When Howard taunts an old lady living near Goose Pond in the tiny village of Dumphrey's Mill, what does that make him? It makes him a prankster; a boy whose parents obviously haven't taught him to behave himself with the elderly; and a silly goose. And the last description applies quite literally to poor Howard's predicament when the old lady turns out to be a witch and turns Howard into a goose — from prankster to poultry in an instant.
Even though he honks his apologies as best he can, the old witch isn't quite ready to forgive him for stealing goose eggs and dousing one of the geese on the pond with a can of red paint. She figures he needs to prove he's penitent by doing three good deeds. But how does he do even one good deed when he's a goose, not a boy?