# Poverty and Humility Lead to Heaven explained — Household Tales

> Chapter companion for Household Tales by Jacob Grimm.

## What happens

A king's son, yearning for heaven, is told by a poor old man that he must embrace poverty and humility. He exchanges his royal garments for rags, wanders for seven years in misery, and returns unrecognized to his father's palace. Rejected by his family and servants, he lives humbly under the stairs, sustained only by the kindness of one honest servant. He dies after receiving the last sacrament, holding a rose and a lily, and his grave is marked by these flowers.

## Themes in this chapter

### Transformation and Redemption

The prince's physical and spiritual transformation through seven years of poverty leads to his redemption and entry into heaven.

### Virtue Rewarded and Vice Punished

The prince's humility and patience are rewarded with heavenly glory, while the ill-natured servant's cruelty is implicitly condemned.

## Character check-ins

### the young King

The king's son who seeks heaven through poverty and humility.

### the servants

The servants who mock and neglect the returned prince; one is honest and brings him food.

## Key lines

> Put on my ragged clothes, wander about the world for seven years, and get to know what misery is, take no money, but if thou art hungry ask compassionate hearts for a bit of bread; in this way thou wilt reach heaven.

Wear these tattered clothes, travel for seven years to understand suffering, carry no money, and beg for bread from kind people—this is the path to heaven.

_The old man's instruction outlines the prince's journey of humility._

> When he was buried, a rose grew on one side of his grave, and a lily on the other.

After his burial, a rose and a lily sprouted on either side of his grave.

_The flowers symbolize the prince's purity and the divine favor he earned._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/household_tales_se/chapters/poverty-and-humility-lead-to-heaven
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/household_tales_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/household_tales_se/chapters