tablecloth,
which he sells to the king for the privilege of passing a night in the
princess' room. The same payment is asked for the box that fills itself
with money, and the little organ that makes every one dance. The
shepherd, of course, becomes the princess' husband and inherits the
kingdom when the king dies. In the Sicilian story (Pitre, No. 26) the
fairies give Peter the purse, tablecloth, and violin, and he goes to
play chess with the daughter of the king of Spain, who is to marry
whoever beats her at the game. She cheats and wins, and Peter is thrown
into prison. There he uses the tablecloth, and when the princess hears
of it, she proposes to play for it. Again she cheats by changing a
chessman while Peter is looking away, and the loser is thrown into
prison again. They play again for the magic violin, and Peter, who has
been warned in prison by other losers of the princess' tricks, keeps a
sharp lookout, detects, and defeats her. They are married, and Peter
releases all the defeated players from jail, and afterward gets rid of
them by means of the violin.[9]

The third version is the most popular one; the following example of it
is from Nerucci's collection of Montalese tales (No. 43).

XXXII. THE ASS THAT LAYS MONEY.

There was once a poor widow with an only son, and whose brother-in-law
was a steward. One day she said to her child: "Go to your uncle and ask
him to give you something to keep you from starving." The boy went to
the farm and asked his uncle to help him a little. "We are dying of
hunger, uncle. My mother earns a little by weaving, and I am too small
to find anything. Be charitable to us, for we are your relatives." The
steward answered: "Why not? You should have come sooner and I would have
helped you the sooner. But now I will give you something to support you
always, without need of anything more. I will give you this little ass
that lays money. You have only to put a cloth under him, and he will
fill it for you with handsome coins. But take care! Don't tell it, and
don't leave this animal with any one." The youth departed in joy, and
after he had travelled a long way, he stopped at an inn to sleep, for
his house was distant. He said to the landlord: "Give me a lodging, but
look! my ass spends the night with me." "What!" said the landlord, "what
are you thinking about! It cannot be." The youth replied: "Yes, it can
be, because my ass does not leave my side." They disputed a while, but
th