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"The Golden Goose" is a fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm (Tale 64).
The hero is the youngest of three brothers, given the nickname Simpleton. His eldest brother is sent into the forest to chop wood, fortified with a rich cake and a bottle of wine. He meets a little gray man who begs a morsel to eat and a swallow of wine but is rebuffed. The eldest brother injures his arm felling a tree and is taken home. The second brother meets a similar fate. Simpleton, sent out with a burned biscuit cooked in the ashes of the hearth and soured beer, is generous with the little old man and is rewarded with a golden goose. The goose has been discovered within the roots of the tree chosen by the little gray man and felled by Simpleton...