The Goldsmith's Fortune
by Andrew Lang · from The Orange Fairy Book
Adapted Version
Once, a goldsmith had one friend. The friend was a cowherd. The other people in the village were greedy.
The goldsmith liked to walk each night. He asked the cowherd to walk with him. The cowherd did not like to walk. He was tired from his work. He got very angry.
One day, the cowherd had an idea. He wanted to make the goldsmith angry. He went to the goldsmith's house. The goldsmith's wife was there alone. The cowherd caused a big mess. Then he ran away.
The goldsmith came home. He saw the mess. His wife was gone. He had a clever idea. He put a shiny pot by the door. He waited.
A rich man walked by. He saw the pot. "Hello!" he said. The pot did not answer. The man was cross. He pushed the pot. It fell and broke.
The goldsmith ran out. "You broke my pot!" he shouted. "It was very special." The rich man was scared. He gave the goldsmith many gold coins. Then he ran away.
The goldsmith had lots of gold. The people saw this. "How did you get so rich?" they asked.
"I sold a secret," said the goldsmith.
The people wanted to be rich too. They tried to sell their own things. No one wanted to buy them. They were very angry at the goldsmith.
They chased the goldsmith to the river. They wanted to play a trick on him. The goldsmith ran fast. He jumped into the water and swam away.
He found a big, friendly buffalo by the river. He climbed on its back and rode home.
The people saw him. "Where did you get that buffalo?" they asked.
"There is a magic place in the river," said the goldsmith. "It has many buffaloes."
The greedy people jumped into the river. They got very wet. They found no buffaloes. They were cold and sad.
While they were in the water, the goldsmith took their things. Now he had all.
The goldsmith had many things. But he had no friends. He was all alone. He felt very sad.
Being greedy and telling lies can make you sad and alone.
Original Story
The Goldsmith’s Fortune
Once upon a time there was a goldsmith who lived in a certain village
where the people were as bad and greedy, and covetous, as they could
possibly be; however, in spite of his surroundings, he was fat and
prosperous. He had only one friend whom he liked, and that was a
cowherd, who looked after cattle for one of the farmers in the village.
Every evening the goldsmith would walk across to the cowherd’s house
and say: ‘Come, let’s go out for a walk!’
Now the cowherd didn’t like walking in the evening, because, he said,
he had been out grazing the cattle all day, and was glad to sit down
when night came; but the goldsmith always worried him so that the poor
man had to go against his will. This at last so annoyed him that he
tried to think how he could pick a quarrel with the goldsmith, so that
he should not beg him to walk with him any more. He asked another
cowherd for advice, and he said the best thing he could do was to go
across and kill the goldsmith’s wife, for then the goldsmith would be
sure to regard him as an enemy; so, being a foolish person, and there
being no laws in that country by which a man would be certainly
punished for such a crime, the cowherd one evening took a big stick and
went across to the goldsmith’s house when only Mrs. Goldsmith was at
home, and banged her on the head so hard that she died then and there.
When the goldsmith came back and found his wife dead he said nothing,
but just took her outside into the dark lane and propped her up against
the wall of his house, and then went into the courtyard and waited.
Presently a rich stranger came along the lane, and seeing someone
there, as he supposed, he said:
‘Good-evening, friend! a fine night to- night!’ But the goldsmith’s
wife said nothing. The man then repeated his words louder; but still
there was no reply. A third time he shouted:
‘Good-evening, friend! are you deaf?’ but the figure never replied.
Then the stranger, being angry at what he thought very rude behaviour,
picked up a big stone and threw it at Mrs. Goldsmith, crying:
‘Let that teach you manners!’
Instantly poor Mrs. Goldsmith tumbled over; and the stranger,
horrified at seeing what he had done, was immediately seized by the
goldsmith, who ran out screaming:
‘Wretch! you have killed my wife! Oh, miserable one; we will have
justice done to thee!’
With many protestations and reproaches they wrangled together, the
stranger entreating the goldsmith to say nothing and he would pay him
handsomely to atone for the sad accident. At last the goldsmith
quieted down, and agreed to accept one thousand gold pieces from the
stranger, who immediately helped him to bury his poor wife, and then
rushed off to the guest house, packed up his things and was off by
daylight, lest the goldsmith should repent and accuse him as the
murderer of his wife. Now it very soon appeared that the goldsmith had
a lot of extra money, so that people began to ask questions, and
finally demanded of him the reason for his sudden wealth.
‘Oh,’ said he, ‘my wife died, and I sold her.’
‘You sold your dead wife?’ cried the people.
‘Yes,’ said the goldsmith.
‘For how much?’
‘A thousand gold pieces,’ replied the goldsmith.
Instantly the villagers went away and each caught hold of his own wife
and throttled her, and the next day they all went off to sell their
dead wives. Many a weary mile did they tramp, but got nothing but hard
words or laughter, or directions to the nearest cemetery, from people
to whom they offered dead wives for sale. At last they perceived that
they had been cheated somehow by that goldsmith. So off they rushed
home, seized the unhappy man, and, without listening to his cries and
entreaties, hurried him down to the river bank and flung
him--plop!--into the deepest, weediest, and nastiest place they could
find.
‘That will teach him to play tricks on us,’ said they. ‘For as he
can’t swim he’ll drown, and we sha’n’t have any more trouble with him!’
Now the goldsmith really could not swim, and as soon as he was thrown
into the deep river he sank below the surface; so his enemies went away
believing that they had seen the last of him. But, in reality, he was
carried down, half drowned, below the next bend in the river, where he
fortunately came across a ‘snag’ floating in the water (a snag is, you
know, a part of a tree or bush which floats very nearly under the
surface of the water); and he held on to this snag, and by great good
luck eventually came ashore some two or three miles down the river. At
the place where he landed he came across a fine fat cow buffalo, and
immediately he jumped on her back and rode home. When the village
people saw him, they ran out in surprise, and said:
‘Where on earth do you come from, and where did you get that buffalo?’
‘Ah!’ said the goldsmith, ‘you little know what delightful adventures I
have had! Why, down in that place in the river where you threw me in I
found meadows, and trees, and fine pastures, and buffaloes, and all
kinds of cattle. In fact, I could hardly tear myself away; but I
thought that I must really let you all know about it.’
‘Oh, oh!’ thought the greedy village people; ‘if there are buffaloes to
be had for the taking we’ll go after some too.’ Encouraged by the
goldsmith they nearly all ran off the very next morning to the river;
and, in order that they might get down quickly to the beautiful place
the goldsmith told them of, they tied great stones on to their feet and
their necks, and one after another they jumped into the water as fast
as the could, and were drowned. And whenever any one of them waved his
hands about and struggled the goldsmith would cry out:
‘Look! he’s beckoning the rest of you to come; he’s got a fine
buffalo!’ And others who were doubtful would jump in, until not one was
left. Then the cunning goldsmith went back and took all the village
for himself, and became very rich indeed. But do you think he was
happy? Not a bit. Lies never made a man happy yet. Truly, he got the
better of a set of wicked and greedy people, but only by being wicked
and greedy himself; and, as it turned out, when he got so rich he got
very fat; and at last was so fat that he couldn’t move, and one day he
got the apoplexy and died, and no one in the world cared the least bit.
[Told by a Pathan to Major Campbell.]
Story DNA
Moral
Lies and greed, even when used against wicked people, ultimately lead to an unhappy and unfulfilled life.
Plot Summary
A cunning goldsmith lives among greedy villagers. When his wife is accidentally murdered by his friend, he stages her death to extort money from a rich stranger. He then lies to the villagers, claiming he sold his wife for a fortune, prompting them to kill their own wives in hopes of similar gain. When the villagers realize they've been tricked, they attempt to drown the goldsmith, but he survives and returns with a buffalo, fabricating a story of an underwater paradise. The greedy villagers, believing his new lie, drown themselves, allowing the goldsmith to seize their wealth, though he ultimately dies alone and unhappy from his own excesses.
Themes
Emotional Arc
cunning to triumph to ironic downfall
Writing Style
Narrative Elements
Cultural Context
The story is presented as 'Told by a Pathan to Major Campbell,' indicating an oral tradition from the Pashtun people, likely in the Indian subcontinent. This context explains the presence of buffaloes and the social structure.
Plot Beats (14)
- A goldsmith, prosperous despite greedy villagers, has a cowherd as his only friend.
- The goldsmith insists on evening walks, annoying the cowherd.
- The cowherd, advised by another, murders the goldsmith's wife to end the friendship.
- The goldsmith finds his wife dead, props her up, and waits for a victim.
- A rich stranger, angered by the 'silent' figure, throws a stone at the wife, causing her to fall.
- The goldsmith seizes the stranger, accusing him of murder, and extorts 1000 gold pieces as hush money.
- Villagers question the goldsmith's sudden wealth; he claims he 'sold' his dead wife.
- The greedy villagers kill their own wives, attempt to sell them, and fail, realizing they've been tricked.
- Enraged, the villagers attempt to drown the goldsmith in the deepest part of the river.
- The goldsmith, unable to swim, is carried downstream, grabs a snag, and washes ashore with a buffalo.
- The goldsmith returns to the village riding the buffalo, claiming to have found a magical land of cattle underwater.
- The villagers, eager for buffaloes, tie stones to themselves and jump into the river, all drowning.
- The goldsmith takes all the villagers' possessions, becoming very rich.
- The goldsmith, despite his wealth, is unhappy, grows excessively fat, and dies of apoplexy, unmourned.
Characters
The Goldsmith ★ protagonist
Fat, prosperous
Attire: Simple, practical clothing appropriate for a goldsmith in a rural setting, perhaps a leather apron
Cunning, greedy, vengeful
Image Prompt & Upload
A middle-aged man with kind eyes and a neatly trimmed beard, his strong hands carefully engraving a delicate golden locket. He wears a leather apron over a deep green tunic, with soot marks on his sleeves. His dark hair is tied back, and his expression is one of focused concentration. He is seated at a sturdy wooden workbench cluttered with tiny hammers, files, and bowls of glittering gold dust, which catches the warm light from a nearby forge. Plain white background, full body visible head to toe, single figure, no watermark, no text, no signature.
The Cowherd ⚔ antagonist
Implied to be strong enough to swing a heavy stick
Attire: Simple, worn clothing typical of a cowherd, perhaps patched trousers and a tunic
Foolish, easily influenced, resentful
Image Prompt & Upload
A cruel-looking middle-aged man with a gaunt face, sharp cheekbones, and cold, calculating eyes. He has messy, dark hair matted with dirt and a thin, sneering smile. He wears a patched, rough-spun tunic of faded brown and grey, tied with a frayed rope belt. His posture is aggressive, leaning forward slightly with one hand clenched into a fist at his side and the other gripping a gnarled wooden staff. He stands in a shadowy, ominous forest clearing at dusk, with twisted trees and a low mist swirling around his feet. Plain white background, full body visible head to toe, single figure, no watermark, no text, no signature.
Mrs. Goldsmith ○ minor
Not described
Attire: Simple peasant dress appropriate for the time and place
Passive, victimized
Image Prompt & Upload
A kindly elderly woman with silver hair pinned in a neat bun, wearing a simple but well-made dress of dark green wool with a white apron. She has gentle wrinkles around her eyes and a warm, welcoming smile. Her posture is slightly bent from years of fine work, holding a small polishing cloth in one hand. Plain white background, full body visible head to toe, single figure, no watermark, no text, no signature.
The Rich Stranger ○ minor
Not described
Attire: Finer clothing than the villagers, indicating wealth and travel
Easily startled, anxious, willing to pay to avoid trouble
Image Prompt & Upload
A distinguished gentleman in his late fifties with sharp, intelligent eyes and a neatly trimmed silver beard. He wears an impeccably tailored three-piece suit of deep charcoal wool, a silk burgundy waistcoat, and a crisp white shirt. A heavy gold signet ring adorns his pinky finger, and a polished ebony walking cane with a silver wolf's head handle rests in his gloved hand. His posture is upright and self-assured, his head tilted slightly with a knowing, faintly arrogant half-smile. Plain white background, full body visible head to toe, single figure, no watermark, no text, no signature.
Villagers ◆ supporting
Not described individually, but as a group, greedy and easily led
Attire: Simple, practical clothing appropriate for rural laborers
Greedy, gullible, violent
Image Prompt & Upload
A diverse group of common folk, a man and a woman in their middle years with a young boy and an elderly grandfather. They wear simple, earth-toned tunics, aprons, and roughspun trousers. Their hair is modest, the woman's in a braid, the man's short and unkempt, the elder's thin and white. They stand closely together, looking forward with expressions of quiet concern and resilience. Their posture is weary but upright. Plain white background, full body visible head to toe, single figure, no watermark, no text, no signature
Cow Buffalo ○ minor
Fine, fat
Docile, unaware
Image Prompt & Upload
A small, fluffy buffalo calf with soft brown fur and large, gentle dark eyes. It wears a delicate crown of woven wildflowers around its head. The calf is sitting peacefully in a sun-dappled meadow, looking directly at the viewer with a curious and innocent expression. Its posture is relaxed and calm. Plain white background, full body visible head to toe, single figure, no watermark, no text, no signature.
Locations
Goldsmith's House
A house in a village, with a courtyard and a wall facing a dark lane.
Mood: Initially normal, then turning eerie and dangerous.
The goldsmith's wife is murdered and then propped against the wall, leading to the stranger's accidental killing and the goldsmith's initial profit.
Image Prompt & Upload
Dusk in a quiet fairy tale village, cobblestone path leading to the Goldsmith's House. Warm, golden light spills from small-paned windows onto a walled courtyard, illuminating weathered stone walls and a heavy wooden door. The wall facing the lane is tall and shadowed, draped in thick ivy, with a single iron lantern casting a soft pool of light on the mossy stones. A slate roof, a chimney with a wisp of smoke, and window boxes with herbs. The dark lane is narrow and mysterious, dappled with deep blue shadows. Soft, atmospheric lighting, rich colors of amber, deep green, and stone grey. no border, no frame, no watermark, no text, no signature, edge-to-edge illustration
River Bank
A river with a deep, weedy, and nasty place.
Mood: Dangerous, deceptive.
The goldsmith is thrown into the river, but survives. Later, the villagers drown themselves here.
Image Prompt & Upload
A murky riverbank at dusk under an overcast sky, with dark, stagnant water choked by thick, tangled weeds and algae. Murky yellow-brown water reflects the dim light, surrounded by dense, overgrown reeds and decaying vegetation. The bank is muddy and slick, with twisted roots and fallen branches half-submerged. A heavy, humid atmosphere with mist rising from the water, casting an eerie gloom. Colors: deep greens, muddy browns, dull yellows, and gray shadows. Pure landscape, no characters. no border, no frame, no watermark, no text, no signature, edge-to-edge illustration.
River Bottom (Imagined)
Meadows, trees, and fine pastures with buffaloes and cattle.
Mood: Appealing, abundant, and false.
The goldsmith lies about this place to trick the villagers.
Image Prompt & Upload
Dawn light filters through a gentle mist over a serene river bottom valley. Lush, dew-kissed meadows of vibrant green roll into the distance, dotted with clusters of ancient, mossy oaks and graceful willows whose branches trail into the slow-moving, crystal-clear river. Soft morning sunbeams illuminate a fine pasture where silhouettes of grazing buffaloes and cattle are visible among the tall grasses. The air is still and cool, with a palette of soft golds, deep greens, and hazy blues. A sense of profound peace and untouched natural abundance fills the scene. no border, no frame, no watermark, no text, no signature, edge-to-edge illustration.
Village
The village where the goldsmith and the greedy villagers live.
Mood: Greedy, wicked, and eventually empty.
The villagers murder their wives, try to sell them, and eventually are tricked into drowning themselves.
Image Prompt & Upload
A quaint fairy tale village nestled in a valley at golden hour. Cobblestone paths wind between timber-framed houses with thatched roofs and overflowing flower boxes. A central square features a grand, ornate goldsmith's workshop with a glowing forge visible through its large windows, its sign a polished gold anvil. The atmosphere is warm and slightly hazy, with long shadows stretching across the square. Lanterns begin to flicker on, casting a warm, inviting yet slightly greedy glow over the scene. The surrounding forest is lush and deep green, contrasting with the village's warm, golden tones. no border, no frame, no watermark, no text, no signature, edge-to-edge illustration.
