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Doubtful! Simple-minded farmer's wife lets herself be cheated out of 2 cows. Farmer finds even more simple-minded peasants to cheat out of money and a horse.

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

One day a farmer took his hailstones out of the corner and said to his wife, 'Trine, I'm going overland now and won't be back for three days. If the cattle dealer comes to us in that time and wants to buy our three cows, you can get rid of them, but not for anything other than two hundred thalers, not for less, you hear.' 'Just go in God's name,' replied the wife, 'I will do it.' 'Yes, you!' said the man, 'you fell on your head once when you were a little child, and that hangs over you to this hour. But I tell you, if you do stupid things, I'll paint your back blue, and that without paint, just with the stick I have in my hand, and the paint shall last a whole year, you can count on that.' With that, the man went his way.
The next morning the cattle dealer came, and the woman did not have to say much to him. When he had seen the cows and heard the price, he said, "I'll gladly give it, that's how much they are worth among brothers. I want to take the animals right away'. He unchained them and drove them out of the stable. As he was about to go out to the courtyard gate, the woman grabbed him by the sleeve and said, 'You must first give me the two hundred thalers, otherwise I cannot let you go. That's right,' the man replied, 'I just forgot to put on my money belt. But don't worry, you shall have security until I pay. I'll take two cows with me and leave you the third, so you'll have a good deposit.'

This made sense to the woman, she let the man leave with his cows and thought 'how happy Hans will be when he sees that I have done it so cleverly'. The farmer came home the third day, as he had said, and immediately asked if the cows had been sold. Of course, dear Hans,' the woman answered, 'and as you said, for two hundred thalers. They are hardly worth that much, but the man took them without argument.' 'Where is the money?' asked the farmer. 'I don't have the money,' answered the woman, 'he had just forgotten his money-cat, but will soon bring it; he has left me a good pledge.' 'What pledge?' asked the man. 'One of the three cows, he won't get it until he has paid the others. I did it wisely, I kept back the smallest one, which eats the least.' The man became angry, raised his stick high in the air and wanted to give her the promised coat of paint with it. Suddenly he lowered it and said 'you are the dumbest goose wiggling around on God's earth, but you last me. I will go to the country road and wait for three days, if I find someone who is even more stupid than you are. If I am successful, you shall be free, but if I do not find him, you shall receive your well-deserved wages without deduction'.

He went out into the big street, sat down on a stone and waited for things to come. Then he saw a cart approaching, and a woman was standing in the middle of it, instead of sitting on the bundle of straw that was lying there, or walking beside the oxen and guiding them. The man thought, 'That's the kind of woman you're looking for,' and jumped up and ran back and forth in front of the cart like someone who is not quite clever. What do you want," said the woman to him, "I don't know you, where do you come from?" "I have fallen from heaven," answered the man, "and I don't know how to get there again; can't you drive me up?" "No," said the woman, "I don't know the way. But if you come from heaven, you can tell me how my husband is, who has been there for three years: You have certainly seen him?' 'I have seen him all right, but all men cannot be well. He tends the sheep, and the dear cattle give him a lot of trouble; they jump up the mountains and get lost in the wilderness, and there he has to run after them and round them up again. He is also torn and his clothes will soon fall off his body. There are no tailors there, St. Peter doesn't let anyone in, as you know from the fairy tale.' Who would have thought it!' cried the woman, 'you know what? I will get his Sunday skirt, which is still hanging in the closet at home, and he can wear it there with honor. You will be so good as to take it with you.' 'That won't do,' replied the peasant, 'you can't take clothes to heaven, they will be taken from you at the gate. 'Listen to me,' said the woman, 'I sold my beautiful wheat yesterday and got a handsome sum for it, I will send it to him. If you put the bag in your pocket, no one will notice.' 'It can't be helped,' replied the peasant, 'so I will do you the favor.' 'Just sit there,' she said, 'I will go home and get the bag; I will be back soon. I won't sit on the bundle of straw, but stand on the wagon, so it's easier for the cattle.' She drove her oxen, and the farmer thought, 'she has a tendency to foolishness; if she really brings the money, my wife will be lucky, because she won't get a beating'. It was not long before she came running, brought the money and put it in his pocket herself. Before she left, she thanked him a thousand times for his kindness.

When the woman returned home, she found her son who had returned from the field. She told him what unexpected things she had learned and then added, "I am quite happy that I have found the opportunity to send something to my poor husband, who would have imagined that he would be lacking something in heaven? The son was in the greatest amazement, "Mother," he said, "such a one from heaven does not come every day, I want to go out right away and see that I still find the man: he must tell me how things are there and how the work is going. He saddled the horse and rode off in all haste. He found the farmer sitting under a willow tree and wanted to count the money that was in the bag. Didn't you see the man who came from heaven?' 'Yes,' answered the farmer, 'he has gone back and gone up the mountain from where he is closer. You can still catch him if you ride sharply.' 'Ah,' said the boy, 'I've been washing off all day, and the ride here has made me fully tired: You know the man, be so good as to sit on my horse and persuade him to come here.' 'Aha,' said the farmer, 'that is also one who has no roof in his lamp.' Why should I not do you the favor?" he said, mounted and rode away at the strongest trot. The boy remained seated until night fell, but the farmer did not return. Surely," he thought, "the man from heaven was in a great hurry and did not want to turn back, and the farmer gave him the horse to bring to my father. He went home and told his mother what had happened: he had sent the horse to his father so that he would not always have to walk around. You have done well,' she replied, 'you still have young legs and can walk.

When the farmer had come home, he put the horse in the stable next to the pawned cow, then went to his wife and said 'Trine, that was your luck, I have found two even more simple-minded fools than you: this time you will get away without a beating, I will save them for another occasion'. Then he lit his pipe, sat down in his grandfather's chair and spoke 'that was a good deal, for two lean cows a smooth horse and a big bag of money to boot.' If stupidity always brought in so much, I would gladly cherish it.' So the farmer thought, but you certainly prefer the simple-minded ones.

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