Lazy Harry (Grimm)
Division into chapters is editorial.
Lazy Harrys daily burden and marriage scheme
Harry lived a simple life with only one responsibility: driving his goat to pasture each day. Despite having no other work, he found even this minimal task unbearably burdensome. Every evening when he returned home, Harry groaned about his daily labor.
It is indeed a heavy burden, and a wearisome employment to drive a goat into the field this way year after year, till late into the autumn!
Harry complained that he could never rest or sleep because he had to watch the goat constantly, ensuring it didn't damage young trees, squeeze through hedges into gardens, or run away entirely. He spent long hours thinking about how to free himself from this burden. Finally, inspiration struck him like scales falling from his eyes. He devised a clever scheme: he would marry fat Trina, who also owned a goat, so she could take both animals to pasture together, leaving him free from work.
Harry immediately put his plan into action. He got up, set his weary legs in motion, and walked across the street to where fat Trina's parents lived. There he asked for their industrious and virtuous daughter's hand in marriage. The parents didn't need long to consider the proposal.
Birds of a feather, flock together, they thought, and consented.
So fat Trina became Harry's wife and took over the responsibility of leading both goats to pasture.
Harry had achieved his goal perfectly. He enjoyed a wonderful time with no work required except resting from his own idleness. Occasionally he accompanied Trina, claiming he did so only to better appreciate rest afterward, since otherwise one loses all feeling for it.
Trinas beehive proposal and the goat trade
Fat Trina proved to be no less idle than her husband. One day she approached Harry with a new proposal that would eliminate even more work from their lives.
Why should we make our lives so toilsome when there is no need for it, and thus ruin the best days of our youth?
Trina suggested they give their two goats to their neighbor in exchange for a beehive. She reasoned that the goats disturbed their sweetest sleep every morning with their bleating, while bees would require no care at all. Bees could fly out and find their way home by themselves, collecting honey without giving the least trouble. Harry was delighted with this sensible proposal, agreeing that honey tasted better than goat's milk, provided better nourishment, and could be kept longer too. The neighbor willingly agreed to trade a beehive for the two goats.
Successful honey harvest and lazy lifestyle
The beehive proved to be an excellent investment. The bees flew in and out from early morning until late evening without ever tiring, filling the hive with the most beautiful honey. By autumn, Harry was able to extract a whole pitcherful of honey from it. They placed the precious jug on a board fixed to their bedroom wall. Fearing theft or mice, Trina brought a stout hazel stick and placed it beside her bed so she could reach it easily to drive away uninvited guests without getting up. Lazy Harry refused to leave his bed before noon.
The honey pitcher accident and philosophical acceptance
He who rises early, said he, wastes his substance.
One morning while still lying among the feathers in broad daylight, resting after his long sleep, Harry began to worry about their honey supply. He told his wife that women were fond of sweet things and accused her of secretly tasting the honey.
Harry suggested they exchange the honey for a goose with a young gosling before Trina ate it all up. However, Trina objected, saying they shouldn't get geese until they had a child to care for them, as she didn't want to worry herself with little geese. Harry doubted that children would obey nowadays, claiming they followed their own fancy because they considered themselves cleverer than their parents. Trina angrily declared that any child of theirs would fare badly if he didn't obey. In her zeal, she seized the stick meant for driving away mice and cried out that she would beat any disobedient child. She reached her arm out to demonstrate how she would strike, but accidentally hit the honey pitcher above the bed. The pitcher struck the wall and fell down in fragments, with all the fine honey streaming onto the ground. Harry philosophically remarked that there lay the goose and young gosling, wanting no looking after, and that they were lucky the pitcher hadn't fallen on his head. Seeing honey still remaining in one fragment, he stretched out his hand and suggested they eat the remains with relish and rest after their fright, noting that the day was always long enough regardless of when they rose.