asked the robbers . ` Ah , ' replied the shoemaker , ` you have guessed my secret . The donkey is a golden donkey , and supplies me with all my money . ' ` Sell him to us , ' said the robbers . ` We will give you any price you like . ' The shoemaker at first declared that nothing would induce him to sell him , but at last he agreed to hand him over to the robbers for fifty gold pieces . ` But listen to what I tell you , ' said he . ` You must each take it in turn to own him for a night and a day , or else you will all be fighting over the money . ' With these words they parted , the robbers driving the donkey to their cave in the forest and the shoemaker returning home , very pleased with the success of his trick . He just stopped on the way to pick up a good dinner , and the next day spent most of his gains in buying a small vineyard . Meanwhile the robbers had arrived at the cave where they lived , and the captain , calling them all round him , announced that it as his right to have the donkey for the first night . His companions agreed , and then he told his wife to put a mattress in the stable . She asked if he had gone out of his mind , but he answered crossly , ` What is that to you ? Do as you are bid , and to-morrow I will bring you some treasures . ' Very early the captain awoke and searched the stable , but could find nothing , and guessed that Master Joseph had been making fun of them . ` Well , ' he said to himself , ` if I have been taken in , the others shall not come off any better . ' So , when one of his men arrived and asked him eagerly how much money he had got , he answered gaily , ` Oh , comrade , if you only knew ! But I shall say nothing about it till everyone has had his turn ! ' One after another they all took the donkey , but no money was forthcoming for anybody . At length , when all the band had been tricked , they held a council , and resolved to march to the shoemaker 's house and punish him well for his cunning .
Just as before , the XXXXX saw them a long way off , and began to think how he could outwit them again .
Joseph day first home mattress mind money night right shoemaker