XXIII: How Ulrich Herzbruder Sold Himself for a Hundred Ducats explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Greed and Money

  Simplicissimus's hidden ducats become the means to buy Herzbruder's freedom, highlighting the power of money to alter fate.

• Folly and Wisdom

  Simplicissimus, thought a fool, shows wisdom and generosity, while Oliver's cunning is revealed as wicked folly.

• Deception and Appearance

  Oliver's deceit leads to Herzbruder's disgrace, and Simplicissimus's apparent foolishness hides his true resourcefulness.

Characters to notice

• Ulrich Herzbruder

  Young Herzbruder is disgraced, stripped of his office, and wishes for death; he is freed with Simplicissimus's money and enlists in the Swedish army.

• Simplicissimus

  Simplicissimus provides a hundred ducats from his hidden stash to help Herzbruder buy his freedom, refusing repayment.

• Oliver

  Oliver is identified as the one who laid a trap for Herzbruder through the provost, but no direct action is taken against him.

• The Provost Marshal

  The provost is mentioned as the instrument of Oliver's plot against Herzbruder.

Key passages

• “Now as soon as young Herzbruder’s captain heard this story he took from him his office and made a pikeman of him; from which time forward he was so despised that any dog might bark at him, and he himself wished for death;”

  Upon hearing the story, the captain demoted young Herzbruder to a pikeman, causing him to be utterly scorned and to desire death.

  Herzbruder's disgrace and despair after the captain's action.

• “I then first remembered my ducats that I had sewn up in my ass’s ears, and so asked how much money they wanted in their need.”

  I recalled the ducats sewn into my donkey's ears and asked how much money they needed.

  Simplicissimus remembers his hidden treasure.

• “But young Herzbruder bought his freedom for thirty-six thalers (for which his captain gave him an honourable discharge), and betook himself with the rest of the money, a good opportunity offering, to Hamburg, and there equipped himself with two horses and enlisted in the Swedish army as a volunteer trooper, commending his father to me in the meanwhile.”

  Herzbruder purchased his freedom for thirty-six thalers, received an honorable discharge, and used the remaining money to equip himself as a volunteer trooper in the Swedish army, entrusting his father to Simplicissimus.

  Herzbruder's new start in the Swedish army.