The original German name is Tischlein deck dich, Goldesel und Knüppel aus dem Sack.

However, when they returned home the goat claimed the opposite, causing the tailor to get upset and drive his son out of the house.

This pattern repeats itself with the second oldest and youngest son too, who are also falsely blamed by the goat for not feeding it enough and as a result are kicked out of the house as well.

Only when the father goes out to feed the goat himself and discovers that the creature still claims it hasn't eaten enough does he realize he misjudged his sons.

When the son arrives home and tries to show the powers of the ass instead of gold pieces landing on the cloth, it is droppings like an ordinary donkey, which upsets his father once again.

Instead of demonstrating the powers of his possession he deliberately remains vague about it, making the inn keeper curious enough to go out at night and try to look what's in the bag.

When the son returns home with the table, donkey and cudgel he tells his father what had happened and demonstrates the powers of the objects.

[2] Scholar Stith Thompson noted that the tale type "has a very extensive distribution", being "present in almost every collection of stories in Europe and Asia".

[4] Professor Dov Noy cited that variants in the Americas are found in the French, English and Spanish traditions of the continent.

[13] Italo Calvino's Italian Folktales contains a variant called The North Wind's Gift (Il regalo del vento tramontano), where a starving farmer named Geppone goes to the North Wind that destroys his crops, and receives a box producing food.

When Geppone goes to beg the Wind again, he receives a golden box which only works for a starving person, and which turns out to produce thugs with clubs.

Finally, he becomes the richest man in his home village and invites all single maidens to choose his future bride.

[16] A very similar version, The Ass, the Table, and the Stick, was given by folklorist Joseph Jacobs in his English Fairy Tales.

In this version, the poor man visits the King of the Winds and obtains a lamb that produces money on command, a magic tablecloth and a beating cane.