Hard Work and a Golden Donkey Ruse A poor shoemaker leaves his village for the big city, roaming the streets to mend and shine shoes until he earns four gold coins. He buys a donkey and heads home, but in the jungle a band of thieves blocks his way. He ties a gold coin to the donkey’s neck so it falls at the right moment, convincing them the animal creates gold. They pay him fifty gold coins for the donkey, and he returns home to buy a poultry farm.
A Messenger Dog and Another Costly Trick When the thieves come to reclaim their money, he has his wife send their dog Milo to fetch him, making it seem the dog understands messages. He arrives on cue and, after feigning reluctance, sells Milo to them for forty gold coins. The dog returns to the shoemaker after staying with each thief in turn, and they realize they have been duped again.
Sack Escape, Mud Deception, and Lasting Peace The thieves seize him, tie him in a sack, and leave him by a hilltop church while they rest inside. He convinces a passing swineherd to trade places by claiming he is being forced to marry the king’s daughter, then escapes with the pigs. After the thieves throw the sack into the mud and later meet him on the road, he persuades them that the mud hides gold guarded by pigs. At his direction they tie themselves in sacks; he tosses them into the mud, sets the pigs upon them, and goes home to live peacefully with his wife.