The Poor Boy in the Grave (Grimm)
Short summary
A poor orphaned shepherd-boy was placed with a wealthy farmer and his cruel wife.
The farmer beat him constantly for failures - when a hawk stole chickens, when he ate grapes meant for a judge.
One day, while cutting straw, the boy accidentally chopped up his coat. Terrified of the farmer's return, he despaired.
Ah, cried he, now all is over with me! The wicked man did not threaten me for nothing; if he comes back and sees what I have done, he will kill me. Rather than that I will take my own life.
The boy ate honey thinking it was poison, then drank wine. Drunk, he staggered to a graveyard and lay in a fresh grave. The wine and cold night killed him. When the farmer learned of the boy's death, he fainted. His wife's pan caught fire, burning their house. They lived their remaining years in poverty and guilt.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
The poor boys harsh treatment and failed attempts at animal care
A poor shepherd-boy lost both his parents and was placed by authorities in the house of a wealthy man who was supposed to feed and raise him.
However, the rich man and his wife had cruel hearts and were extremely greedy about their wealth.
The poor young fellow might do what he liked, he got little to eat, but only so many blows the more.
One day the boy was assigned to watch a hen and her chickens, but the hen ran through a hedge and a hawk swooped down and carried her off. Despite the boy's cries, the hawk escaped with its prey. When the farmer discovered his hen was gone, he flew into a rage and beat the boy so severely that he could not move for two days. The boy then had to care for the chickens without their mother, which proved even more difficult as they scattered in all directions.
The errand to the judge and the boys innocent honesty
Thinking himself clever, the boy tied all the chickens together with string to prevent the hawk from stealing them. However, after two days of exhaustion from running and hunger, he fell asleep. The hawk came again, seized one chicken, and because they were all tied together, carried off the entire flock to devour them in a tree. When the farmer returned and saw this disaster, he beat the boy so mercilessly that he was bedridden for several days. Declaring the boy too stupid to be a herdsman, the farmer decided to make him an errand-boy instead. He sent the boy to the judge with a basket of grapes and a letter. On the way, tormented by hunger and thirst, the boy ate two bunches of grapes.
When the judge read the letter and counted the grapes, he noticed two clusters were missing. The boy honestly confessed that hunger and thirst had driven him to eat them. The judge wrote back asking for the same number of grapes again. On the second trip, the boy was again overcome by hunger and thirst, but this time he cleverly removed the letter from the basket and sat on it before eating two more bunches, believing the letter could not see his actions.
The impossible task and the decision to end his suffering
When questioned about the missing grapes, the boy innocently revealed his simple logic.
Ah, said the boy, how have you learnt that? The letter could not know about it, for I put it under a stone before I did it.
The judge could not help laughing at the boy's simplicity and wrote to the farmer advising him to treat the poor boy better, provide adequate food and drink, and teach him right from wrong. However, the hard-hearted farmer responded harshly.
I will soon show thee the difference, said the hard man, if thou wilt eat, thou must work, and if thou dost anything wrong, thou shalt be quite sufficiently taught by blows.
The next day the farmer set the boy an impossible task: to chop two bundles of straw into chaff for the horses within five hours, threatening to beat him until he could not move if he failed. The farmer then left with his family for the yearly fair, leaving only a small piece of bread for the boy. Working frantically, the boy removed his little coat and threw it on the straw. In his haste and terror of not finishing in time, he accidentally chopped up his coat along with the straw. Realizing the irreparable mistake and fearing the farmer would kill him upon return, the boy decided to take his own life rather than face such punishment.
Mistaken attempts at suicide with honey and wine
The boy remembered hearing the farmer's wife mention having a pot of poison under her bed. Unknown to him, she had only said this to keep greedy people away, as the pot actually contained honey. The boy crept under the bed, found the pot, and consumed all its contents.
I do not know, said he, folks say death is bitter, but it tastes very sweet to me. It is no wonder that the farmer's wife has so often longed for death.
Instead of dying, the boy felt strengthened by the nourishing honey. Realizing it was not poison, he remembered the farmer mentioning a bottle of poison for flies in his clothes box. This bottle actually contained Hungarian wine. The boy drank it all, again expecting death. As the wine began to affect his brain and make him drowsy, he believed his end was near and decided to go to the churchyard to find a grave.
The boys death and the farmers tragic fate
The poor boy never awoke again; the heat of the strong wine and the cold night-dew deprived him of life, and he remained in the grave in which he had laid himself.
He had staggered to the churchyard, laid himself in a newly dug grave, and gradually lost consciousness. Hearing music from a nearby wedding celebration, he imagined he was already in Paradise before losing all awareness. When the farmer learned of the boy's death, he was terrified of facing justice. His distress was so overwhelming that he fainted. His wife rushed to help him with a pan of hot fat, but the flames caught the pan, setting the entire house ablaze. Within hours their home lay in ashes, and they spent their remaining years in poverty and misery, tormented by guilt.