English Original
One day, a peasant prepared to leave home for three days. Before departing, he told his wife, Trina, that if a cattle-dealer came to buy their three cows, she must sell them for no less than two hundred thalers. He warned her sternly that if she did anything foolish, he would beat her with his hazel stick upon his return.
The next morning, the cattle-dealer arrived. Agreeing to the price, he took the cows but claimed he had forgotten his money-belt. As security, he proposed taking two cows and leaving one. Trina, thinking herself clever for keeping the smallest cow that ate the least, agreed.
When the peasant returned, Trina proudly reported the sale but admitted she had not received the money, only the "security" of one cow. Enraged, the peasant raised his stick to beat her but then had an idea. He declared her the stupidest person on earth but said he would spare her if he could find someone even more foolish within three days.
He went to the highway and waited. Soon, he saw a woman standing in a wagon instead of sitting on the straw to make it "lighter" for the oxen. Pretending to be a man who had fallen from heaven, he engaged her in conversation. The woman, believing her deceased husband was in heaven tending sheep in tattered clothes, asked the peasant to deliver money to him. She hurried home, fetched a purse of money, and gave it to him.
Later, the woman's son, hearing the story, rode out to find the "man from heaven." He met the peasant, who was counting the money. The youth, tired from his ride, asked the peasant to take his horse and fetch the heavenly visitor. The peasant agreed, mounted the horse, and rode away, never to return. The youth assumed the peasant had given the horse to his father in heaven.
Finally, the peasant returned home with the horse and money. He told Trina he had found two people even more foolish than she was, so she escaped her beating. He reflected that trading two lean cows for a sleek horse and a purse of money was excellent business, all thanks to others' stupidity.
中文翻译
一天，一个农民准备离家三天。出发前，他告诉妻子特莉娜，如果有牛贩子来买他们的三头牛，她必须卖不低于两百塔勒的价格。他严厉警告她，如果她做了蠢事，回来就用榛木棍打她。
第二天早上，牛贩子来了。他同意了价格，牵走了牛，但声称忘了系钱袋。作为抵押，他提议带走两头牛，留下一头。特莉娜觉得自己很聪明，留下了吃得最少的最小那头牛，便同意了。
农民回来后，特莉娜自豪地报告了交易，但承认没收到钱，只得到了“抵押品”——一头牛。农民大怒，举起棍子要打她，但随即有了主意。他宣布她是世界上最蠢的人，但说如果能在三天内找到更蠢的人，就饶了她。
他来到大路上等待。很快，他看到一个女人站在马车里，而不是坐在稻草上，说是为了让牛“更轻松”。他假装是从天上掉下来的人，和她交谈起来。女人相信她去世的丈夫在天上放羊，衣衫褴褛，便请求农民带钱给他。她急忙回家取了一袋钱交给他。
后来，女人的儿子听了此事，骑马去找那个“天上来客”。他遇到了正在数钱的农民。年轻人骑马累了，便请求农民骑他的马去把天上来客找来。农民答应了，骑上马离开了，再也没回来。年轻人以为农民把马送给了他在天上的父亲。
最后，农民带着马和钱回家了。他告诉特莉娜，他找到了两个比她更蠢的人，所以她逃过了挨打。他心想，用两头瘦牛换一匹骏马和一袋钱，真是笔好买卖，这都多亏了别人的愚蠢。