VII.—GEORGE WITH THE GOAT.
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 anyone 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 anyone 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 further, 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!'
Afterwards 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 afterwards 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. `O 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 second: `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 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 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.
This story is related to Grimm's tale of the `Golden
Goose,' but it is much more rationally constructed, and
much more interesting. The man who jumps one hundred
miles appears to be the rainbow, the man with bandaged
eyes the lightning, and the man with the bottle the cloud.
The interpretation will be very similar to that of No. 1, but
the allegory is by no means so clear or so well constructed.
As to the nonsense at the end, it is a specimen of the
manner in which the narrators of stories frequently finish
them in all Slavonic languages.
