The miller’s wife was alone in the house, and said to the
peasant, “Lay thyself on the straw there”, and gave him a slice of
bread with cheese on 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 the meantime 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 forced to make shift with a slice of bread with cheese on it. Then
the woman served up four different things, roast meat, salad, cakes,
and wine. Just as they were about to sit down and eat, there was a knocking
outside. The woman said, “Oh, heavens! It is my husband!” She quickly
hid 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
cupboard in the entrance. Then she opened the door for her husband, and
said, “Thank heaven, thou art back again! There is such a storm, it
looks as if the world were coming to an end.” The miller saw the
peasant lying 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 begged for shelter, so I gave him a bit of bread and cheese,
and showed him where the straw was.” The man said, “I have no
objection, but be quick and get me something to eat.” The woman said,
“But I have nothing but bread and cheese.” “I am contented with
anything,” replied the husband, “so far as I am concerned, bread and
cheese will do,” and looked at the peasant and said, “Come and eat some
more with me.” The peasant did not require to be invited twice, but got
up and ate. After this the miller saw the skin in which the raven was,
lying on the ground, and asked, “What hast thou there?” The peasant
answered, “I have a soothsayer inside it.” “Can he foretell anything to
me?” said the miller. “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 the raven’s head, so that he croaked and made a noise
like krr, krr. The miller said, “What did he say?” The peasant
answered, “In the first place, he says that there is some wine hidden
under the pillow.” “Bless me!” cried the miller, and went there and
found the wine. “Now go 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 tiled stove.” “Upon my word!” cried the miller, and went
thither, and found the roast meat. The peasant made the raven prophesy
still more, and said, “Thirdly, he says that there is some salad on the
bed.” “That would be a fine thing!” cried the miller, and went there
and found the salad. At last the peasant pinched the raven once more
till he croaked, and said, “Fourthly, he says that there are some cakes
under the bed.” “That would be 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
was frightened to death, and went to bed and took all the keys with
her. The miller would have liked much to know the fifth, but the little
peasant said, “First, we will quickly eat the four things, for the
fifth is something bad.” So they ate, and after that they bargained how
much the miller was to give for the fifth prophesy, until they agreed
on three hundred thalers. Then the peasant once more pinched the
raven’s head till he croaked loudly. The miller asked, “What did he
say?” The peasant replied, “He says that the Devil is hiding outside
there in the cupboard in the entrance.” The miller said, “The Devil
must go out,” and opened the house-door; then the woman was forced to
give up the keys, and the peasant 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 own eyes.” The peasant, however, made off next
morning by daybreak with the three hundred thalers. At home the small peasant gradually launched out; he built a beautiful
house, and the peasants said, “The small peasant has certainly been to
the place where golden snow falls, and people carry the gold home in
shovels.” Then the small peasant was brought before the Mayor, and
bidden to say from whence his wealth came. He answered, “I sold my
cow’s skin in the town, for three hundred thalers.” When the peasants
heard that, they too wished to enjoy this great profit, and ran home,
killed all their cows, and stripped off their skins in order to sell
them in the town to the greatest advantage. The Mayor, however, said,
“But my servant must go first.” When she came to the merchant in the
town, he did not give her more than two thalers for a skin, and when
the others came, he did not 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 thus
overreached them, wanted to take vengeance on him, and accused him of
this treachery before the Mayor. The innocent little peasant was
unanimously 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 was
brought who was to say a mass for his soul. The others were all obliged
to 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 to him,
“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 who
as the peasant knew had long been wishing to be Mayor, so he cried with
all 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 is needful in order to be Mayor, I would get into the barrel
at once.” The peasant said, “If thou wilt get in, thou wilt be Mayor.”
The shepherd was willing, and got in, and the peasant shut the top down
on him; then he took the shepherd’s flock for himself, and drove it
away. The parson went to the crowd, and declared that the mass had been
said. Then they came and rolled the barrel towards the water. When the
barrel began to roll, the shepherd cried, “I am quite willing to be
Mayor.” They believed no otherwise 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 little down 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 and looking quite contented.