Henrik var en rigtig doven fyr, og skønt han ikke havde andet at gøre end hver dag drive sin ged ud på engen, gav han sig dog af træthed, når han kom hjem om aftenen. "Det er et drøjt arbejde," sukkede han, "sådan år ud og år ind lige til sent på efteråret at vogte en ged. Hvis man så endda kunne lægge sig hen og sove, men nej, man må have øjne og ører med sig for at passe på, at den ikke river i de unge træer eller stikker af ind i en eller anden have. Hvordan skal man dog så kunne glæde sig over livet!" Han spekulerede og spekulerede på, hvordan han skulle slippe fri, og langt om længe fandt han på råd. "Nu ved jeg, hvad jeg gør," råbte han glad, "jeg gifter mig med den tykke Trine. Hun har også en ged, så kan hun passe dem begge to, og så slipper jeg."
Harry was lazy, and although he had nothing else to do but drive his goat daily to pasture, he nevertheless groaned when he went home after his day's work was done. "It is indeed a heavy burden," said he, "and a wearisome employment to drive a goat into the field this way year after year, till late into the autumn! If one could but lie down and sleep, but no, one must have one's eyes open lest it hurts the young trees, or squeezes itself through the hedge into a garden, or runs away altogether. How can one have any rest, or peace of one's life?" He seated himself, collected his thoughts, and considered how he could set his shoulders free from this burden. For a long time all thinking was to no purpose, but suddenly it was as if scales fell from his eyes. "I know what I will do," he cried, "I will marry fat Trina who has also a goat, and can take mine out with hers, and then I shall have no more need to trouble myself."
Henrik rejste sig altså, satte sine dovne ben i bevægelse, gik den lange vej tværs over gaden, hvor Trines forældre boede, og friede til deres flittige datter. Forældrene betænkte sig ikke længe. "Lige børn leger bedst," sagde de. Nu blev den tykke Trine gift med Henrik og hun drev begge gederne ud på marken, så han havde ikke andet at bestille end at pleje sin egen magelighed. Af og til gik han med hende derud: "Så smager hvilen så meget desto bedre," sagde han.
So Harry got up, set his weary legs in motion, and went right across the street, for it was no farther, to where the parents of fat Trina lived, and asked for their industrious and virtuous daughter in marriage. The parents did not reflect long. "Birds of a feather, flock together," they thought, and consented.
Men den tykke Trine var akkurat ligeså doven, og en dag sagde hun til Henrik: "Hvorfor skal vi gøre os livet så surt. De geder forstyrrer os hver morgen i vor sødeste søvn med deres brægen. Det er meget bedre, at vi giver dem til naboen og får en bikube i stedet for. Den stiller vi så i solen bagved huset og lader den passe sig selv. Bierne behøver man ikke at stå på pinde for. De flyver ud og kommer hjem og laver honning uden at gøre os den ringeste ulejlighed." - "Du er en klog kone," sagde Henrik, "lad os straks gøre det. Honning smager også meget bedre end gedemælk og kan holde sig meget længere."
So fat Trina became Harry's wife, and led out both the goats. Harry had a good time of it, and had no work that he required to rest from but his own idleness. He only went out with her now and then, and said, "I merely do it that I may afterwards enjoy rest more, otherwise one loses all feeling for it."
Naboen ville gerne bytte med en bikube og de to geder. Bierne fløj utrætteligt ud og hjem fra morgen til aften og samlede den dejligste honning, så at Henrik om efteråret fik en stor krukke fuld.
But fat Trina was no less idle. "Dear Harry," said she one day, "why should we make our lives so toilsome when there is no need for it, and thus ruin the best days of our youth? Would it not be better for us to give the two goats which disturb us every morning in our sweetest sleep with their bleating, to our neighbor, and he will give us a beehive for them. We will put the beehive in a sunny place behind the house, and trouble ourselves no more about it. Bees do not require to be taken care of, or driven into the field; they fly out and find the way home again for themselves, and collect honey without giving the very least trouble." - "Thou hast spoken like a sensible woman," replied Harry. "We will carry out thy proposal without delay, and besides all that, honey tastes better and nourishes one better than goat's milk, and it can be kept longer too."
Derpå stillede de krukken på et bræt, som var slået op på væggen i deres sovekammer, og fordi de var bange for, at den skulle blive stjålet, eller at musene skulle slikke af den, lagde Trine en tyk kæp ved siden af sig i sengen, for at hun kunne jage de ubudne gæster væk uden at behøve at rejse sig.
The neighbor willingly gave a beehive for the two goats. The bees flew in and out from early morning till late evening without ever tiring, and filled the hive with the most beautiful honey, so that in autumn Harry was able to take a whole pitcherful out of it.
Henrik holdt ikke af at stå op før middag. "Det er at spilde sine kræfter," sagde han. En morgen, da han ved højlys dag endnu lå i sengen sagde han til sin kone: "Kvinderne holder nu engang meget af søde sager, og jeg ved godt, at du går og slikker af krukken. Det er bedre, at vi ser at få det byttet for en gås, førend du har spist det hele." - "Lad os dog vente med det, til vi har fået et barn, som kan passe den," sagde Trine, "jeg har sandelig ikke lyst til at anstrenge mig dermed." - "Tror du virkelig vores søn gider vogte gæs?" sagde han. "Nu til dags følger børnene kun deres eget kloge hovede og bryder sig ikke om, hvad forældrene siger. De bærer sig ad akkurat som den dovne karl, der skulle lede efter en ko og i stedet for jagede efter tre drosler." - "Hvis han ikke lystrer, skal han nok få med mig at bestille," svarede Trine, "jeg tager bare en stok og slår løs på ham - sådan" - i sin iver greb hun stokken, som lå ved siden af hende, men var så uheldig at ramme krukken, der stod over sengen. Krukken sprang i mange stykker og al den dejlige honning flød ned ad væggen. "Der ligger gåsen," råbte Henrik, "nu behøver vi ikke at spekulere på, hvem der skal passe den. Og sikke et held, at krukken ikke faldt i hovedet på mig. Vi har rigtignok grund til at takke forsynet." Han fik øje på en lille smule honning, som sad på et skår, tog det op og sagde fornøjet: "Det skal smage godt ovenpå den forskrækkelse. Og så er det bedst, vi hviler os lidt. Det gør ikke noget, om det bliver lidt senere end sædvanligt, dagen er jo lang nok alligevel."
They placed the jug on a board which was fixed to the wall of their bed-room, and as they were afraid that it might be stolen from them, or that the mice might find it, Trina brought in a stout hazel-stick and put it beside her bed, so that without unnecessary getting up she might reach it with her hand, and drive away the uninvited guests. Lazy Harry did not like to leave his bed before noon. "He who rises early," said he, "wastes his substance."
"Ja, man kommer såmænd altid tidsnok," sagde Trine, "kender du historien om en fugl, som var indbudt til bryllup og begav sig på vej, men kom først til barnedåb. Udenfor huset faldt den ovenikøbet ned fra gærdet og sagde: Hastværk er lastværk."
One morning when he was still lying amongst the feathers in broad daylight, resting after his long sleep, he said to his wife, "Women are fond of sweet things, and thou art always tasting the honey in private; it will be better for us to exchange it for a goose with a young gosling, before thou eatest up the whole of it." - "But," answered Trina, "not before we have a child to take care of them! Am I to worry myself with the little geese, and spend all my strength on them to no purpose." - "Dost thou think," said Harry, "that the youngster will look after geese? Now-a-days children no longer obey, they do according to their own fancy, because they consider themselves cleverer than their parents, just like that lad who was sent to seek the cow and chased three blackbirds." - "Oh," replied Trina, "this one shall fare badly if he does not do what I say! I will take a stick and belabour his skin for him with more blows than I can count. Look, Harry," cried she in her zeal, and seized the stick which she had to drive the mice away with, "Look, this is the way I will fall on him!" She reached her arm out to strike, but unhappily hit the honey-pitcher above the bed. The pitcher struck against the wall and fell down in fragments, and the fine honey streamed down on the ground. "There lie the goose and the young gosling," said Harry, "and want no looking after. But it is lucky that the pitcher did not fall on my head. We have all reason to be satisfied with our lot." And then as he saw that there was still some honey in one of the fragments he stretched out his hand for it, and said quite gaily, "The remains, my wife, we will still eat with a relish, and we will rest a little after the fright we have had. What matters if we do get up a little later the day is always long enough." - "Yes," answered Trina, "we shall always get to the end of it at the proper time. Dost thou know that the snail was once asked to a wedding and set out to go, but arrived at the christening. In front of the house it fell over the fence, and said, 'Speed does no good.'"