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The sixth story tells of how Eulenspiegel cheated a baker in Staßfurt out of a sack of bread and brought it home to his mother

"Dear God, help me," thought Eulenspiegel. "How may I pacify Mother? Where shall I find bread for her home?" And he left the patch of land where his mother lived and went to the town of Staßfurt. There he found the shop of a rich baker, went inside and asked the baker whether he'd be willing to send his master ten shillings worth of rye and white bread. He gave the name of a gentleman of the area and said he was in town and even gave the name of the inn at which he was staying. The baker agreed. Now, Eulenspiegel had brought with him a sack with a hidden hole and let the baker place the bread in this sack. The baker then sent an boy with Eulenspiegel to collect the money.

As soon as Eulenspiegel was an arrow's distance from the bakery, he pushed a loaf of white bread through the hole in the sack and let it fall onto the dirty street. Then he put down the sack and said the to the boy who was with him: "Oh dear, I cannot bring the soiled bread before my master. Quick, go back and bring me another loaf instead. I will wait for you right here." So the boy went to fetch a new loaf. In the meantime, Eulenspiegel made his way to a house on the edge of town. There he found a cart from his own parts and he put his sack on the cart and rode next to the driver. And so he got back to his mother's house.

When the baker's boy returned with the bread, Eulenspiegel and the rest of the bread had vanished. He immediately ran back to tell the baker. The baker right away ran to the inn that Eulenspiegel had named. But there he found no one and realised he had been cheated.

Eulenspiegel took the bread home to his mother and told her: "Look here and eat now that you have something, and fast along with St. Nicholas when you have nothing."

Translator's note: See previous story for St. Nicholas.


English translation created for E2 from the original by Hermann Bote at the German project Gutenberg.