n where a king reigned, who had an only
daughter who was so serious that no one could make her laugh; therefore
the king had given out that whoever should make her laugh should have
her in marriage. The Simpleton, when he heard this, went with his goose
and his hangers-on into the presence of the king's daughter, and as soon
as she saw the seven people following always one after the other, she
burst out laughing, and seemed as if she could never stop. And so the
Simpleton earned a right to her as his bride; but the king did not like
him for a son-in-law and made all kinds of objections, and said he must
first bring a man who could drink up a whole cellar of wine. The
Simpleton thought that the little grey man would be able to help him,
and went out into the forest, and there, on the very spot where he
felled the tree, he saw a man sitting with a very sad countenance. The
Simpleton asked him what was the matter, and he answered,

"I have a great thirst, which I cannot quench: cold water does not agree
with me; I have indeed drunk up a whole cask of wine, but what good is a
drop like that?"

Then said the Simpleton,

"I can help you; only come with me, and you shall have enough."

He took him straight to the king's cellar, and the man sat himself down
before the big vats, and drank, and drank, and before a day was over he
had drunk up the whole cellar-full. The Simpleton again asked for his
bride, but the king was annoyed that a wretched fellow, called the
Simpleton by everybody, should carry off his daughter, and so he made
new conditions. He was to produce a man who could eat up a mountain of
bread. The Simpleton did not hesitate long, but ran quickly off to the
forest, and there in the same place sat a man who had fastened a strap
round his body, making a very piteous face, and saying,

"I have eaten a whole bakehouse full of rolls, but what is the use of
that when one is so hungry as I am? My stomach feels quite empty, and I
am obliged to strap myself together, that I may not die of hunger."

The Simpleton was quite glad of this, and said,

"Get up quickly, and come along with me, and you shall have enough to
eat."

He led him straight to the king's courtyard, where all the meal in the
kingdom had been collected and baked into a mountain of bread. The man
out of the forest settled himself down before it and hastened to eat,
and in one day the whole mountain had disappeared.

Then the Simpleton asked for his