Section 1
Once upon a time, a peasant drove his cow to the fair where he sold her for seven thalers. He had to pass a pond on the way home, and from a distance he could hear the frogs croaking, "Aik, aik, aik, aik." Well”, he thought to himself, "they're talking nonsense; I actually have seven instead of eight."
"Stupid animals that you are!" he screamed to them as he approached the lake. “Do you not realize better than that? Instead of eight thalers, there are seven”. But the frogs stood there and croaked, "aik, aik, aik, aik." The man said, "Come, then, if you won't believe it, I can count it out to you," and he took his money out of his pocket to count out the seven thalers, always calculating four and twenty groschen to a thaler. The frogs, however, paid little mind to his calculations and continued to cry out "aik, aik, aik, aik." The peasant exclaimed, "What," with great rage, "since you seem to know better than I, count it yourselves," and flung all the money to them into the lake. The frogs held their position and repeatedly yelled "aik, aik, aik," and in addition to that, they did not throw the money back again. He stood there and wanted to wait until they were finished and had brought him his own again. He continued to wait till it was late and he had to return home. "You water-splashers, you thick-heads, you goggle-eyes, you have great mouths and can screech till one hurts one's ears, but you cannot count seven thalers," he yelled at the frogs. Do you suppose I'll wait here until you finish? He then left, but the frogs continued to call after him, "aik, aik, aik," till he returned home furious.
After some time, he purchased another cow, killed it, and calculated that if he sold the meat profitably, he could get the skin as well as the value of the two cows. Therefore, when he arrived in the town with the meat, a giant greyhound led a large pack of dogs that had gathered in front of the gate. The large greyhound pounced at the meat, snuffed at it, and yelled, "Wow, wow, wow." The peasant addressed him, "Yes, yes, I know quite well that thou art saying, "wow, wow, wow," because thou wantest some of the meat, but I would fare badly if I were to give it to thee”, since there was no stopping him. However, the dog only responded with "wow, wow." Will you then pledge not to consume it all, and will you go post bail for your friends? "Wow, wow, wow," the dog exclaimed. "Well, if you insist, I'll leave it for you; I know you well and who your master is, but I must have my money in three days or else it will make you sick. Just bring it out to me," he said. He then turned around and unloaded the meat, at which point the dogs immediately pounced on it and yelled "wow, wow."
"Hark, now they all want some," the countryman thought to himself as he heard them from a distance. "But the big one is responsible to me for it."
The countryman was really happy when, after three days, he got the notion, "Tonight my money will be in my pocket." Nobody, however, came to collect the money. "There is no trusting anyone now," he declared. Finally, he ran into the town to the butcher and demanded payment. The butcher assumed it to be a joke, but the peasant retorted, "Jesting aside, I want my money! Did not the large dog deliver the entire killed cow to you three days ago?” The butcher then became furious, grabbed a broomstick, and chased him away. The peasant remarked, "Wait a bit, there is still some justice in the world!" and traveled to the royal palace to request a meeting.
