Watch the short film The Peasant and the Root.
After reading in a book of spells about the wonderful powers a mandrake root can grant its owner, a peasant tries to obtain one. This proves to be quite difficult; when the root is pulled it lets out a terrible scream that kills anyone who hears it. The peasant discovers that the proper method of harvesting the root involves tethering a dog to the root, and then tricking the dog into lurching forward for a scrap of food. The dog gets killed in the process, but the root can then be safely obtained. Having read this the peasant steals the nearest dog available; an innocent dalmatian, and safely hides out of earshot while the dalmatian pulls the root out. The peasant is shocked to find not only the dog not dead, but is now the recipient of all the root's magical powers! The now magically-assisted dalmatian chases the peasant off into the countryside as he extracts his revenge on his would-be killer.