"Indeed," said the Tailor, "that is not a bad idea. If what you say is true, I shall never need to do any more tailoring," and he hurried out and gathered all his friends in.
They arrived in high excitement, as you may be sure, and the youth bade them stand in a circle while he spread out a cloth under the ass's head.
"Now," he said proudly, "listen to me," and he called, "Bricklebit!"
But nothing happened, and it seemed that the ass could not coin gold after all; for it is not an easy thing to do, as you will agree.
The poor youth was very rueful, for he saw that some one had robbed him, and he was obliged to apologize to the guests, who only sneered and jeered at him and departed as poor as they came.
So the Tailor had to take up his needle once more and stitch away as fast as ever, and the boy had to go and work for another miller.
Meantime, the third son had apprenticed himself to a turner. But it takes a long time to learn to be a turner, and he was still with his master when his brothers sent a message to tell him how they had fared, and all about the wicked landlord who had robbed them of their precious belongings.
Time went on, and soon he had learned everything, and he took leave of his master, who gave him a sack, saying:
"In the sack lies a stick."