Hastily gathering more than enough gold and jewels to make him rich, he went outside, not forgetting to say, “Close the door,” and went back to his house.

Having hidden all but a little of his new wealth, he wished to change one or two of his gold pieces for silver so that he could buy something to eat.  He went to his brother’s house to ask him for the favor, but Pedro was not at home, and his wife, who was at least as mean as Pedro, would not change the money.  After a while Pedro came home, and his wife told him that Juan had some money; and Pedro, hoping in turn to gain some advantage, went to Juan’s house and asked many questions about the money.  Juan told him that he had sold some wood in town and had been paid in gold, but Pedro did not believe him and hid himself under the house to listen.  At night he heard Juan talking to his wife, and found out the place and the password.  Immediately taking three horses to carry his spoils, he set out for the robbers’ cave.

Once arrived, he went straight to the cliff and said, “Open the door,” and the door opened immediately.  He went inside and said, “Close the door,” and the door closed tight.  He gathered together fifteen great bags of money, each all he could lift, and carried them to the door ready to put on the horses.  He found all the rich food and wine of the robbers in the cave, and could not resist the temptation to make merry at their expense; so he ate their food and drank their fine wines till he was foolishly drunk.  When he had reached this state, he began to think of returning home.  Beating on the door with both hands, he cried out, “Open, beast.  Open, fool.  May lightning blast you if you do not open!” and a hundred other foolish things, but never once saying, “Open the door.”

While he was thus engaged, the robbers returned, and hearing them coming he hid under a great pile of money with only his nose sticking out.  The robbers saw that some one had visited the cave in their absence and hunted for the intruder till one of them discovered him trembling under a heap of coin.  With a shout they hauled him forth and beat him until his flesh hung in ribbons.  Then they split him into halves and threw the body into the river, and cut his horses into bits, [15] which they threw after him.

When Pedro did not return, his wife became anxious and told Juan where he had gone.  Juan stole quietly to the place by night, and recovered the body, carried it home, and had the pieces sewn together by the tailor.

Now the robbers knew that they had been robbed by some one else, and so, when Pedro’s body was taken away, the captain went to town to see who had buried the body, and by inquiring, found that Juan had become suddenly rich, and also that it was his brother who had been buried.

So the captain of the robbers went to Juan’s house, where he found a ball going on.  Juan knew the captain again and that he was asking many questions, so he made the captain welcome and gave him a great deal to eat and drink.  One of the servants came in and pretended to admire the captain’s sword till he got it into his own hands; and then he began to give an exhibition of fencing, making the sword whirl hither and thither and ending with a wonderful stroke that made the captain’s head roll on the floor.