For his kindness, Dummling receives a golden goose found within the roots of a tree he cuts down, guided by the little gray man.

Sitting by the window, the princess sees the parade staggering after Dummling and his golden goose and bursts out laughing.

In another version the king, not wanting his daughter to marry a woodcutter, sets Dummling to three additional tasks: to find someone who can drink all the wine in the cellar, someone who can eat a mountain of bread, and a ship that can sail on both land and sea.

[1] A musical version of The Golden Goose, written by Dieter Stegmann and Alexander S. Bermange was presented at the Amphitheater Park Schloss Philippsruhe, Hanau, Germany as part of the Brothers Grimm Festival in 2006.

His eldest brother is sent into the forest to chop wood (the Task), fortified with a rich cake and a bottle of wine.

He meets a little gray man (the Disguised Helper) who begs a morsel to eat and a drop to drink but is rebuffed.

Dummling, sent out with a 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 Fairy Gift).

With the goose under his arm, Dummling heads for an inn, where, as soon as his back is turned, the innkeeper's daughter attempts to pluck just one of the feathers of pure gold, and is stuck fast (Greed A-T Type 68A; Justice is Served).

Dummling makes his way to the castle, and each person who attempts to interfere is joined to the unwilling parade: the parson, his sexton, and two laborers.

But the despondent Princess, sitting by the window and glimpsing the parade staggering after Dummling and his golden goose, laughs so hard.

Dummling, after three more impossible trials including finding a ship that sails on land and sea, sometimes inserted in the tale, in each of which he is assisted by the little gray man, wins the Princess and everyone lives happily ever after.