty from this view. He watched dragonflies darting over the water and smiled in anticipation as he saw firm ground beyond the cattails. When the crocodile got close enough, the frog would leap off his head towards freedom. He wouldn't give the croc a chance to eat him.

"My nose tickles," the crocodile complained suddenly, breaking into the frog's train of thought. "I think there might be a fly buzzing around it somewhere, or a piece of cattail fluff swept into it while I was taking you across the river."

"I don't see a fly," the frog said, peering at the crocodile's green snout. It seemed odd that anything could tickle a crocodile through it's thick skin.

"Would you go check my nose for a piece of cattail fluff, then?" the crocodile begged, twitching his nose. "I'm afraid I'll sneeze and send you flying. I don't want to feed you to the snakes." A tear seeped out of his eye, as if he was holding back a mighty sneeze.

The bank isn't too far, the frog thought. And it's the least he could do to repay him for bringing him over. So he hopped onto the crocodile's snout and checked the nostrils. Just a little closer, and he could jump... "I don't see--" he began.

Just then, with a terrific CHOMP! the frog disappeared. The crocodile licked his lips in satisfaction and gave a tiny half-sneeze. "Good, I feel much better already," he smiled, and turned around to go back home.

The Blue Day Book: A Lesson in Cheering Yourself Up

what is good for one is not necessarily good for another

Let me share a story with you about how sometimes people offer help
where it is not really needed.

This is an African Tale of how the monkey's helped the fish -
or didn't as the case goes.

There was a flood and the river had broken its banks. The animals were all running for higher ground up in the hills. The floods came so fast that many drowned except the lucky monkeys who used their agility to climb up into the treetops.

They looked down on the surface of the water where the fish were swimming and gracefully jumping out of the water as if they were the only ones enjoying the devastating flood.

One of the monkeys ( a do gooder!) saw the fish and shouted to his companion:

"Look down, my friend, look at those poor creatures. They are going to drown. Do you see how they struggle in the water?"

"Yes," said the other monkey. "What a pity! Probably they were late in escaping to the hills because they seem to have no legs. How can we save them?"

"I think we must do something. Let's go close to the edge of the flood where the water is not deep enough to cover us, and we can help them to get out."

So the monkeys did just that. They started catching the fish, but not without difficulty. One by one, they brought them out of the water and put them carefully on the dry land. After a short time there was a pile of fish lying on the grass motionless.

One of the monkeys said, "Do you see? They were tired, but now they are just sleeping and resting. Had it not been for us, my friend, all these poor people without legs would have drowned."

The other monkey said: "They were trying to escape from us because they could not understand our good intentions. But when they wake up they will be very grateful because we have brought them salvation."

And so it is my friends that we must realise
the old saying what is good for one is not
necessarily good for another!

Butterfly

Never despair - it might not be as bad as you think it is!

There was a young boy who had a pet white chicken. He didn’t have many friends and his chicken became his best friend.

Then his hen vanished and he was heartbroken. A few weeks later the white hen returned with seven beautiful white chicks.

Now there is a custom of the Africans when food is scarce they set fire to the grass to catch any small animals they can eat. A circle of fire is lit and the animals are trapped in the middle. Where they can be caught.

When the fire was over the young boy was walking back to his crawl, and he noticed a heap of charred feathers and smelled burned flesh.

It looked like the remains of a bird that had not escaped from the fire. Then to his horror he realized it was his beloved friend the white hen all black and burned to death.

Out from under the charred remains of his best friend he could hear the sounds of chicks. The mother hen had covered them with her body and they were alive.

The mother hen had given her life for her children. She died that they may live.

Just because you heard it first - doesn't mean it is the truth!

When God had finished creation he wanted to send people an important message.

He called the chameleon to go and tell every one that after death they will return to life.

The lizard had eavesdropped and was jealous that the chameleon had been chosen so decided to tell everyone first - she should have been chosen she was fater than the slow old chameleon!

Unfortunately in her haste she had misheard what the chameleon was told.

She rushed out to spread the news:

"After death there is no return."

People thought the lizard's message made sense and must be the truth.

When at last the chameleon arrived and to pass God's message, people laughed at him and said:

"You stupid chameleon, we already know that we are all going to die and that death is the end of everything."