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The Little Peasant

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Clever poor peasant gets rich, accepts death of shepherd and chases evil peasants of village to death.

Der Froschkönig oder der eiserne Heinrich
Katze und Maus in Gesellschaft
Marienkind
Von einem, der auszog, das Fürchten zu lernen
Der Wolf und die sieben jungen Geißlein
Der treue Johannes
Der gute Handel
Der wunderliche Spielmann
Die zwölf Brüder
Das Lumpengesindel
Brüderchen und Schwesterchen
Rapunzel
Die drei Männlein im Walde
Die drei Spinnerinnen
Hänsel und Gretel
Die drei Schlangenblätter
Die weiße Schlange
Strohhalm, Kohle und Bohne
Von dem Fischer und seiner Frau
Das tapfere Schneiderlein
Aschenputtel
Das Rätsel
Von dem Mäuschen, Vögelchen und der Bratwurst
Frau Holle
Die sieben Raben
Rotkäppchen
Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten
Der singende Knochen
Der Teufel mit den drei goldenen Haaren
Läuschen und Flöhchen
Das Mädchen ohne Hände
Der gescheite Hans
Die drei Sprachen
Die kluge Else
Der Schneider im Himmel
Tischchen deck dich, Goldesel und Knüppel aus dem Sack
Daumesdick
Die Hochzeit der Frau Füchsin
Die Wichtelmänner
Der Räuberbräutigam
Herr Korbes
Der Herr Gevatter
Frau Trude
Der Gevatter Tod
Daumerlings Wanderschaft
Fitchers Vogel
Von dem Machandelboom
Der alte Sultan
Die sechs Schwäne
Dornröschen
Fundevogel
König Drosselbart
Schneewittchen
Der Ranzen, das Hütlein und das Hörnlein
Rumpelstilzchen
Der liebste Roland
Der goldene Vogel
Der Hund und der Sperling
Der Frieder und das Katherlieschen
Die zwei Brüder
Das Bürle
Die Bienenkönigin
Die drei Federn
Die goldene Gans
Allerleirauh
Häsichenbraut
Die zwölf Jäger
Von dem Sommer- und Wintergarten
Jorinde und Joringel
Die drei Glückskinder
Sechse kommen durch die ganze Welt
Der Wolf und der Mensch
Der Wolf und der Fuchs
Der Fuchs und die Frau Gevatterin
Der Fuchs und die Katze
Die Nelke
Das kluge Gretel
Der alte Großvater und der Enkel
Die Wassernixe
Von dem Tode des Hühnchens
Bruder Lustig
Der Spielhansl
Hans im Glück
Hans heiratet
Die Goldkinder
Der Fuchs und die Gänse
Der Arme und der Reiche
Das singende, springende Löweneckerchen
Die Gänsemagd
Der junge Riese
Das Erdmännchen
Der König vom goldenen Berg
Die Rabe
Die kluge Bauerntochter
Der alte Hildebrand
Die drei Vögelchen
Das Wasser des Lebens
Doktor Allwissend
Der Geist im Glas
Des Teufels rußiger Bruder
Der Bärenhäuter
Der Zaunkönig und der Bär
Der süße Brei
Die klugen Leute
Märchen von der Unke
Der arme Müllerbursch und das Kätzchen
Die beiden Wanderer
Hans mein Igel
Das Totenhemdchen
Der Jude im Dorn
Der gelernte Jäger
Der Dreschflegel vom Himmel
Die beiden Königskinder
Vom klugen Schneiderlein
Die klare Sonne bringts an den Tag
Das blaue Licht
Das eigensinnige Kind
Die drei Feldscherer
Die sieben Schwaben
Die drei Handwerksburschen
Der Königssohn, der sich vor nichts fürchtet
Der Krautesel
Die Alte im Wald
Die drei Brüder
Der Teufel und seine Großmutter
Ferdinand getreu und Ferdinand ungetreu
Der Eisenofen
Die faule Spinnerin
Die vier kunstreichen Brüder
Einäuglein, Zweiäuglein und Dreiäuglein
Die schöne Katrinelje und Pif Paf Poltrie
Der Fuchs und das Pferd
Die zertanzten Schuhe
Die sechs Diener
Die weiße und die schwarze Braut
Der Eisenhans
Die drei schwarzen Prinzessinnen
Knoist und seine drei Söhne
Das Mädchen von Brakel
Das Hausgesinde
Das Lämmchen und Fischchen
Simeliberg
Auf Reisen gehen
Das Eselein
Der undankbare Sohn
Die Rübe
Das junggeglühte Männlein
Des Herrn und des Teufels Getier
Der Hahnenbalken
Die alte Bettelfrau
Die drei Faulen
Das Hirtenbüblein
Die Sterntaler
Der gestohlene Heller
Die Brautschau
Die Schlickerlinge
Der Sperling und seine vier Kinder
Das Märchen vom Schlaraffenland
Das Dietmarsische Lügenmärchen
Rätselmärchen
Schneeweißchen und Rosenrot
Der kluge Knecht
Der gläserne Sarg
Der faule Heinz
Der Vogel Greif
Der starke Hans
Das Bürle im Himmel
Die hagere Liese
Das Waldhaus
Lieb und Leid teilen
Der Zaunkönig
Die Scholle
Rohrdommel und Wiedehopf
Die Eule
Der Mond
Die Lebenszeit
Die Boten des Todes
Meister Pfriem
Die Gänsehirtin am Brunnen
Die ungleichen Kinder Evas
Die Nixe im Teich
Die Geschenke des kleinen Volkes
Der Riese und der Schneider
Der Nagel
Der arme Junge im Grab
Die wahre Braut
Der Hase und der Igel
Spindel, Weberschiffchen und Nadel
Der Bauer und der Teufel
Die Brosamen auf dem Tisch
Das Meerhäschen
Der Meisterdieb
Der Trommler
Die Kornähre
Der Grabhügel
Oll Rinkrank
Die Kristallkugel
Jungfrau Maleen
Die Stiefel von Büffelleder
Der goldene Schlüssel

There was a village where all the peasants were rich except for just one poor one, whom they called the little peasant. He did not own a single cow, and had even less money to buy one with, but he and his wife would have liked to have one ever so much. One day he said to her, "Listen, I have a good idea. Our kinsman the cabinetmaker should make us a calf out of wood and paint it brown so that it looks like any other calf, and with time it is sure to grow big and be a cow."

His wife liked this idea, and their kinsman the cabinetmaker skillfully put together the calf and planed it, then painted it just right. He made it with its head hanging down as if it were grazing. When the cows were being driven out the next morning the little peasant called to the herder and said, "Look, I have a little calf here, but it is still small and has to be carried." The herder said, "All right," and taking it in his arms he carried it to the pasture where he set it in the grass. The little calf stood there like one that was grazing, and the herder said, "It will soon be walking by itself. Just look how it is already grazing."

That evening when he was about to drive the herd home again, he said to the calf, "If you can stand there and eat your fill, you can also walk on your four legs. I don't want to carry you home again in my arms." When the herder drove the cows through the village the little peasant was standing outside his door waiting for his little calf. It was missing, and he asked where it was.

The herder answered, "It is still standing out there grazing. It would not stop and come with us." The little peasant said, "Oh, I must have my animal back again." Then together they went back to the pasture, but someone had stolen the calf, and it was gone. The herder said, "It must have run away." The little peasant said, "Don't tell me that," and he took the herder before the mayor, who condemned him for his carelessness, and required him to give the little peasant a cow for the lost calf.

The little peasant and his wife now had the cow that they had long wanted. They were very glad, but they had no feed for it, and could give it nothing to eat, so it soon had to be slaughtered. They salted the meat, and the little peasant went to town to sell the hide, hoping to buy a new calf with the proceeds.

On the way he came to a mill, and there sat a raven with broken wings. Out of pity he picked it up and wrapped it in the hide. But then the weather turned very bad with a wind and rain storm. Unable to continue on his way, he returned to the mill and asked for shelter. The miller's wife was alone in the house, and she said to the little peasant, "You can sleep in the straw there," and she gave him a piece of bread and cheese.

The little peasant ate and then lay down with his hide at his side. The woman thought, "He is tired and has fallen asleep." In the meantime the priest arrived. The miller's wife received him well, and said, "My husband is out, so we can have a feast."

The little peasant listened, and when he heard them talking about feasting he was angry that he had had to make do with a piece of bread and cheese. Then the woman served up four different things: a roast, salad, cake, and wine. They were just about to sit down and eat when someone knocked on the outside door.

The woman said, "Oh, God, it's my husband." She quickly hid the roast inside the tile stove, the wine under the pillow, the salad on top of the bed, the cake under the bed, and the priest in the hallway chest.

Then opening the door for her husband, she said, "Thank heaven, you are back again. That is such a storm, as if the world were coming to an end." The miller saw the little peasant lying in the straw and asked, "What is that fellow doing there?" "Oh," said his wife, "The poor rascal came in the storm and rain and asked for shelter, so I gave him a piece of bread and cheese, and let him lie in the straw." The man said, "I have nothing against that, but hurry and get me something to eat." His wife said, " I have nothing but bread and cheese."
"I'll be satisfied with anything," answered her husband. "Bread and cheese will be good enough for me." Then he looked at the little peasant and said, "Come and eat some more with me." The little peasant did not have to be asked twice, but got up and ate.

Afterward the miller saw the hide with the raven in it lying on the ground, and asked, "What do you have there?" The little peasant answered, "I have a fortune-teller inside it." "Can he predict anything for me?" said the miller. "Why not?" answered the little peasant. "But he only says four things, and the fifth he keeps to himself." The miller was curious and said, "Let him predict something." Then the little peasant pressed against the raven's head, so that he cawed and said, "krr, krr." The miller said, "What did he say?" The little peasant answered, "First of all, he says that there is some wine under the pillow."

"That would be something!" cried the miller, and went there and found the wine. "Say some more," he said.
The little peasant made the raven caw again, then said, "Secondly, he says that there is a roast in the tile stove."

"That would be something!" cried the miller, and went there and found the roast. The little peasant made the raven prophesy still more, and said, "Thirdly, he says that there is some salad on top of the bed."
"That would be something!" cried the miller, and went there and found the salad.

At last the little peasant pressed against the raven once more until he cawed, and said, "Fourthly, he says that there is a cake under the bed."

"That would be something!" cried the miller, and looked there and found the cake. Then the two of them sat down at the table together. But the miller's wife was frightened to death and went to bed, taking all the keys with her.

The miller would have liked very much to know the fifth thing, but the little peasant said, "First, let us eat the four things in peace, for the fifth thing is something bad." So they ate, after which they bargained as to how much the miller would pay for the fifth prophesy, finally agreeing on three hundred talers. Then the little peasant once more pressed against the raven's head until he cawed loudly.

The miller asked, "What did he say?"

The little peasant answered, "He says that the devil is hiding out there in the hallway chest."

The miller said, "The devil must leave," and opened the outside door.

Then the woman had to give up the keys, and the little peasant unlocked the chest. The priest ran out as fast as he could, and the miller said, " I saw the black fellow with my own eyes. It was true."

The next morning at dawn the little peasant quickly made off the with the three hundred talers. At home the little peasant gradually began to prosper. He built a nice house, and the peasants said, "The little peasant has certainly been to the place where golden snow falls and people carry money home by the bushel."

Then the little peasant was summoned before the mayor and ordered to tell where his wealth came from.
He answered, "I sold my cow's hide in the town for three hundred talers."

When the peasants heard this, they too wanted to benefit from this favorable exchange. They ran home, slaughtered all their cows, and stripped off their hides in order to sell them in the town at this great profit.

The mayor, however, said, "But my maid must go first."

When she came to the buyer in the town, he did not give her more than three talers for one hide, and when the others came, he did not give them even that much, saying, "What am I to do with all these hides?"

Then the peasants were angry that the little peasant had deceived them. Wanting to take revenge against him, they accused him of fraud before the mayor. The innocent little peasant was unanimously sentenced to death, and he was to be rolled into the water in a barrel pierced with holes. He was led out, and a priest was brought who was to say a mass for his soul. The others had to step back, and when the little peasant looked at the priest he recognized the man who had been with the miller's wife.

He said to him, "I freed you from the chest. Free me from the barrel."

Just then a shepherd came by with a flock of sheep. It was the very shepherd who, as the little peasant knew, had long wanted to be mayor. Then the little peasant cried out with all his might, "No, I will not do it! Even if the whole world insists on it, I will not do it!"

Hearing this, the shepherd came up to him, and asked, "What are you up to? What is it that you will not do?"
The little peasant said, "They want to make me mayor, if I will get into the barrel, but I will not do it." The shepherd said, "If that is all that is needed to be mayor, I would get into the barrel at once." The little peasant said, "If you will get in, then you will be mayor."

The shepherd agreed and got in, and the little peasant nailed the top down. Then he took the shepherd's flock for himself, and drove it away. The priest went to the people and told them that the mass had been read. Then they came and rolled the barrel towards the water. As the barrel began to roll, the shepherd cried out, "I will gladly be mayor."

They believed that it was the little peasant who was saying this and answered, "That is what we intend, but first take a look around down there," and they rolled the barrel into the water.

After that the peasants went home, and as they were entering the village, the little peasant approached them, happily driving a flock of sheep. The astonished peasants said, "Little peasant, where are you coming from? Did you come out of the water?"

"Yes indeed," answered the little peasant. "I sank deep, deep down, until at last I reached the bottom. I pushed the bottom out of the barrel, and crawled out. There were beautiful meadows there, where many lambs were grazing. I brought this flock with me from there."

The peasants said, "Are there more there?" "Oh, yes," he said. "More than you could use."

Then the peasants decided that they too would get some sheep for themselves, a flock for each one of them, but the mayor said, "I come first."

So they went to the water together, and just then in the blue sky there were some of the small fleecy clouds that are called little lambs. They were reflected in the water, and the peasants cried out, "We can already see the sheep down there on the bottom."

The mayor pushed his way to the front, saying, "I will go down first, and take a look around. If everything is all right, I shall call you." Then he jumped in.

"Plop," went the water. They thought that he was calling them to come, and the whole lot of them hastily plunged in after him.

Then the entire village was dead, and the little peasant, as the only heir, became a rich man.

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