The Little Purse

Once upon a time, there lived a husband and wife. They had a pair of oxen, while their neighbors had a cart. Whenever Sunday or a holiday came around, one of them would take the oxen and the cart and go to church or visit friends. The next Sunday, the other would do the same, and so they shared between themselves.

One day, the wife, whose oxen they were, said to her husband:

"Take the oxen to the market and sell them. Then we can buy ourselves horses and a cart, so we can go to church and visit relatives on Sundays ourselves. And besides, our neighbor doesn’t have to feed his cart, but we have to feed the oxen."

The old man threw a rope over the oxen’s horns and led them away. As he walked down the road, a man on a horse caught up with him.

"Hello!"
"Hello!"
"Where are you taking the oxen?"
"To sell them."
"Trade me your oxen for my horse."
"Deal!"

He traded the oxen for the horse and rode on. Then he met a man leading a cow to the fair.

"Hello!"
"Hello!"
"Where are you going?"
"I was taking the oxen to the fair to sell them, but I traded them for a horse."
"Trade me your horse for my cow."
"Deal!"

They made the trade. He led the cow, and then he met a man driving a pig.

"Hello!"
"Hello!"
"Where are you taking the cow?"
"Well, I was taking the oxen to the fair, but I traded them for a horse, and then the horse for a cow."
"Trade me your cow for my pig."
"Deal!"

He drove the pig, and then he met a man leading a sheep.

They asked each other questions.

"Trade me your pig for my sheep."
"Deal!"

The old man drove the sheep, and then he met a man carrying a goose to sell.

They asked each other questions.

"Trade me your sheep for my goose."
"Deal!"

The old man walked a little farther with the goose, and then he met a man carrying a rooster. They started talking.

"Trade me your goose for my rooster."
"Deal!"

The old man carried the rooster, and then he met a man who had found an empty purse on the road. They started talking.

"Here, I found this purse. Trade me your rooster for the purse!"
"Deal!"

The old man hid the purse and went on his way to the fair. As he approached the town, he had to cross the river by ferry, but he had nothing to pay for the passage. The ferrymen said to him:

"Give us at least this purse, and we’ll take you across."

He gave it to them.

There was a merchant caravan standing nearby. When the merchants found out what he had traded for the purse, they started laughing at him.

"What will your wife do to you for this?" they asked.
"Nothing! She’ll say, 'Thank God you came back alive.'"

So they made a bet: if his wife said that, the merchants would give him all twelve loaded wagons, plus some whips as a bonus. They chose one man from the caravan and sent him to the old man’s wife.

The man arrived.

"Hello!"
"Have you heard about your husband?"
"No, I haven’t."
"Well, he traded the oxen for a horse."
"That’s good! Oxen aren’t worth much, we’ll manage to buy some somehow."
"And then he traded the horse for a cow."
"That’s even better: we’ll have milk."
"And then he traded the cow for a pig."
"That’s good too: we’ll have piglets, and we won’t have to buy meat for Lent or Easter."
"And then he traded the pig for a sheep."
"That’s good too: we’ll have lambs and wool, and I’ll have something to spin for the holidays."
"And then he traded the sheep for a goose."
"That’s good too: we’ll have eggs and feathers."
"And then he traded the goose for a rooster."
"Oh, that’s even better! The rooster will crow in the morning and wake us up for work."
"And then he traded the rooster for a purse."
"That’s good too. Whenever we earn something—he, or I, or the children—we’ll put it in the purse."
"And then he gave the purse to the ferrymen to cross the river."
"Well, thank God he came back alive."

The merchants had no choice—they had to give him all twelve wagons.

↑ To the top

The Little Purse

More fairy tales