Harry was so lazy that although his only daily task was to drive his goat out to graze, he would still sigh heavily upon returning home each evening. "What a weary job," he'd complain. "A terrible burden, year after year! If only I could nap while she feeds. But no, I must keep watch or she'll damage trees, squeeze through a hedge, or run away. What a life! No peace, no relaxation."
He sat down to think of a way to rid himself of this burden. After much pondering, a solution dawned on him. "I know! I'll marry Fat Katie. She has a goat too, so she can take mine out with hers, and I won't have to wear myself out like this."
Harry got up and walked across the street to where Fat Katie's parents lived. He asked for the hand of their hard-working, virtuous daughter. Her parents agreed without hesitation, saying, "Like to like makes a good match." So, Fat Katie became Harry's wife and took both goats out to graze. Harry now spent his days pleasantly, recovering from nothing more strenuous than his own idleness. He only went out with her occasionally, remarking, "I do this just to appreciate my rest more afterwards."
But Fat Katie was no less idle than Harry. "Harry dear," she said one day, "why make our lives miserable and spoil our youth? The goats wake us with their bleating every morning. Why not give them to our neighbor in exchange for a beehive? We can place it behind the house in the sun and leave it alone. Bees don't need minding; they fly out, find their way home, and make honey without us lifting a finger."
"You're very sensible," Harry replied. "Let's do it right away. Honey is tastier and healthier than goat's milk, and it keeps longer."
The neighbor gladly exchanged a beehive for the two goats. The bees worked tirelessly from dawn till dusk, filling the hive with fine honey. By autumn, Harry had collected a whole jar.
They placed the jar on a shelf fixed to the wall above their bed. Fearing theft or mice, Katie fetched a sturdy hazel rod and put it by the bed so she could reach it without getting up to drive away unwelcome visitors.
Lazy Harry never rose before midday. "Too soon out of bed and you'll soon be dead," he'd say. One morning, as he lounged in bed in broad daylight, he said to his wife, "Women have a sweet tooth, and you've been at the honey again. Before you eat it all, let's trade it for a goose and a gander."
"Not until we have a child to mind them!" replied Fat Katie. "I don't want to be bothered with goslings, needlessly wearing myself out."
"And do you think a boy would look after geese?" said Harry. "Children nowadays don't obey; they do as they please, thinking they're cleverer than their parents, like that farmhand sent to fetch a cow who chased three blackbirds instead."
"Well then," Katie answered, "this one had better obey, or I'll take a stick to him and tan his hide! Watch me, Harry!" In her excitement, she seized the stick meant for the mice. "Watch me beat his backside off!"
She lifted the stick but accidentally struck the honey jar above the bed. The jar hit the wall and shattered into smithereens, spilling all the fine honey onto the floor.
"Well, so much for the goose and gander," said Harry. "We won't have to mind them now. It's lucky the jar didn't fall on my head; we have every reason to be content with our lot." Seeing some honey left in a fragment, he picked it up cheerfully. "Wife, let's enjoy what's left and rest after our fright. What does it matter if we get up later? The day is still long enough."
"Oh yes," answered Katie. "Better late than never. You know the snail invited to the wedding? It set out and arrived in time for the christening. Just outside the house, it fell from a fence and said, 'More haste, less speed.'"