Household Tales · Chapter
The Three Green Twigs explained
A pious hermit, who has faithfully carried water up a mountain for years with the visible aid of an angel, carelessly condemns a poor sinner being led to the gallows.
What happens
A pious hermit, who has faithfully carried water up a mountain for years with the visible aid of an angel, carelessly condemns a poor sinner being led to the gallows. As punishment, God withdraws the angel's presence and food, and the hermit is given a penance: he must carry a dry branch until three green twigs sprout from it, sleep with it under his head, and beg for his bread, never staying more than one night in a house. During his journey, he finds shelter with an old woman whose three sons are robbers. When the sons return, they are moved by the hermit's story of sin and penance, and they repent. The next morning, the hermit is found dead, but three green twigs have sprouted from the dry wood, signifying God's forgiveness.
Themes in this chapter
Transformation and Redemption
The hermit's penance leads to his spiritual redemption, and the robbers transform from sinners to penitents.
Virtue Rewarded and Vice Punished
The hermit's initial virtue is rewarded with angelic aid, but his sin of judgment brings punishment; his repentance and the robbers' repentance lead to forgiveness.
Characters to notice
- the hermit
A pious hermit who served God faithfully for years but sinned by condemning a sinner; he undergoes penance and eventually dies forgiven.
- the angel of God
An angel who accompanied the hermit on his daily water-carrying and brought him food, but withdrew after the hermit's sin.
- the old woman
A compassionate woman who shelters the hermit despite fear of her three robber sons.
- the three robbers
The old woman's wicked sons who are moved by the hermit's story and repent of their sins.
Key passages
“There, that one is getting his deserts!”
The hermit carelessly remarks that the condemned sinner deserves his fate.
This careless judgment is the sin that triggers the hermit's penance.
“Thou shalt carry this dry branch until three green twigs sprout out of it, but at night when thou wilt sleep, thou shalt lay it under thy head. Thou shalt beg thy bread from door to door, and not tarry more than one night in the same house.”
The angel commands the hermit to perform a penance: carry a dry branch until it sprouts three green twigs, sleep with it under his head, and beg for food without staying more than one night in any house.
This describes the specific penance imposed on the hermit.
“If the Lord thus punishes one single word, how will it fare with my sons when they appear before him in judgment?”
The old woman weeps, realizing that if God punishes a single careless word, her robber sons face even greater judgment.
This moment of reflection leads the robbers to repent.
“In the morning, however, they found him dead, and out of the dry wood on which his head lay, three green twigs had grown up on high.”
The next morning, the hermit is found dead, but the dry branch under his head has sprouted three green twigs, a sign of God's forgiveness.
The miraculous sprouting confirms the hermit's penance is accepted.