Hans takes up on the offer and continues his journey only to find that the cow is dry and not producing any milk as he had been told.

Thanking the butcher for the pig, Hans sets off jogging again, hopeful he has now found an ideal travel companion.

[2] Instead, it can be interpreted as anti-materialistic as Hans trades in his newly won treasures and expresses relief to be freed from the weight to return home happily.

It can also be set apart from many other folk and fairy tales as it avoids romantic themes such as damsels and princesses; instead focusing upon maternal love as Hans is returning home to see his mother.

The English fairy tale The Hedley Kow contains a similar sequence in which the main character persuades herself that every change is proof of her good luck.

[6] Vance Randolph's anthology, The Devil's Pretty Daughter and Other Ozark Follk Tales, includes a variant entitled "Setting Down the Budget.