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By Root 1985 0

to her: “Have you been praying in the church?” “Yes,” answered she, “but I have constantly been thinking of Faithful John and what misfortune has befallen him through us.” Then said he: “Dear wife, we can give him his life again, but it will cost us our two little sons, whom we must sacrifice.” The Queen turned pale, and her heart was full of terror, but she said: “We owe it to him, for his great fidelity.” Then the King was rejoiced that she thought as he had thought, and went and opened the cupboard, and brought forth Faithful John and the children, and said: “God be praised, he is delivered, and we have our little sons again also,” and told her how everything had occurred. Then they dwelt together in much happiness until their death.

The Good Bargain

THERE WAS once a peasant who had driven his cow to the fair, and sold her for seven talers. On the way home he had to pass a pond, and already from afar he heard the frogs crying: “Aik, aik, aik, aik.” “Well,” said he to himself, “they are talking without rhyme or reason, it is seven that I have received, not eight.” When he got to the water, he cried to them: “Stupid animals that you are! Don’t you know better than that? It is seven talers and not eight.” The frogs, however, stuck to their “aik, aik, aik, aik.” “Come, then, if you won’t believe it, I can count it out to you,” and he took his money out of his pocket and counted out the seven talers, always reckoning four and twenty groschen to a taler. The frogs, however, paid no attention to his reckoning, but still cried: “aik, aik, aik, aik.” “What,” cried the peasant quite angry, “if you know better than I, count it yourselves,” and threw all the money at them into the water. He stood still and wanted to wait until they were through and had returned to him what was his, but the frogs maintained their opinion and cried continually “aik, aik, aik, aik,” and besides that, did not throw the money out again. He still waited a long while until evening came on and he was forced to go home. Then he abused the frogs and cried: “You water-splashers, you thick-heads, you goggle-eyes, you have great mouths and can screech till you hurt one’s ears, but you cannot count seven talers! Do you think I’m going to stand here till you get through?” And with that he went away, but the frogs still cried: “aik, aik, aik, aik,” after him till he went home sorely vexed.

After a while he bought another cow, which he slaughtered, and he made the calculation that if he sold the meat well he might gain as much as the two cows were worth, and have the hide into the bargain. When therefore he got to the town with the meat, a great pack of dogs were gathered together in front of the gate, with a large greyhound at the head of them, which jumped at the meat, sniffed at it, and barked: “Wow, wow, wow.” As there was no stopping him, the peasant said to him: “Yes, yes, I know quite well that you are saying ‘wow, wow, wow,’ because you want some of the meat; but I should be in a fine state if I were to give it to you.” The dog, however, answered nothing but “wow, wow.” “Will you promise not to devour it all then, and will you go bail for your companions?” “Wow, wow, wow,” said the dog. “Well, if you insist on it, I will leave it for you; I know you well, and know whom you serve; but this I tell you, I must have my money in three days or else it will go ill with you; you can just bring it out to me.” Thereupon he unloaded the meat and turned back again. The dogs fell upon it and loudly barked: “wow, wow.”

The countryman, who heard them from afar, said to himself: “Hark, now they all want some, but the big one is responsible to me for it.”

When three days had passed, the countryman thought: “To-night my money will be in my pocket,” and was quite delighted. But no one would come and pay it. “There is no trusting any one now,” said he; and at last he lost patience, and went into the town to the butcher and demanded his money. The butcher thought it was a joke, but the peasant said: “Jesting apart, I will have my money! Did not the big dog bring you