Household Tales · Chapter
The Turnip explained
A poor soldier-turned-farmer grows an enormous turnip and presents it to the King, who rewards him with great wealth.
What happens
A poor soldier-turned-farmer grows an enormous turnip and presents it to the King, who rewards him with great wealth. His rich brother, envious, tries to gain even more by giving the King gold and horses, but receives only the giant turnip. In anger, the rich brother plots to kill the poor brother, but the murderers instead trap him in a sack. A passing student is tricked into freeing him and is himself trapped in the sack, while the poor brother escapes on the student's horse.
Themes in this chapter
Virtue Rewarded and Vice Punished
The poor brother's honest gift is richly rewarded, while the rich brother's envy and murder plot lead to humiliation and failure.
Jealousy and Envy
The rich brother's envy of the poor brother's fortune drives him to attempt murder.
Greed and Its Downfall
The rich brother's greed for even greater wealth backfires, leaving him with only the turnip and a desire for revenge.
Characters to notice
- the poor man
The poor soldier who becomes a farmer, grows a giant turnip, and is rewarded by the King.
- the rich man
The envious rich brother who plots to kill his sibling after receiving only the turnip as a gift.
- the stranger
The traveling student who is tricked into entering the sack and is left hanging in the tree.
Key passages
“The seed came up, and one turnip grew there which became large and vigorous, and visibly grew bigger and bigger, and seemed as if it would never stop growing, so that it might have been called the princess of turnips, for never was such an one seen before, and never will such an one be seen again.”
The turnip grew to an enormous size, unlike any seen before or after.
Describes the miraculous growth of the turnip.
“Then the King felt compassion for him, and said, 'Thou shalt be raised from thy poverty, and shalt have such gifts from me that thou shalt be equal to thy rich brother.'”
The King took pity on the poor farmer and gave him riches to match his wealthy brother.
The King's reward for the poor brother's gift.
“So the rich man was obliged to put his brother's turnip in a cart and have it taken to his home. When there he did not know on whom to vent his rage and anger, until bad thoughts came to him, and he resolved to kill his brother.”
The rich brother, furious at receiving only the turnip, decided to murder his sibling.
The rich brother's envious reaction leads to a murder plot.