RUMBLE-MUMBLE GOOSE-EGG

Once upon a time five women were walking along when they came upon a giant goose egg. They quarrelled over it until, at last, they agreed to take turns sitting on it to hatch the egg.

The first woman sat on it for a week like a broody goose. At the end she said, “I’m not sure there’s a goose in here. I heard it rumbling and mumbling, ‘Herrings and porridge and milk’.”

Each woman sat on the egg and heard the same rumbling and mumbling. After the fifth woman had been there for a week, the eggshell cracked and out burst a huge baby boy. The women named him Rumble-Mumble Goose-Egg.

From the start Rumble-Mumble Goose-Egg had a big appetite – and his favourite foods were herrings and porridge and milk.

He grew so quickly that at twelve months old he was as big