Household Tales · Chapter
The Little Peasant explained
A poor peasant tricks a miller and his wife, escapes death by rolling a barrel into water, and ultimately becomes the sole heir of the entire village.
What happens
A poor peasant tricks a miller and his wife, escapes death by rolling a barrel into water, and ultimately becomes the sole heir of the entire village.
Themes in this chapter
Greed and Its Downfall
The peasants' greed for easy wealth leads them to kill their cows and ultimately drown themselves.
Virtue Rewarded and Vice Punished
The cunning peasant is rewarded with wealth, while the greedy and dishonest villagers are punished with death.
Promises and Their Consequences
The peasant's promise to the shepherd about becoming mayor leads to the shepherd's death.
Characters to notice
- the poor man
The little peasant who uses cunning to gain wealth and power.
- the rich man
The miller who is deceived by the peasant's soothsayer trick.
- the priest
The parson who hides in the miller's cupboard and later is recognized by the peasant.
- the servant
The miller's wife who hides the food and the parson from her husband.
- the judge
The Mayor who sentences the peasant to death and later drowns himself.
Key passages
“The little peasant gradually launched out; he built a beautiful house, and the peasants said, 'The small peasant has certainly been to the place where golden snow falls, and people carry the gold home in shovels.'”
The poor peasant started to prosper, building a fine house, and the other peasants speculated that he must have found a place where gold falls like snow.
The peasants' envy and suspicion of the little peasant's sudden wealth.
“The innocent little peasant was unanimously sentenced to death, and was to be rolled into the water, in a barrel pierced full of holes.”
The peasant was condemned to die by being rolled into the water inside a barrel full of holes.
The unjust punishment imposed on the peasant by the envious villagers.
“Then the entire village was dead, and the small peasant, as sole heir, became a rich man.”
All the villagers drowned, and the little peasant inherited everything, becoming wealthy.
The ironic and dark conclusion where the peasant's trick leads to the demise of the entire village.