Household Tales · Chapter
The Old Man Made Young Again explained
The Lord and St.
What happens
The Lord and St. Peter stay at a smith's house, where St. Peter takes pity on an old beggar. The Lord uses the smith's forge to make the old man young again. The smith, observing the process, attempts to rejuvenate his old mother-in-law but fails, causing her great pain. The smith's wife and daughter-in-law, who are pregnant, are so horrified by the sight that they give birth to apes, from whom the race of apes is said to have descended.
Themes in this chapter
Magic and the Supernatural
The Lord's divine power to rejuvenate the old man through fire and water, and the smith's failed imitation, highlight supernatural intervention and its limits.
Virtue Rewarded and Vice Punished
The humble beggar is rewarded with youth, while the smith's presumptuous attempt to replicate the miracle leads to grotesque consequences for his mother-in-law and the birth of apes.
Characters to notice
- St. Peter
Accompanies the Lord and has compassion on the old beggar, blowing the bellows during the rejuvenation.
- the Lord
Performs the miracle of making the old man young again using the smith's forge.
- the smith
Hosts the Lord and St. Peter, lends his forge, and later attempts to rejuvenate his mother-in-law with disastrous results.
- the old beggar
A poor, infirm old man who is made young again by the Lord.
- the smith's mother-in-law
An old, half-blind, crooked woman who asks to be made young again but suffers a painful failed attempt.
Key passages
“The Lord took the little old man, pushed him in the forge in the midst of the red-hot fire, so that he glowed like a rosebush, and praised God with a loud voice.”
The Lord placed the old man into the blazing forge, where he glowed brightly like a rosebush and loudly praised God.
Describes the miraculous rejuvenation process.
“The smith made a great fire, and thrust the old woman into it, and she writhed about this way and that, and uttered terrible cries of murder.”
The smith built a large fire and pushed the old woman into it, causing her to thrash and scream horribly.
The smith's failed attempt to rejuvenate his mother-in-law.