The Old Man and his Grandson

"The Old Man and his Grandson" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales as tale number 78.^[1]

The Old Man (grandson not present)

It is Aarne-Thompson type 980B, The Wooden Bowl.^[2]

Synopsis[]

A man whose hands shook with the tremors of old age could not eat neatly and often spilled his soup, so his son and daughter-in-law barred him from their table and made him eat by the stove.

When he broke the fine stoneware bowl from which he had been eating, they bought him a wooden bowl that could not break. His four-year-old grandson played with wood as well and said that he was making a trough for his parents to eat from when they were old. After that, they let him eat at the table again and did not complain about the spill.

Elements[]

The bowl was described as costing a few heller.^[3]

Variants[]

Other tales of this type vary on the exact offense that the grandson declares he will commit and the son thereafter refrains from: making his father sleep under half a blanket in the stables, bringing back the carrier so he can carry his father to abandon him, or commit murder.^[4] In medieval Europe, the son was commonly sent for a blanket and came back with half, justifying it by saying the other half is saved for his father.^[5] In an Asian version, the father weaves a basket to throw his aged father into the river. A son says to bring back the basket so that it can be used for the father one day.^[6]

References[]

^ Jacob and Wilheim Grimm, Household Tales, "The Old Man and his Grandson"
^ D. L. Ashliman, "The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales (Grimms' Fairy Tales)"
^ D. L. Ashliman, "The Old Grandfather and His Grandson"
^ D. L. Ashliman, "Old Grandfathers and Their Grandsons: folktales of Aarne-Thompson type 980, 980A, and 980B about old people who are saved by their grandsons
^ Barbara A. Hanawalt, The Ties That Bound: Peasant Families in Medieval England p. 227 ISBN 0-19-504564-5
^ "Of No Bowl Intent". Snopes. 11 March 2007. Retrieved 11 June 2013.

[1] Jacob and Wilheim Grimm, Household Tales, "The Old Man and his Grandson"

[2] D. L. Ashliman, "The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales (Grimms' Fairy Tales)"

[3] D. L. Ashliman, "The Old Grandfather and His Grandson"

[4] D. L. Ashliman, "Old Grandfathers and Their Grandsons: folktales of Aarne-Thompson type 980, 980A, and 980B about old people who are saved by their grandsons

[5] Barbara A. Hanawalt, The Ties That Bound: Peasant Families in Medieval England p. 227 ISBN 0-19-504564-5

[6] "Of No Bowl Intent". Snopes. 11 March 2007. Retrieved 11 June 2013.

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v t The Brothers Grimm
Jacob Grimm · Wilhelm Grimm
Works	Grimms' Fairy Tales Deutsche Sagen Deutsche Mythologie
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