# The Wishing-Table, the Gold-Ass, and the Cudgel in the Sack explained — Household Tales

> Chapter companion for Household Tales by Jacob Grimm.

## What happens

A tailor drives out his three sons after each is deceived by a lying goat. Each son apprentices to a trade and receives a magical gift: a self-covering table, a gold-dropping ass, and a cudgel that beats thieves. The first two sons lose their gifts to a thieving innkeeper, but the third son uses his cudgel to recover them. The sons return home, enrich their family, and live in joy, while the goat hides in a fox's den.

## Themes in this chapter

### Virtue Rewarded and Vice Punished

The honest sons are rewarded with magical gifts, while the thieving innkeeper is beaten by the cudgel and forced to return what he stole.

### Greed and Its Downfall

The innkeeper's greed leads him to steal the magical objects, but he is ultimately punished when the cudgel thrashes him.

### Family Dynamics and Betrayal

The tailor unjustly drives out his three sons based on the goat's lies, but the sons later reunite and restore the family's fortune.

## Character check-ins

### the son

The third son who becomes a turner and uses the cudgel to recover the magical table and ass.

### the servant

The innkeeper who steals the wishing-table and gold-ass from the first two sons.

### the maiden

The goat that deceives the tailor and his sons, causing the sons to be driven out.

### the master

The miller who gives the second son the gold-ass as a reward.

## Key lines

> Out of the sack, Cudgel! Instantly the little cudgel came forth, and fell on the innkeeper and gave him a sound thrashing.

The turner commands the cudgel to emerge from the sack, and it beats the innkeeper severely.

_The cudgel is used to punish the thief and recover the stolen items._

> If I say, 'Out of the sack, Cudgel!' the cudgel springs out and leads anyone who means ill with me a weary dance, and never stops until he lies on the ground and prays for fair weather.

The turner explains that the cudgel attacks anyone who intends harm until they beg for mercy.

_The cudgel serves as a tool of justice against wrongdoers._

> The tailor locked away needle and thread, yard-measure and goose, in a press, and lived with his three sons in joy and splendour.

The tailor gives up his trade and enjoys a wealthy life with his sons.

_The family's fortune is restored through the sons' magical gifts._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/household_tales_se/chapters/the-wishing-table-the-gold-ass-and-the-cudgel-in-the-sack
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/household_tales_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/household_tales_se/chapters