A farmer went out to plough with his oxen. At the field, their horns began to grow and grew so large that they couldn't pass through the gate to go home.
Luckily, a butcher came by. The farmer struck a deal: he would give the butcher a measure of turnip seeds, and the butcher would pay him one Brabant thaler for each seed. The farmer then carried the seeds to the butcher on his back.
On the way, he lost one seed. The butcher paid him fairly. Had he not lost the seed, he would have earned one more thaler. Meanwhile, the lost seed grew into a towering tree that reached the sky.
The farmer thought, "Since I have this chance, I must see what the angels are doing up there." He climbed the tree and saw angels threshing oats. As he watched, he felt the tree begin to totter. Peering down, he saw someone about to cut it down.
"Falling from here would be terrible," he thought. In desperation, he twisted a rope from piles of oat chaff. He also grabbed a hoe and a flail lying nearby in heaven and lowered himself with the rope.
He landed in a deep hole. Fortunately, he had the hoe, which he used to carve steps to climb out. He kept the flail as proof of his story, so no one would doubt him.