"Where did you spend the night?" he asked.
The man told of passing the night in the inn.
"I've heard that innkeeper is going to retire from business, he has become so rich," said the king. "You'd better hurry there as fast as you can before he leaves town."
The laborer nodded his head thoughtfully, a wise look creeping into his eyes.
"Take these pinchers," ordered the king. "Use them on that innkeeper until he gives back the table and the sifter."
When the innkeeper was sore and black and blue from the pinchers he gave back the table and the sifter.
After that there were prosperous days indeed for the king's laborer. Whenever the children were hungry, he would say: "Table, set yourself," and immediately the table would be full of the most delicious food. Whenever his wife said, "I need some money," he would call out, "Sifter, sift," and the sifter would sift out money as freely and easily as if it were flour.
As for the pinchers, they proved to be quite as useful as the other gifts he received from the king. Whenever the children were naughty he had only to glance in the direction of those pinchers. The children would immediately behave as they should.