Once there lived Mr. and Mrs. Vinegar in a glass bottle. One day, when Mr. Vinegar was away from home, Mrs. Vinegar was busy sweeping her house, when an unlucky thump of the broom broke the vinegar bottle. In an agony of grief, she rushed to meet her husband and told him what had happened. The couple then went to a thick forest. They both were tired and fell asleep. Next morning, they found a number of gold coins. Using them, Mr. Vinegar bought a cow so that Mrs. Vinegar might make butter and cheese, which he should sell in the market and they could live comfortably.
But on his way, he saw that a bagpiper was making good money by playing his bagpipe. Mr. Vinegar greedily exchanged his cow for the bagpipe. But when he tried to play a tune, people laughed at him instead of giving him money. His fingers grew very cold and so he exchanged his bagpipe for a pair of gloves. At last, he grew very tired while travelling back to his wife. He had to exchange his gloves with a walking stick and returned to his wife empty-handed.