Brothers Grimm
Synopsis
There once was a poor farmer who lived in a village with his wife. The farmer wished for a cow so he had his wife’s godfather make a wooden cow in hopes that it would one day become real.
The farmer told the man taking the cows out to pasture that his cow was young and he will have to carry him to the fields with the other farmers’ cows. When the day was done the man told the cow he would have to walk as he would not carry him again and lead the other cows home.
When the farmer did not see his wooden cow he went to the field and the cow was gone.
The farmer complained to the bailiff who ordered that the farmer be given another cow to replace the one that was lost.
Unfortunately, the farmer did not have food to feed the real cow so he and his wife killed the cow and went to sell the skin for another cow. On the way he came upon a raven with broken wings. He wrapped the raven in the skin and when the weather turned they sought shelter in a mill.
The miller’s wife gave him a bread of straw and some small food to eat. When the miller’s wife thought he was asleep another man snuck in and she intended to have a lovely dinner with the strange man.
Suddenly, her husband came home and she quickly hid the good food, drink and her mystery man. The miller saw the farmer laying on the straw and welcomed him into his home. Seeing the raven wrapped in skin, the miller asked about the odd sight.
The farmer stated that it was a fortune teller.
“He will tell four things, and the fifth he keeps to himself”
The farmer starts to tell the miller of where the food and wine are hidden in the house. Each time the miller finds that the raven is correct.
The miller’s wife feeling incredibly uncomfortable goes to bed leaving the farmer and miller to eat their feast. During the meal the miller got the farmer to agree to tell him the fifth thing for three hundred dollars. The farmer then informed him that there was a demon in his closet. Sure enough, the gentlemen hiding in the closet is exposed and runs out of the house.
The little farmer was able to return home and build himself a house. The townspeople became skeptical and he was brought before the bailiff to explain his riches. He told the man that he sold the calf skin for three hundred dollars.
Hearing this, the other farmers killed all their cows to sell the skins. Once they realized that they would not get nearly as much they complained to the bailiff once more and the little farmer was sentenced to death.
He was to be put in a casket and and rolled into the water.
A priest was brought to say mass for the farmer and wouldn’t you know it… the priest was the miller’s wife’s companion. He asked him to let him out as he had let him out of the closet.
At that moment a shepherd was walking past and the farmer tricked him into switching places with him in the cask. He made it seem as if whoever was in the cask would be made bailiff. Thus the shepherd was thrown into the water to his death.
The little farmer came home with the shepherd’s sheep and the other farmers asked where he had gotten all the sheep
“I sank and sank until I came to the bottom; then I broke through the cask and came out of it, and there were beautiful meadows and plenty of sheep feeding”
All the farmers and the bailiff jumped to their death believing that there would be safety and sheep at the bottom. The little farmer become the sole heir of everyone in town and thus became a rich man.
The End
Lessons & Takeaways
Do Not Covet What You Neighbor Has
The rich farmers were fine with what they had until the poor farmer came with more. He came home with three hundred dollars and the others immediately asked him how they could make that much as well. They wanted the money so bad that each of them killed their entire herd without even verifying the price with the merchant who purchases cow skin.
The late plunge to their death for the promise of sheep. To be fair, at this point the little farmer had already caused them to lose their ability to make money without their herds. The other farmers were more desperate and therefore more apt to believe the farmer.
Being Resourceful
The little farmer has no cows so he decides to make one. Perhaps he realized the opportunity to swindle a real cow or he genuinely hoped that it would somehow become real on its own. Either way, his creation lead to a real cow which moved the story along and gave him all the riches in the town by the end.
Another instance of resourcefulness is when the farmer pretends the raven is a fortune teller. He sees the opportunity when he learns of the miller’s wife’s deceit and uses it to his advantage. He could have easily had a meal with the miller and then been on his way in the morning but made it much more worth his while.
Also, had he not revealed the many in the closet, he would not have been released from the cask at the end of the story.
Sometimes the Bad Guy Wins
This story makes the little farmer seem like the hero. He is poor so therefore he is more deserving of success and riches than the other farmers who have been successful.
There is no backstory of the town and never does it say that the other farmers are awful to the little farmer or they are the reason he has no cows. It doesn’t seem like any of them deserved to die and that the little farmer tricked them into stealing all their wealth.
I can only assume that the farmers who were successful worked hard and built up their farms. Not that the little farmer didn’t but perhaps they just benefited from luck or the little farmer was the only one who suffered from bad luck.
He seems to be the only bad person in the entire story and he is the one who triumphs. Everyone else falls to their death and probably leaves their families behind as the little farmer takes all their wealth.
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