Grimms' Fairy Tales, Part 27 summary

What happens

1. An old man struggles to eat because his hands tremble, and his son and daughter-in-law make him sit behind the stove.
2. They give him too little food in an earthenware bowl, which he drops and breaks.
3. After the daughter-in-law scolds him, they buy him a wooden bowl.
4. Their four-year-old child gathers wood to make a trough for his parents to use when he grows up.
5. The parents cry, bring the grandfather back to their table, and stop complaining about his spills.

What to notice

The ending shows a practical change in the parents' behavior. They accept the grandfather's difficulty instead of punishing him for it.

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