Two angels were travelling and sought shelter for the night. They stopped at the home of a wealthy family who refused them hospitality, making them sleep in the cold basement. The older angel repaired a hole in the wall. The next night, they stayed with a poor but kind farmer and his wife, who shared their meager food. In the morning, they discovered the farmer's cow had died, leaving them with no income. The older angel explained that he had sealed the gold in the wall of the wealthy man's house, as he did not deserve it, and had diverted death from the kind wife to the cow instead, showing that things are not always as they seem.