Title of classic story about mean farmer and clever boy

[DrTim]

Can't remember the source of this story: Teenage farm-boy, probably 18th or 19th century, is assigned the task of hauling bags of grain down from loft to barn. Seeing some wood, he makes a ramp, dumps the grain out of the bags, rebagging them at the bottom, thus saving himself a huge amount of labor. But when he tells the farmer, instead of praising him for his ingenuity, the farmer beats him, then makes him take all the grain back up the ladder, and then down again in the sacks in the usual way.

I think this was a passage in a larger work, but I can't remember for the life of me where I read it. Please help! Any ideas as to name of book or author appreciated!