Once upon a time, a queen had to send her beautiful daughter far away to marry a prince. She sent her with a lot of treasure and her talking horse, Falada, and with a maid to attend her.
The maid was jealous and unkind. So on the way, she waited for the princess to get down to take a bath. Immediately, she exchanged her clothes for those of the princess and got onto Falada.
When they reached the new kingdom, the maid was thought to be the princess in her rich clothes and riding the fine horse. The prince came out to receive her and led her into the palace.
The king looked at the real princess in the shabby clothes standing in the courtyard. He asked who she was but the maid said, “Oh, that’s only my maid. Give her something to do.”
The king gave her the task of helping Conrad, the boy who looked after the geese. So, the princess became the goose-girl.
Meanwhile, the maid was scared that Falada would talk and tell everyone the truth. So, she ordered that the horse should be killed. The prince, not wanting to upset her before the wedding, agreed.
But when the princess heard of it, she paid the slaughterman to spare Falada’s life and hid him in a field outside the town.
Every morning, the princess went with Conrad, driving the geese to the meadow outside the town to drink at the pond there. The princess would talk to Falada on the way, and the horse would reply, grieving at her misery.
Every day, the princess wished to comb and braid her long shining hair, but didn’t wish Conrad to see it. She would cast a spell and blow his hat away. By the time he raced after his hat and brought it back, she had braided her hair.
Conrad wanted a lock of her golden hair and when he could not get it, he became angry and complained about her speaking to the horse and blowing his hat off.
The king watched the goose-girl secretly and found her talking to the horse and saw everything. He called her and asked her about it. But she was so afraid that she would not tell him.
“Then tell it to the stove,” said the king, and he left the room. So, the goose-girl told her story to the stove and the king heard it all through the chimney!
He banished the maid and the prince married the beautiful princess and they lived happily ever after.
