Chapter Five: The King's Assignment

The news of the goose reaches the royal castle. An expedition is launched.

The news of the goose that laid pure golden eggs

Was brought to the castle on four royal legs:

The horse of the prince who, on errands abroad,

Had heard of the bird with the gift from a god.

 

He rushed to his father, the king of the land,

And kissed his queen mother on top of the hand,

Then mumbled and stumbled through his understanding

Of what had appeared in the cottager’s landing.

 

The king was exhausted with troubles of war;

His armies were suffering on the west shore.

But he, at the thought of a gold-giving goose,

Abandoned all notions of tying a noose.

 

He leapt to his feet and he shouted with vigor

“This goose will make certain our treasury’s bigger

Than all other kingdoms o’er all of the earth!

I must have this goose of unmatchable worth!”

 

The kingdom of Belles had a daunting armada,

But all troops were battling Biers in Espada,

And so, on the quest to acquire the fowl,

The king sent a rather unusual crowd:

 

 

The cook was not allowed to go,

And so he sent his bride.

(The king was underjoyed by this

For she was short and wide.)

 

The blacksmith was a busy man,

What with the war and all,

So in his place he sent his son,

A lad both slow and small.

 

The seamstress of the queen was old,

But she enlisted, too.

The jailer said he’d tag along.

(He’d nothing else to do.)

 

The king assigned his treasurer

To join the little band

To certify the eggs were gold

With his experienced hand.

 

The members of the group were five,

But six the king required.

He sent to gather one in whom

Adventure was desired.

 

And one was found: a peasant girl

Who worked the noble stable.

She loved and knew the horses and

Was healthy, fit, and able.

 

 

The prince who had brought the most stirring of news

Desired to captain this misfitful crew

(Because, though he cited his thirst for a quest,

He fancied the stable-girl more than the rest

 

Of the beautiful women who sought for his ring,

For she was a gem to him, fit for a king.)

But he was denied, by his father, the right

To even accompany dressed as a knight.

 

The six silly travelers readied to leave:

The seamstress made coats that fit well in the sleeve.

The cook’s heavy wife carried plenty of food.

The stable-girl (trying hard not to be rude)

 

Assigned her companions with horses that fit

Each one’s circumstances: the boy’s never bit,

The seamstress’s pony was bony and long,

The fat woman’s horse was incredibly strong,

 

The treasurer’s beast was a beauty (but weak),

The jailer’s was grey and had eyes black and bleak.

And for her own animal (one she called Chino)

The stable-girl chose a young, fast palomino.

 

The king wasn’t terribly thrilled with the group,

But he wanted the goose from the cottager’s coop

With a fiery, cold, and unstoppable passion,

And so they departed with two weeks of rations.