But it was no laughing matter for the King, as you may believe. Here was a poor common lad, and a simpleton at that, who had made the Princess laugh; so now, by all rights, he might claim her for a wife, and the half of the kingdom, too.
The King frowned and bit his nails, and then he sent for John to be brought before him, and the lad came in alone, for he had set the people free at the gates.
“Listen, now,” said the King to John. “It is true I promised that anyone who made the Princess laugh should have her for a wife, but there is more to the matter than that. Before I hand over part of the kingdom to anyone, I must know what sort of friends he has, and whether they are good fellows. If you can bring here a man who can drink a whole cellar full of wine at one sitting then you shall have the Princess and part of the kingdom, just as promised; but if you cannot you shall be sent home with a good drubbing to keep you quiet.”
When John heard that he made a wry face. He did not know where he could find a man who could drink a whole cellar full of wine at one sitting.
He went out from the castle, and suddenly he remembered the old gray man who had given him the golden goose. If the old man had helped him once perhaps he might again.
He set out for the forest, and it was not long before he came to it. There, sitting where the old gray man had sat before, was a man with a sad and rueful face. He looked as though he had never smiled in all his life. He was talking to himself, and when the simpleton drew near he found the man was saying over and over, “How dry I am! How dry I am! Not even the dust of a summer’s day is as dry as I.”
“If you are so thirsty, friend,” said John, “rise up and follow me. Do you think you could drink a whole cellar full of wine at one sitting?”
Yes, the man could do that, and glad to get it, too. A whole cellar full of wine would be none too much to satisfy such a thirst as his.
“Then, come along,” said John.
He took the man back to the castle and down into the cellar where all the casks of wine were stored. When the man saw all that wine his eyes sparkled with joy. He sat him down to drink, and one after another he drained the casks until the very last one of them was empty. Then he stretched himself and sighed. “Now I am content,” said he.