Beschrijving
Not One Penny Less. This tale exists chiefly in two different forms:
(1) A poor man (soldier, youth) prays to a saint’s picture for a certain amount of money, promising to give back double that amount at the end of a month. The sexton overhears and, hoping for the large repayment, gives the poor man what he asked for. The sexton claims to be the messenger of the saint, but the poor man refuses to repay the money to him [K464].
(2) A poor man (journeyman, farmhand, sexton, trickster) asks God (a saint) for a certain sum of money, no more and no less. A rich man (master, gentleman, priest, Jew) tests him by giving him (as a joke) 99 (999) instead of 100 (1000) (gold) coins. The poor man accepts them, saying, “Whoever gave me these will surely give me the last one too,” (he counts the value of the purse as the missing coin, adds a coin of his own). He refuses to pay back the money and makes blasphemous excuses (God is old and forgetful, or He cannot count) [J1473.1].
Often the tale continues: The lender goes to a judge in order to force the poor man to repay his money. Before the case is tried, the poor man tricks the lender out of his overcoat, shoes, and often his horse. Even the judge is tricked by the poor man, who makes the lender so suspicious that the judge thinks he must be insane. (Cf. Types 1525L, 1642A.)
On his way home, the poor man meets someone who says he is the Son of God. The poor man demands that he give him the missing coin which his father had overlooked.
(1) A poor man (soldier, youth) prays to a saint’s picture for a certain amount of money, promising to give back double that amount at the end of a month. The sexton overhears and, hoping for the large repayment, gives the poor man what he asked for. The sexton claims to be the messenger of the saint, but the poor man refuses to repay the money to him [K464].
(2) A poor man (journeyman, farmhand, sexton, trickster) asks God (a saint) for a certain sum of money, no more and no less. A rich man (master, gentleman, priest, Jew) tests him by giving him (as a joke) 99 (999) instead of 100 (1000) (gold) coins. The poor man accepts them, saying, “Whoever gave me these will surely give me the last one too,” (he counts the value of the purse as the missing coin, adds a coin of his own). He refuses to pay back the money and makes blasphemous excuses (God is old and forgetful, or He cannot count) [J1473.1].
Often the tale continues: The lender goes to a judge in order to force the poor man to repay his money. Before the case is tried, the poor man tricks the lender out of his overcoat, shoes, and often his horse. Even the judge is tricked by the poor man, who makes the lender so suspicious that the judge thinks he must be insane. (Cf. Types 1525L, 1642A.)
On his way home, the poor man meets someone who says he is the Son of God. The poor man demands that he give him the missing coin which his father had overlooked.
Motief
K464
J1473.1
Commentaar
Version (2) goes back to Italian, Spanish, and English facetiae of the 15th and 16th centuries, to Baroque German jestbooks, and to 18th-century French literature.
Combinaties
1642, 1642A.
Oorspronkelijk Verhaaltype
1543
Subgenre
mop