The story of the GOLDESELCHEN, freely adapted from the Brotrhers Grimm

Once upon a time there was a cobbler who had three sons and a goat; the sons had to help him with his trade and the goat had to feed them with her milk. So that she would get a good, juicy feed every day, the sons were to take her out to pasture one after the other. The eldest took her to the churchyard, let her jump around and eat; in the evening, when he wanted to go home, he asked: "Goat, are you full?" the goat replied:
"I have eaten so much, not a leaf more I'll touch! Meh! Meh!"
"Well, come home," he said, pulled her into the stable and tied her up. The old cobbler asked his son whether the goat had had enough to eat; the son replied: "She's so full, she doesn't like leaves." But he wanted to see for himself whether this was true, so he went into the stable and asked: "Goat, are you full?" the goat replied:
"Wherewithal should I be satisfied? Among the graves I leapt about and found no leaves, so went without! Meh! Meh!"
When the cobbler heard this, he thought his son had lied to him, became angry, jumped up, took his stick from the wall and beat him away.

The next day, the second son had to graze the goat, he led it among lots of good herbs and the goat ate them all. In the evening he asked: "Goat, are you full?"
"I have eaten so much, not a leaf more I'll touch! Meh! Meh!"
"Well, come home," she went into the stable and told the old man that the goat was full and well fed. The old man went down again and asked, "Are you full, goat?"
"Wherewithal should I be satisfied? Among the graves I leapt about and found no leaves, so went without! Meh! Meh!"
The cobbler became angry and beat his second son out of the house.

Finally, the third son had to lead the goat out to pasture. He also wanted to herd the goat and chose the best food, but the goat left nothing. In the evening he asked: "Goat, are you full?"
"I have eaten so much, not a leaf more I'll touch! Meh! Meh!"
"Now come home," he pulled her into the stable and assured her father that she had eaten her fill. But the old man went back: "Goat, are you full?"
"Wherewithal should I be satisfied? Among the graves I leapt about and found no leaves, so went without! Meh! Meh!"
Then he chased his third son out of the house with blows.

The cobbler now wanted to drive his goat out to pasture himself, tied it to a rope and led it into the middle of the best herbs, but the goat ate there all day long. In the evening he asked: "Goat, are you full?"
"I have eaten so much, not a leaf more I'll touch! Meh! Meh!"
"Well, come home," he said and pulled her into the stable. When he had tied her up, he asked again: "Goat, are you full?" But the goat answered him, now she was full too:
"Wherewithal should I be satisfied? Among the graves I leapt about and found no leaves, so went without! Meh! Meh!"
When the cobbler heard this, he saw that he had innocently chased his three sons away and became so angry with the mischievous goat that he took out his razor, shaved off her whole head and whipped her away.

Meanwhile, the eldest son had been apprenticed to a carpenter, and when his years were over and he wanted to go on a journey, the carpenter gave him a little table. All he had to do was say, "Set the table!" and the table was covered with a white cloth, a silver plate stood there, silver knives and forks were placed next to it, a crystal glass filled with red wine in front, and the most beautiful bowls full of food all around. With this he went happily into the world, and wherever he was, in the field, in the forest or in an inn, when he sat down his little table and said, "Set the table", he had the most sumptuous meal. Once he came to an inn where the guests were all already gathered, they asked him if he wanted to eat with them, he replied: "No, but you shall eat with me." So he placed his little table in the parlor and said, "Set the table!" It was full of the most delicious food and when a bowl was taken away, a new one was immediately put in its place and all the guests were deliciously served. The innkeeper thought that if you had such a little table you would be a rich man, and at night when the strange carpenter had fallen asleep and had put his little table in a corner, he fetched another one that looked just like it and put it in its place. Early in the morning, the good journeyman got up, took his little table on his back and did not realize that it had been swapped. He went home and said to his father: "Don't worry and don't worry any more, I have a little table for you, we can live in abundance every day." The father was delighted and invited his relatives, and when they were all together, the son set his little table in the middle of the room and said: "Set the table!" But the little table remained empty as before, and the son saw that it had been exchanged for him and was ashamed; the relatives went away undrunk and uneaten and father and son had to go back to their craft.

The second son had gone to a miller, and when he had finished his apprenticeship, the miller gave him a GOLDESELCHEN as a present, and as often as people said to him, "Bricklebrit!" it began to spit out gold ducats backwards and forwards. With this GOLDESELCHEN he came to the same inn where his brother's table had been stolen. He was treated to a sumptuous meal, and when the bill arrived, he went into the stable to his GOLDESELCHEN and said, "Briklebrit!" He had more gold ducats than he could possibly need. But the innkeeper had seen this, got up in the night, untied the GOLDESELCHEN and put his donkey down for it. In the morning the miller went away with it, not knowing that he had been cheated. When he came home to his father, he also said: "Have a good time, I have a GOLDENESECHEN and as much gold as you want." So the father invited all his relatives again, a large white cloth was spread out in the middle of the room, the donkey was taken out of the stable and placed on the cloth. The miller said, "Bricklebrit!" but in vain, no gold ducat appeared. Then he saw that he had been cheated, was ashamed and went about his business to feed himself.

The third son had gone to a turner, who gave him a sack with a cudgel as a gift for his journey. As often as he said, "Cudgel, out of the sack!" the cudgel jumped out and danced about among the people, beating them miserably. The turner, however, had heard that his brothers had lost the treasures they had acquired in an inn, so he went there and said that his brothers had been given a little table and a GOLDESELCHEN, but that what he had with him in the sack was even more delicious and worth much more. The innkeeper was curious, thought all good things come in threes, and wanted to get the treasure that night. But the woodturner had put his sack under his pillow, and when the innkeeper came and pulled it, he said: "Cudgel, out of the sack!" The cudgel came out of the sack at the innkeeper, danced with him and beat him so miserably that he gladly promised to give back the little table and the GOLDESELCHEN. With that, the youngest son went home, brought everything to his father and lived with him and his brothers in happiness and joy.

But the goat had run into a fox's den. When the fox came home and looked into his den, a pair of big eyes glinted at him. Terrified, he ran away when the bear met him and said: "Brother fox, what's that look on your face?"- "A fierce animal is sitting in my cave with terrible fiery eyes."- "I will drive it out of you," said the bear, and went to the cave, but when he went there and saw the eyes shimmering, he was afraid too, and ran back again. Then a bee came flying and asked, "Why do you look so cross, bear?" - "There is a fierce beast sitting in the fox's den, and we can't chase it away." The bee says: "I am a small animal and you don't respect me, but perhaps I can help you." Then the bee flies into the fox's den and stings the goat on its flat, shaved head. Meh!", runs away and nobody knows where she went for the rest of the day.