Next morning when the cows were being driven out, the little peasantcalled the cow-herd and said, "Look, I have a little calf there, but it isstill small and has still to be carried." The cow-herd said, "All right,and took it in his arms and carried it to the pasture, and set it amongthe grass." The little calf always remained standing like one which waseating, and the cow-herd said, "It will soon run alone, just look how iteats already!" At night when he was going to drive the herd home again,he said to the calf, "If thou canst stand there and eat thy fill, thoucanst also go on thy four legs; I don't care to drag thee home again inmy arms." But the little peasant stood at his door, and waited for hislittle calf, and when the cow-herd drove the cows through the village,and the calf was missing, he inquired where it was. The cow-herd answered,"It is still standing out there eating. It would not stop and come withus." But the little peasant said, "Oh, but I must have my beast backagain." Then they went back to the meadow together, but some one hadstolen the calf, and it was gone. The cow-herd said, "It must have runaway." The peasant, however, said, "Don't tell me that," and led thecow-herd before the mayor, who for his carelessness condemned him togive the peasant a cow for the calf which had run away.
And now the little peasant and his wife had the cow for which they hadso long wished, and they were heartily glad, but they had no food forit, and could give it nothing to eat, so it soon had to be killed. Theysalted the flesh, and the peasant went into the town and wanted to sellthe skin there, so that he might buy a new calf with the proceeds. Onthe way he passed by a mill, and there sat a raven with broken wings,and out of pity he took him and wrapped him in the skin. As, however,the weather grew so bad and there was a storm of rain and wind, he couldgo no farther, and turned back to the mill and begged for shelter. Themiller's wife was alone in the house, and said to the peasant, "Laythyself on the straw there", and gave him a slice of bread with cheeseon it. The peasant ate it, and lay down with his skin beside him,and the woman thought, "He is tired and has gone to sleep." In themeantime came the parson; the miller's wife received him well, and said,"My husband is out, so we will have a feast." The peasant listened,and when he heard about feasting he was vexed that he had been forcedto make shift with a slice of bread with cheese on it. Then the womanserved up four different things, roast meat, salad, cakes, and wine.
Just as they were about to sit down and eat, there was a knockingoutside. The woman said, "Oh, heavens! It is my husband!" She quicklyhid the roast meat inside the tiled stove, the wine under the pillow,the salad on the bed, the cakes under it, and the parson in the cupboardin the entrance. Then she opened the door for her husband, and said,"Thank heaven, thou art back again! There is such a storm, it looksas if the world were coming to an end." The miller saw the peasantlying on the straw, and asked, "What is that fellow doing there?" "Ah,"said the wife, "the poor knave came in the storm and rain, and beggedfor shelter, so I gave him a bit of bread and cheese, and showed himwhere the straw was." The man said, "I have no objection, but be quickand get me something to eat." The woman said, "But I have nothing butbread and cheese." "I am contented with anything," replied the husband,"so far as I am concerned, bread and cheese will do," and looked atthe peasant and said, "Come and eat some more with me." The peasantdid not require to be invited twice, but got up and ate. After thisthe miller saw the skin in which the raven was, lying on the ground,and asked, "What hast thou there?" The peasant answered, "I havea soothsayer inside it." "Can he foretell anything to me?" said themiller. "Why not?" answered the peasant, "but he only says four things,and the fifth he keeps to himself." The miller was curious, and said,"Let him foretell something for once." Then the peasant pinched theraven's head, so that he croaked and made a noise like krr, krr. Themiller said, "What did he say?" The peasant answered, "In the firstplace, he says that there is some wine hidden under the pillow.""Bless me!" cried the miller, and went there and found the wine. "Nowgo on," said he. The peasant made the raven croak again, and said,"In the second place, he says that there is some roast meat in the tiledstove." "Upon my word!" cried the miller, and went thither, and found theroast meat. The peasant made the raven prophesy still more, and said,"Thirdly, he says that there is some salad on the bed." "That would bea fine thing!" cried the miller, and went there and found the salad. Atlast the peasant pinched the raven once more till he croaked, and said,"Fourthly, he says that there are some cakes under the bed." "That wouldbe a fine thing!" cried the miller, and looked there, and found the cakes.
And now the two sat down to the table together, but the miller's wife wasfrightened to death, and went to bed and took all the keys with her. Themiller would have liked much to know the fifth, but the little peasantsaid, "First, we will quickly eat the four things, for the fifth issomething bad." So they ate, and after that they bargained how much themiller was to give for the fifth prophesy, until they agreed on threehundred thalers. Then the peasant once more pinched the raven's headtill he croaked loudly. The miller asked, "What did he say?" The peasantreplied, "He says that the Devil is hiding outside there in the cupboardin the entrance." The miller said, "The Devil must go out," and openedthe house-door; then the woman was forced to give up the keys, and thepeasant unlocked the cupboard. The parson ran out as fast as he could,and the miller said, "It was true; I saw the black rascal with my owneyes." The peasant, however, made off next morning by daybreak with thethree hundred thalers.
At home the small peasant gradually launched out; he built a beautifulhouse, and the peasants said, "The small peasant has certainly been tothe place where golden snow falls, and people carry the gold home inshovels." Then the small peasant was brought before the Mayor, and biddento say from whence his wealth came. He answered, "I sold my cow's skinin the town, for three hundred thalers." When the peasants heard that,they too wished to enjoy this great profit, and ran home, killed all theircows, and stripped off their skins in order to sell them in the town tothe greatest advantage. The Mayor, however, said, "But my servant mustgo first." When she came to the merchant in the town, he did not giveher more than two thalers for a skin, and when the others came, he didnot give them so much, and said, "What can I do with all these skins?"
Then the peasants were vexed that the small peasant should have thusoverreached them, wanted to take vengeance on him, and accused himof this treachery before the Mayor. The innocent little peasant wasunanimously sentenced to death, and was to be rolled into the water,in a barrel pierced full of holes. He was led forth, and a priest wasbrought who was to say a mass for his soul. The others were all obligedto retire to a distance, and when the peasant looked at the priest,he recognized the man who had been with the miller's wife. He said tohim, "I set you free from the cupboard, set me free from the barrel."At this same moment up came, with a flock of sheep, the very shepherd whoas the peasant knew had long been wishing to be Mayor, so he cried withall his might, "No, I will not do it; if the whole world insists on it,I will not do it!" The shepherd hearing that, came up to him, and asked,"What art thou about? What is it that thou wilt not do?" The peasant said,"They want to make me Mayor, if I will but put myself in the barrel,but I will not do it." The shepherd said, "If nothing more than that isneedful in order to be Mayor, I would get into the barrel at once." Thepeasant said, "If thou wilt get in, thou wilt be Mayor." The shepherd waswilling, and got in, and the peasant shut the top down on him; then hetook the shepherd's flock for himself, and drove it away. The parson wentto the crowd, and declared that the mass had been said. Then they cameand rolled the barrel towards the water. When the barrel began to roll,the shepherd cried, "I am quite willing to be Mayor." They believed nootherwise than that it was the peasant who was saying this, and answered,"That is what we intend, but first thou shalt look about thee a littledown below there," and they rolled the barrel down into the water.
After that the peasants went home, and as they were entering the village,the small peasant also came quietly in, driving a flock of sheep andlooking quite contented. Then the peasants were astonished, and said,"Peasant, from whence comest thou? Hast thou come out of the water?" "Yes,truly," replied the peasant, "I sank deep, deep down, until at last Igot to the bottom; I pushed the bottom out of the barrel, and crept out,and there were pretty meadows on which a number of lambs were feeding,and from thence I brought this flock away with me." Said the peasants,"Are there any more there?" "Oh, yes," said he, "more than I could doanything with." Then the peasants made up their minds that they too wouldfetch some sheep for themselves, a flock apiece, but the Mayor said,"I come first." So they went to the water together, and just then therewere some of the small fleecy clouds in the blue sky, which are calledlittle lambs, and they were reflected in the water, whereupon the peasantscried, "We already see the sheep down below!" The Mayor pressed forwardand said, "I will go down first, and look about me, and if things promisewell I'll call you." So he jumped in; splash! went the water; he made asound as if he were calling them, and the whole crowd plunged in afterhim as one man. Then the entire village was dead, and the small peasant,as sole heir, became a rich man.
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