The landlord had three daughters, who looked at the goose with envious eyes.  They had never seen such a wonderful bird, and longed to have at least one of its feathers.  “Ah,” thought the eldest, “I shall soon have an opportunity to pluck one of them;” and so it happened, for not long after the young man left the room.  She instantly went up to the bird and took hold of its wing, but as she did so, the finger and thumb remained and stuck fast.  In a short time after the second sister came in with the full expectation of gaining a golden feather, but as she touched her sister to move her from the bird, her hand stuck fast to her sister’s dress, and neither of them could free herself.  At last, in came the third sister with the same intention.  “Keep away, keep away!” screamed the other two; “in heaven’s name keep away!”

But she could not imagine why she should keep away.  If they were near the golden bird, why should not she be there?  So she made a spring forward and touched her second sister, and immediately she also was made a prisoner, and in this position they were obliged to remain by the goose all night.

In the morning the young man came in, took the goose on his arm, and went away without troubling himself about the three girls, who were following close behind him.  And as he walked quickly, they were obliged to run one behind the other, left or right of him, just as he was inclined to go.

In the middle of a field they were met by the parson of the parish, who looked with wonder at the procession as it came near him.  “Shame on you!” he cried out.  “What are you about, you bold-faced hussies, running after a young man in that way through the fields?  Go home, all of you.”

He placed his hand on the youngest to pull her back, but the moment he touched her he also became fixed, and was obliged to follow and run like the rest.  In a few minutes the clerk met them, and when he saw the parson runing after the girls, he wondered greatly, and cried out, “Halloa, master parson, where are you running in such haste?  Have you forgotten that there is a christening to-day?” And as the procession did not stop, he ran after it, and seized the parson’s gown.

In a moment he found that his hand was fixed, and he also had to run like the rest.  And now there were five trotting along, one behind the other.  Presently two peasants came by with their sickles from the field.  The parson called out to them, and begged them to come and release him and the clerk.  Hardly had they touched the clerk when they also stuck fast as the others, and the simpleton with his golden goose travelled with the seven.

After awhile they came to a city in which reigned a king who had a daughter of such a melancholy disposition that no one could make her laugh; therefore he issued a decree that whoever would make the princess laugh should have her in marriage.

Now, when the simple youth heard this, he ran before her, and the whole seven trotted after him.  The sight was so ridiculous that the moment the princess saw it she burst into a violent fit of laughter and they thought she would never leave off.