Once upon a time, there was a very stupid farmer, whose name was Hannes. He had a wife who was much cleverer than he was. For this reason, she was usually the one who ruled the entire household. She did the buying and selling and managed all the activities going on at the farm. But one day she had an accident that prevented her from walking, and thus was forced to stay at home.

The farmer had a cow that had to be sold, so now the man had no other option than to go to the market himself. The market would be held in a certain village at a few hours' distance from the house. It was decided that Hannes would go to the market with the cow. Several days before, the farmer's wife told her husband insistently how to act in case some merchants came to him to bargain over the cow and how the price should then be set.

"You must not," she said, "talk too much, 'cause then people might notice how stupid you are. Also avoid talkers, for talkers are no buyers. Now be sensible for once and insist on the price I have set. If people are not willing to pay enough for it, bring the cow back home. However, I'd rather you sold it, for you know we need the money to pay the rent. Oh, I wish I could go myself. How terrible it is to have such a stupid husband," the farmer's wife added, sighing.

These words upset Hannes a bit. So he decided to act in such a way that his wife would be pleased with him. The next morning the farmer left for the market with the cow. Market day was well-attended and there were many people interested in the cow. The animal was handled a lot. But the merchants were very talkative, and Hannes didn't like that. They offered money and made a lot of fuss, but the farmer wasn't interested in these talkative guys, bearing in mind the words of his wife: talkers are no buyers.

Hannes remained silent as the grave.

Whenever he was asked what he thought of their offers, he turned his head and said, "You can't have the cow."

So the merchants cleared off in the end, leaving the farmer on his own in the market.

Well, he thought, I suppose I'd better leave too now. There won't be any merchants about who are not talkative anyway. But what will the wife say when I bring the cow back home? She'll call me stupid all the more, even though I've done exactly what she said.

Thus the farmer walked back home with the cow. On his way home, he passed through a small village and alongside a small church, which happened to have its doors open at the time. He quite fancied having a look inside to see if there was a merchant who was not so talkative. As it happened, there had been a pilgrimage that day. People had been worshipping the statue of Saint Anthony with the pig to prevent contagious pig disease. It was late and the church was empty. The farmer entered the church with the cow. He tied the cow to a church bench and walked on, for he had discovered someone who stood very still and didn't speak a word, namely the statue of Saint Anthony with the pig. The statue had been placed high up against the wall and was dressed in actual monk's clothes. (In the early days, statues of saints were dressed in clothes of actual fabric.)

Since the farmer lived at quite a distance from any town or village, he seldom went to church. Perhaps he had been there only a couple of times in his entire life. So he didn't know anything about these statues. He thought, this must be a pig merchant. Surely he'll be interested in buying the cow as well. Besides, he's standing still and doesn't say a word. This is the right man.

He stood right in front of the statue, nodded, and called out, "Come down, my friend! Then I will sell you my cow. She is right over there; a fine animal, I'm telling you."

There was total silence.

"How much for the cow? Please, tell me straight how much she's worth to you. No need to make a fuss about it. Just say it in one single word, please!"

Again, there was total silence.

"Well, just you be silent then. After all, my wife doesn't like talkers. Just nod yes or no when I tell you the price of the cow. Would you want her for 160 guilders?"

Total silence followed. Now our little peasant got angry. He took his stick and knocked the statue off its base, so it ended up rolling on the floor in front of him. And with the statue, a bag of money came falling down.

"There you are," said the farmer, "I knew you'd be sensible. If only you had spoken, I wouldn't have hit you."

The farmer picked up the money and left the church. He left the cow behind. He arrived home with 500 guilders. With a wide grin on his face, he threw the money into his wife's lap.

"There you are," he said, "I don't think you'll still say Hannes is so stupid, now will you?"

His wife counted the money and was surprised at the large amount. She asked how he had managed to get so much money for the cow, and how the merchant looked, for she just could not believe people had become so generous and that Hannes had become so clever all of a sudden.

Hannes didn't speak much about what had happened in the church, for he thought, if I tell her I beat the merchant, she'll scold me. So he only told her he was a pig merchant and that he had thrown the bag of money at his feet. That was it.

But what happened in the church in the meantime? The sexton came to lock up the church and found the cow tied to the bench. When he had another look around, he noticed that the statue of Saint Anthony had fallen off its base. The sexton's heart missed a beat; he had hidden his savings in the back of the statue. He thought they'd be safe in there. The fact of the matter is that the sexton had a wife who spent all the money, whereas he, by contrast, was very economical. He occasionally got a tip from someone, and he had his old age to consider. After all, one day he would no longer be able to practise his profession. It had taken him a long time to gather so much money, and now it was all gone. What was he to do? And this cow in the church; what on earth was the meaning of that? He was beginning to think this must be some miracle, for how else was something as peculiar as this to be explained?

After having paced about in thought and searching for some time, he decided to call in the priest. The sexton told him about the money and all the other things. The priest couldn't make sense of it either. Normally speaking, one would suspect this to be the work of thieves, but in that case, where did the cow come from? Thieves are not in the habit of giving anything in return. What could have happened?

Then he remembered that there had been a market at an hour's distance from the village.

Surely some thief had stolen the cow there, and, when he no longer felt safe, left the cow behind in the church. He must have run off, taking the money with him. One way or the other, he must have discovered the money. They did not as yet have a clue how, but it could have been someone known to them, who could have spied on the sexton when he was busy with the money. These were, in a nutshell, the ideas of the priest and the sexton on the matter.

"Yes," said the priest, "let's quickly go to the country policeman, so that he can pursue the thief."

"No," said the sexton, "don't do that. Don't create any publicity in the matter. It's got to be hushed up, for if my wife knew, she would laugh at me into the bargain. And on top of that, I could never save anything anymore."

"Well," said the priest, "in that case, take the cow home with you and say to your wife that it is a gift from me. That will give you some compensation for the money you've lost."

It was no sooner said than done. The sexton arrived home with the cow. His wife was somewhat surprised at such a gift, all the more so because the priest was usually quite economical, and pretty short of money anyway. The sexton, however, persuaded her by saying that if she didn't believe him, she ought to ask the priest about it herself.

The cow was put in the shed. And would you believe it, the wife was actually pleased with the animal and took very good care of it. This gave her something to do, and instead of having coffee parties and paying visits to her neighbours all the time, she was now constantly busy with the cow. The cow was very profitable, for it was a fine animal. The woman became thrifty now that she realized she could actually make some money. In this way, they made some savings, and bought another cow and a piece of land. At present, the sexton is a wealthy man possessing a large flock of cattle and lots of land. Since all this has happened, Hannes too is much better thought of by his wife than ever before. No more remarks about his stupidity. Ever. Now the wife can pay off her debts and even have some money left over.

In this way, two households have become very happy due to the sexton's savings.