Luckily a butcher came by just then, wheeling a young pig in a barrow.
"What kind of joke is this?" cried he, helping our friend Hans to rise.
Hans told him what had happened. The butcher passed him his bottle and said:
"There, drink and revive yourself. That cow will never give any milk; she is an old animal and, at the best, is only fit for the plow or the butcher."
"Oho!" said Hans, running his fingers through his hair. "Who would have thought it? It is all right indeed when you can slaughter such a beast in your own house. But I don't think much of cow's flesh; it is not tender enough. Now, if one had a young pig! That would taste far different, to say nothing of the sausages!"
"Listen, Hans," said the butcher. "For your sake, I will exchange, and let you have my pig for your cow."
"May Heaven reward your friendship!" said Hans, and at once gave him the cow.
The man untied the pig from the wheelbarrow, and gave the rope with which it was bound into Hans's hand.
Hans marched on, thinking: "What a lucky fellow I am. As soon as anything goes wrong, something turns up and all's right again."
Just then, up came a youth, carrying a fine white goose under [page 136] his arm. They were friends, and Hans began to talk about his luck and how he always came off best in his exchanges. The youth told him he was taking the goose to a christening feast.