Once upon a time the fox and the wolf stole six small barrels of butter from a farmer, and they immediately emptied two of them. They hid the remaining four barrels. The hiding place was far away from their homes, though. Soon the fox worked up an appetite to eat from another barrel by his own, but to be able to undertake the journey,

he needed to go and borrow the boots of the wolf. Upon being asked what his intentions were, the fox answered that he had to attend the baptism of a child, which would get the name For Starters. Soon, the fox came to borrow the boots for a second time. A second child had to be baptized, which would receive the name Halfway the Barrel. Later on, a third child was called Down the Barrel, and a fourth Scratch the Bottom.

Some time later, the fox and the wolf decided to go to the barrels together. The fox had been clever enough to fill up the empty barrels with stones again and spread out a thin layer of butter on top of them. The fox and the wolf started to quarrel about who was allowed to eat first, so they decided to draw straws, and the wolf won the first bite. Naturally, he only got a mouth full of stones, and they accused each other of having emptied the barrels.

On the journey back, they saw an old horse sitting in a ditch. They wanted to take the animal home. They decided to tie the tail of the horse around the waist of the wolf, so the wolf could pull, while the fox would hit the horse with a twig. So it happened. The horse got released from the ditch, but now he started running with the wolf on his tail.

"Thump your heels in the ground!" the fox yelled.

"Are you kidding? I can hardly distinguish heaven from earth!" was the answer.

Finally, the wolf got free again, and both animals continued their way back home. As they came home, the wolf sat down with his back to the fire, because he was soaking wet. Sitting like that, he soon fell asleep. Immediately the fox went for a small piece of butter and smeared it under the tail of the wolf. Due to the heat, the butter started melting soon, and the fox woke the wolf with the remark that now it was for everyone to see who had emptied the barrels.