Once
when the Queen was at church and the two children were sitting playing
beside their father, the latter full of grief again looked at the stone
figure, sighed and said, “Ah, if I could but bring thee to life again,
my most faithful John.” Then the stone began to speak and said, “Thou
canst bring me to life again if thou wilt use for that purpose what is
dearest to thee.” Then cried the King, “I will give everything I have
in the world for thee.” The stone continued, “If thou wilt will cut off
the heads of thy two children with thine own hand, and sprinkle me with
their blood, I shall be restored to life.”

The King was terrified when he heard that he himself must kill his
dearest children, but he thought of faithful John’s great fidelity, and
how he had died for him, drew his sword, and with his own hand cut off
the children’s heads. And when he had smeared the stone with their
blood, life returned to it, and Faithful John stood once more safe and
healthy before him. He said to the King, “Thy truth shall not go
unrewarded,” and took the heads of the children, put them on again, and
rubbed the wounds with their blood, on which they became whole again
immediately, and jumped about, and went on playing as if nothing had
happened. Then the King was full of joy, and when he saw the Queen
coming he hid Faithful John and the two children in a great cupboard. When she entered, he said to her, “Hast thou 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. 7 The Good Bargain

There was once a peasant who had driven his cow to the fair, and sold
her for seven thalers. 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 thalers and not eight.” The frogs, however,
stood 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 thalers, always reckoning four and twenty
groschen to a thaler. The frogs, however, paid no attention to his
reckoning, but still cried, “aik, aik, aik, aik.” “What,” cried the
peasant, quite angry, “since you are determined to know better than I,
count it yourselves,” and threw all the money into the water to them. He stood still and wanted to wait until they were done and had brought
him his own again, 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 thalers! Do you think I’m going to stand here till you get done?”
And with that he went away, but the frogs still cried, “aik, aik, aik,
aik,” after him till he went home quite angry. After a while he bought another cow, which he killed, 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 skin into the bargain. When therefore
he got to the town with the meat, a great troop of dogs were gathered
together in front of the gate, with a large greyhound at the head of
them, which jumped at the meat, snuffed 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 thou art saying, ‘wow, wow, wow,’ because thou
wantest some of the meat; but I should fare badly if I were to give it
to thee.” The dog, however, answered nothing but “wow, wow.” “Wilt thou
promise not to devour it all then, and wilt thou go bail for thy
companions?” “Wow, wow, wow,” said the dog. “Well, if thou insistest on
it, I will leave it for thee; I know thee well, and know who is thy
master; but this I tell thee, I must have my money in three days or
else it will go ill with thee; thou must 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 great dog bring you
the whole of the slaughtered cow three days ago?” Then the butcher grew
angry, snatched a broomstick and drove him out. “Wait a while,” said
the peasant, “there is still some justice in the world!” and went to
the royal palace and begged for an audience. He was led before the
King, who sat there with his daughter, and asked him what injury he had
suffered. “Alas!” said he, “the frogs and the dogs have taken from me
what is mine, and the butcher has paid me for it with the stick,” and
he related at full length all that had happened. Thereupon the King’s
daughter began to laugh heartily, and the King said to him, “I cannot
give you justice in this, but you shall have my daughter to wife for
it,—in her whole life she has never yet laughed as she has just done at
thee, and I have promised her to him who could make her laugh. Thou
mayst thank God for thy good fortune!”

“Oh,” answered the peasant, “I will not have her, I have a wife
already, and she is one too many for me; when I go home, it is just as
bad as if I had a wife standing in every corner.” Then the King grew
angry, and said, “Thou art a boor.” “Ah, Lord King,” replied the
peasant, “what can you expect from an ox, but beef?” “Stop,” answered
the King, “thou shalt have another reward.