When it was time for Hans to go home after seven years of service, he asked his master for wages. His master gave him a huge piece of silver, almost as big as his head! He carried it in a sack but was getting rather tired, when he saw a man on horseback. He exchanged the silver for the horse, thinking he had a good bargain. But the horse galloped so hard that he was flung off! He was feeling painfully injured when he saw a man leading a cow and thought it wise to exchange the horse for a cow. ‘I’ll get milk and cheese and butter!’ he thought. The man readily exchanged his cow for the horse, but Hans could not get a drop of milk out of the poor old cow! He sat down by the roadside, wondering what to do with the cow. ‘Perhaps I’ll get lucky again!’ he thought.
Foolish Hans
Hans saw a man trundling a pig in a wheelbarrow, and thought a fat pig was better than the cow. So, he exchanged it, rejoicing at his good fortune! But then he was stopped by a man carrying a fat goose. “The farmer’s pig was stolen!” said the man, “Take care or he’ll charge you as a thief!” Hans got worried and gave the man the pig and took the goose. The man went off with the pig. Later, Hans met a man sharpening scissors on a grinding-stone. He told him all about his exchanges. The man said he could give him an excellent stone for grinding. He gave Hans a rock lying on the roadside and walked off with the goose. Crossing a river with the heavy stone, Hans stumbled and the stone fell in with a splash. ‘How lucky!’ thought Hans, ‘Now I don’t have to carry that burden!’ And he went home whistling.
