The Good Bargain

The Moral:deserve punishmentThe GrimmsThe Good Bargainstarts as an entertaining yarn about a stupid peasant, before metamorphosing into a drunken Mel Gibson rant. Encountering a money-lender so caricatured he might as well be called Shylock; the peasant decides to screw with him. After tricking him into taking a beating in his place, he takes the money-lenders coat. Naturally perturbed by his recent ass-whuppin, the money-lender reports him to the palace and the peasant is arrested. Asked to explain himself, the peasant replies: What a Jew says is always a lie. No true word ever comes out his mouth. That rascal is even capable of claiming I have his coat on.When the money-lender tries to reclaim his coat, he proves the peasants point and gets another beating. As ridiculous as this is, its got nothing onThe Jew Among Thorns. In this Nazi-favorite a servant is given a magic fiddle that can make anyone dance; she uses it to force a passing Jew into dancing among thorns until hisskin is flayed off. As justification for mutilating a complete stranger, the servant simply says: [Jews] have fleeced people often enough, and now the thorns shall do the same to you. No wonder Hitler loved these tales.