This poor peasant called Giles was busy weeding his garden when he noticed a red bag with a pull string sitting right underneath a cauliflower. When he looked inside he found one hundred gold pieces.
Giles was an honest man. He took the gold to the Mayor of the town. Perhaps someone was looking for their lost treasure. The Mayor kept the gold pieces for himself, and when Giles complained the Mayor threw Giles into prison to await hanging. How dare a peasant criticize someone important.
A great crowd gathered to watch the hanging, as was the custom. Suddenly the Devil himself appeared but in the disguise of a parson. “Kind Sir,” said the Devil to the Mayor, “you must say ‘May the Devil carry me off if I am a thief’.”
The Mayor repeated it, so the Devil disguised as the parson grabbed the Mayor by the scruff of his collar and flew off through the air with him to Hell.
What a great to do. The Deputy Mayor had to step into the Mayor’s shoes and dutifully hang Giles himself.
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