How Eulenspiegel convinced a peasant that his green scarf was blue

Eulenspiegel wanted to eat and drink, so he had to find sustenance for himself. One day, he came to Olzen for a fair, where there were many people of all kinds. Eulenspiegel walked around everywhere, looking to see what was going on. And he happened to notice that a certain peasant had bought himself a green scarf and was preparing to take it home. Eulenspiegel immediately came up with a plan to swindle the scarf from him. He found out which village the peasant was from and, taking a monk and some other idler as his companions, left the city and went to the road the peasant was supposed to take. There, he instructed them on what to do and stationed them along the road, not far from each other.

The peasant walks out of the city with his scarf, happy to bring it home. Then Eulenspiegel approaches him and asks, "Where did you buy such a beautiful blue scarf?" — "Blue?" the peasant is surprised. "The scarf is green, not blue." — "What do you mean green? It's blue," replies Eulenspiegel. "I'm willing to bet 20 guilders on it and I insist it's blue. The first passerby who can tell green from blue will confirm it for us."

Meanwhile, he gave a signal to one of his companions, who then approached them. "Friend," the peasant says to him, "we've been arguing about the color of this scarf. Tell us honestly, is it green or blue, and whatever you say, we'll agree with it." The man looked at the scarf and said, "It's a fine blue scarf." — "No, you're both swindlers!" the peasant exclaimed. "You must have conspired to cheat me." — "Alright," said Eulenspiegel, "you see I was right, but you want further confirmation. Well, here comes a pious priest, let's ask him. The word of a clergyman is indisputable to me."

The peasant readily agreed. They waited until the priest approached them, and Eulenspiegel said to him, "Sir, could you please tell us what color this scarf is?" — "Friend, you can see for yourself," replied the priest. "Yes, sir, that's true," the peasant then interjected, "but these two are trying to convince me of an obvious lie." — "What do I care about your rag, whether it's black or white?" said the priest. "Oh, dear sir," said the peasant, "please, just settle this for us, I beg you." — "Well, if it's so important to you," replied the priest, "what more can I say: of course, the scarf is blue." — "Now do you hear?" said Eulenspiegel. "The scarf is mine."

The peasant only sighed, "Honorable sir, if you weren't a clergyman, I would think all three of you were swindlers. But you are a priest, and I cannot disbelieve you." He handed the scarf to Eulenspiegel and walked away with nothing.

↑ To the top

How Eulenspiegel convinced a peasant that his green scarf was blue

More fairy tales