“Hans in Luck.” German Popular Tales, Vol. 61. Brothers Grimm, edited by Edgar Taylor, London: Chatto and Windus, 1868, pp. 1-6.

Tale Summary

After serving his master for 7 years, Hans asked for his freedom and to be paid his wages, wanting to go back home to see his mother. His master, because Hans was such a good servant, gave him a piece of silver as big as his head. On his way home Hans met a man on a horse, and Hans marveled at the thought of riding on horseback. The horseman heard this and asked Hans why he traveled on foot, and he replied that he had a heavy load of silver to carry. The Horseman offered to trade his horse for the silver, and Hans agreed, but warned him that it would be a weary task to drag it. Hans took off, but the horse went in full gallup and he was thrown off into a ditch. a shepherd who was walking by stopped the horse, and Hans told him that he was now done with riding, and offered to trade the horse for a cow. Walking along after a successful trade, he thought of how if he only had a piece of bread he would have all that he wished for, and when he halted at an end, he ate all of his bread, and spent his last penny on a glass of beer. As he traveled on he came upon a patch of heat and thought to cure his thirst with the cow's milk, but none was to be had, and the cow kicked him in the head. Not long after, a butcher came by, and offered to take the cow to the slaughterhouse, and Hans agreed in exchange for a pig as he liked the meat better. The next person he met was a countryman carrying a white goose which he was bringing to a christening, and soon Hans was swindled out of his pig in exchange for the bird. After he came into the last village, he saw a scissor-grinder with his wheel, who sang:

“O’er hill and o’er dale so happy I roam,

 work light and live well, all the world is my home;

 why so blythe, so merry as I?”

The man asked Hans where he had gotten the goose, and he told him the entire story of all that he had bartered, and the man told him that if he were to trade the goose for a grindstone he would be happy and always with money. Hans agreed, and the man gave him a common rough stone from the ground, which he went off happily with. Hans was pleased and thought himself very lucky for all that he had traded that day, but as the day went on he became tired from carrying the stone, and after reaching a pond to drink from, he accidentally rolled the stone until water. After it sank he was very joyful, and thanked heaven for being so kind as to take away his only burden, and merrily walked to his mother's house.