Page 25 - The Goose

himself with, he beheld the dead goose,
whereupon he used it for that purpose.
Now the goose was not dead; so, turning her head,
she caught hold with her bill of the fleshy part of
the prince and would not let it go, and he cried
with loud cries, and his suite ran to his assistance,
and tried to pull off the bird from him, but it was
of no avail; she held firmly at her booty like a
feathery weight or an hairy hermaphrodite. And
the prince, unable to resist the suffering, and
beholding the fruitless efforts made by his suite,
bade them lift him up, and carry him in their arms
to the royal palace, where he sent for all doctors
and sages of his realm to deliver him. They all tried
all kinds of ointment, and made use of pinchers,
and used and sprinkled powders, but no purpose.
And perceiving that the goose was like a tick, and
would not let go for quicksilver, a leech that
would not drop for all the vinegar used, the prince
ordered a ban to be proclaimed, that whoso would
deliver him from this annoyance at his bottom, if it
should be a man, he would gift him with half of his
realm, if a woman, he would take her to wife. And
folk, having put their nose to the reward, swarmed
to the palace-gate; but the more ___

25