ONCE UPON A TIME there lived a villager who took his cow to the market, selling her for seven golden coins. Underway, and as he was treading through a swamp, he took the coins out to count them, speaking their number out loud: "one-two-three-four-five-six-seven". The frogs of the swamp then gathered around him and started shouting "croak, croak, croak".

The villager then got angry, thinking that the frogs didn’t know how to count properly and showed them the coins: "Here, I told you, they are SEVEN. Count them!". He then placed the coins in the shallow waters of the swamp so as to show them, yet the frogs still went on "croak, croak, croak" never to change their tune. The villager got so mad that he tried to count the coins again, only this time to accidentaly fall in the murky waters of the swamp. The coins were nowhere to be found.

A few days later the villager decided to slaughter his other cow, as he thought that selling the cow's meat was profitable enough for him to buy two cows in its place. And so, he got fourteen coins for the cow's meat this time.

Underway, and as he was counting the coins, however, a pack of dogs smelled the blood on his clothes and followed him. Seeing the dogs, he ran as fast as he could, yet they followed him and started barking "woof, woof, woof". As the villager thought the dogs were after his coins, he turned to their place and addressed the biggest of them: "I will give you some coins, only if you let me go".

He then took some of the coins from his pocket and placed them in front of them. The dogs kept barking "woof, woof, woof", and so the villager, seeing they would not stop, ran again. As they ran behind him, they started biting his trousers, until all the coins he had in his pockets had fallen on the ground. He eventually reached the safety of his house with no trouser and no money.

Then the villager thought: "I have no cow left, and not even a single coin to buy a new one. There's only one thing left for me then, to go to the King and complain for what is rightfully mine". So, he went to the King and told him his adventure. The King then told him:

"You don't need money as compensation, but instead to get to know the tongues animals speak".

"But how will this happen my Lord since every animal speaks a different tongue?", the villager asked.

"I will bring you a teacher, who will teach you gibberish. If you learn them, you will be able to understand all the languages".

So, it happened. The King brought him a tutor, who taught him to speak the new foreign language. As the villager wanted his money back however, and since he thought he knew gibberish very well, he thought of complaining to the birds. So, he approached the nearest tree on which they were sitting and told them his problem.

They then signaled him to follow them, and led them to a clearing in the forest where a big "X" spot was to be found. He took a shovel and dag for three days and three nights, with the birds watching him from above. In the end, he found a small chest that was filled with golden coins, enough to compensate for his loss and provide for the rest of his life.