“You are lying!” the king appeared to respond.  “In that case other sheep would have drowned, too!”

Once again he removed his staff from the mousehole and resumed his walk toward the castle.  But then he found a third mousehole.  He again stuck his staff inside, put his hat on top of it, and greeted it as if it were the king.

“So, what’s new out in the fields?”

“Sire, the lamb with the golden fleece was stolen!”

“You are lying,” said the king again.  “In that case, they would have stolen some of the others, too!”

The shepherd removed his staff again and resumed his walk toward the castle.  When he arrived, the Prussian king and his daughter were both sitting at the table.  The shepherd went inside and greeted the two kings and the princess.  The Prussian king had already shown the hide of the golden-fleeced lamb to King Matthias.  All three of them were waiting for the shepherd to tell his story.  Should he lie, King Matthias would lose half of his kingdom.

“So, what’s new out in the fields?” asked King Matthias.

“Well, really nothing, Sire, except that I have exchanged the lamb with the golden fleece for a beautiful black one.”

At hearing this, King Matthias was overjoyed.

“Well then, bring that black lamb here and show her to us!”

“No need for that,” replied the shepherd.  “She is sitting right there between the two of you.”

“Good for you!” shouted King Matthias to the shepherd.  “You told the truth.  For this I’ll give you half of the Prussian king’s kingdom that I have just won from him.”

At this, the Prussian king added, “And I’ll give him my daughter in marriage, for I know they love each other very much.” That is how King Matthias’ shepherd became the next king of Prussia.