"I have brought some fresh figs from my garden to your daughter who is ill," replied the clever one.
The rich man was delighted. He opened the basket. Then he shook the boy roughly by the collar and pushed him away down the steep steps. There were horns in the basket.
"What do you mean by playing such a trick on me?" called the rich man after him. "Never let me see your face in these parts again!"
There were still a few of the poorest of the fresh figs remaining on the tree. The foolish son begged his mother for permission to carry them to the little maid who was sick.
"Yes. Go with them," replied his mother. "Who knows but what you may wed the rich man's daughter!" She laughed as she said it.
The boy who was foolish started for the rich man's house with the figs in his basket. They were only a very few, and poor little things indeed.
On the way he met a woman dressed in blue with a child in her arms.
"What are you carrying in your basket?" asked the woman.
"Fresh figs for a little maid who is sick," replied the boy.
"Yes, you are carrying figs," said the woman.