The Adventurous Simplicissimus · Chapter
XI: Discourseth of Foods, Household Stuff, and Other Necessary Concerns, Which Folk Must Have in This Earthly Life explained
The hermit and Simplicissimus live in the woods for about two years until the hermit's death, subsisting on vegetables, wild fruits, birds, snails, frogs, fish, and a fattened wild pig.
What happens
The hermit and Simplicissimus live in the woods for about two years until the hermit's death, subsisting on vegetables, wild fruits, birds, snails, frogs, fish, and a fattened wild pig. Their household goods are minimal—a borrowed iron pot, old knives, and no utensils or furniture. They attend church secretly on Sundays, and on workdays they garden, gather mould, weave baskets, fish, and chop wood. The hermit instructs Simplicissimus in prayer, work, and knowledge of God, but the boy remains simple and naive.
Themes in this chapter
Innocence and Experience
Simplicissimus remains innocent and simple despite learning religious doctrine, highlighting the gap between spiritual knowledge and worldly experience.
Religion and Morality
The hermit's teachings center on constant prayer and work as the path to God, and he justifies eating the pig as God's creation for human use.
Characters to notice
- Simplicissimus
Lives with the hermit for two years, learning to endure hardship and receiving religious instruction, yet remains a simple lad.
- The Hermit
Teaches Simplicissimus through example and instruction, emphasizing prayer and work as sufficient for a Christian; dies after two years.
Key passages
“Once on a time did we catch a young wild pig, and this we penned in a stall, and did feed him with acorns and beechnuts, so fatted him and at last did eat him; for my hermit knew it could be no sin to eat that which God hath created to such end for the whole human race.”
We once caught a wild piglet, fattened it on acorns and beechnuts, and eventually ate it, as the hermit believed it was no sin to consume what God made for humanity.
Illustrates the hermit's practical theology and the simplicity of their diet.
“And indeed my faithful hermit would have me know no more, for he held it was enough for any Christian to attain his end and aim, if he did but constantly pray and work: so it came about that, though I was pretty well instructed in ghostly matters, and knew my Christian belief well enough, and could speak the German language as well as a talking spelling-book, yet I remained the most simple lad in the world.”
The hermit believed that constant prayer and work were all a Christian needed, so although I learned religious doctrine and German, I remained utterly naive.
Highlights the theme of innocence versus experience and the limitations of the hermit's education.