# The Ungrateful Son explained — Household Tales

> Chapter companion for Household Tales by Jacob Grimm.

## What happens

A man hides a roasted chicken from his aged father, but when he retrieves it, it transforms into a toad that clings to his face, forcing him to feed it daily as punishment for his ingratitude.

## Themes in this chapter

### Virtue Rewarded and Vice Punished

The son's ingratitude is punished by the supernatural transformation of the chicken into a toad, forcing him to suffer and feed the creature.

## Character check-ins

### the son

The ungrateful son who hides food from his father and is punished by a toad clinging to his face.

## Key lines

> A man and his wife were once sitting by the door of their house, and they had a roasted chicken set before them, and were about to eat it together. Then the man saw that his aged father was coming, and hastily took the chicken and hid it, for he would not permit him to have any of it.

A couple was about to eat a roasted chicken when the husband saw his elderly father approaching; he quickly hid the chicken to prevent his father from sharing the meal.

_This sets up the son's selfishness and lack of respect for his father._

> Now the son wanted to put the roasted chicken on the table again, but when he took it up, it had become a great toad, which jumped into his face and sat there and never went away again

When the son tried to retrieve the chicken, it had transformed into a large toad that leaped onto his face and remained there permanently.

_The supernatural punishment directly mirrors the son's greed and ingratitude._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/household_tales_se/chapters/the-ungrateful-son
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/household_tales_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/household_tales_se/chapters