The Table, the Donkey, and the Cudgel

Three brothers, each apprenticed to a different craftsman, were rewarded upon completing their training with a magical gift for years of loyal service. The eldest received a small table that, upon a single command, would instantly cover itself with a magnificent feast. The second received a donkey that produced gold coins from its mouth whenever its owner said a certain word. Delighted, both set off for home to show their father their remarkable fortune.

Each brother, however, stopped for the night at the same dishonest inn along the way, and the greedy innkeeper, having secretly observed each magic gift in use, swapped it overnight for an ordinary, worthless duplicate before the brother continued on his journey unaware. Both arrived home to demonstrate their gifts to their disbelieving father, only to find an ordinary table and an ordinary donkey that produced nothing at all, humiliating them both.

The youngest brother, having trained as a turner, received a sack containing a magic cudgel that would leap out and beat anyone the owner commanded, until commanded to stop. Warned by his brothers' misfortune, he stayed at the very same inn and, when the innkeeper crept in that night to swap this gift too, commanded the cudgel to attack. The innkeeper, beaten soundly until he confessed everything and begged for mercy, was forced to return both the table and the donkey he had stolen from the older brothers. All three gifts reunited the family in prosperity at last — proof that a single clever precaution, learned from someone else's costly mistake, can undo damage that seemed permanent.