The Golden Goose
Die goldene Gans, the golden goose of the Grimms' fairy tale of the same name (KHM 64), is found by the simpleton Dummling in the wood after he shares his food with a little grey man. The goose is made of gold, and it sticks fast to anyone who touches it, so that when the simpleton carries it home the innkeeper's daughters, the parson and the sexton all become stuck to it in a growing chain. The absurd procession makes the sad princess laugh for the first time in years, and by the tale's rules this wins Dummling her hand and half the kingdom. The goose is the classic fairy-tale marvel: absurd,