Lazy Harry

Harry was lazy. Even though he had nothing to do all day but take his goat to the meadow, he still groaned when he came home after work. "It's such a heavy burden," he said, "and such a tiresome job to drive a goat to the pasture year after year, all the way into autumn!

If only I could lie down and sleep, but no, I have to keep my eyes open so it doesn't hurt the young trees, or squeeze through the hedge into a garden, or run away completely.

How can I ever get any rest or peace in my life?" He sat down, thought hard, and tried to figure out how to free himself from this burden. For a long time he couldn't come up with anything, but suddenly it was as if a light went on in his head.

"I know what I'll do!" he cried. "I'll marry fat Trina, who also has a goat. She can take mine out with hers, and then I won't have to bother anymore."

So Harry got up, moved his tired legs, and went right across the street—it wasn't any farther—to the house where fat Trina's parents lived. He asked for their hardworking and virtuous daughter's hand in marriage. Her parents didn't think about it for long. "Birds of a feather flock together," they thought, and said yes.

So fat Trina became Harry's wife, and she led both goats out to pasture. Harry had a great time. He had no work to rest from except his own laziness. Now and then he went out with her, but he said, "I only do this so I can enjoy resting afterward. Otherwise, you lose the feeling for it."

But fat Trina was just as lazy. "Dear Harry," she said one day, "why should we make our lives so hard when we don't have to? We're ruining the best days of our youth! Wouldn't it be better to give the two goats to our neighbor?

They wake us up every morning with their bleating when we're in our sweetest sleep. In return, he'll give us a beehive. We'll put it in a sunny spot behind the house and not worry about it anymore. Bees don't need to be taken care of or driven to the field.

They fly out and find their own way home, and they collect honey without causing any trouble at all." "You have spoken like a wise woman," Harry replied. "Let's do it right away. Besides, honey tastes better and is more nourishing than goat's milk, and it lasts longer too."

The neighbor was happy to trade a beehive for the two goats. The bees flew in and out from early morning until late evening, never getting tired, and filled the hive with the most beautiful honey. In the autumn, Harry was able to take out a whole jug full.

They put the jug on a shelf that was fixed to the bedroom wall. They were afraid it might be stolen or that the mice would find it, so Trina brought in a thick hazel stick and put it next to her bed. That way, she could reach it without having to get up and chase away any uninvited guests. Lazy Harry didn't like to leave his bed before noon. "He who rises early," he said, "wastes his wealth."

One morning, while he was still lying in the feathers in broad daylight, resting after his long sleep, he said to his wife, "Women love sweet things, and you're always tasting the honey in secret.

It'll be better if we trade it for a goose with a young gosling before you eat it all up." "But," answered Trina, "not before we have a child to take care of them! Should I worry myself with the little geese and waste all my strength on them for nothing?" "Do you think," said Harry, "that the child will look after geese?

Nowadays children don't obey. They do whatever they want because they think they're smarter than their parents. Just like that boy who was sent to find the cow and chased after three blackbirds instead." "Oh," Trina replied, "this one will be in trouble if he doesn't do what I say!

I'll take a stick and beat him so many times I can't count. Look, Harry," she cried in her eagerness, and grabbed the stick she used to chase away the mice. "Look, this is how I'll hit him!" She reached out her arm to strike, but unfortunately she hit the honey jug above the bed.

The jug hit the wall and fell into pieces, and the fine honey streamed down to the ground. "There lie the goose and the young gosling," said Harry, "and they don't need any looking after. But it's lucky the jug didn't fall on my head.

We have every reason to be happy with our lot." Then, seeing that there was still some honey in one of the pieces, he reached out for it and said cheerfully, "The leftovers, my wife, we'll still enjoy, and we'll rest a little after the fright we had.

What does it matter if we get up a bit later? The day is always long enough." "Yes," answered Trina, "we'll always get to the end of it at the right time. Do you know that the snail was once invited to a wedding?

It set out to go, but arrived at the christening. In front of the house it fell over the fence and said, 'Speed does no good.'"