Lazy Henry facts for kids

Lazy Henry (sometimes called Lazy Heinz) is a classic German fairy tale. It was collected by the famous Brothers Grimm and can be found in their well-known book, Grimm's Fairy Tales, as story number 164. This tale first appeared in the third edition of their collection.

This story is known as Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index type 1430. This type of story is often called "Air Castles," which means it's about people who spend too much time dreaming about future wealth or success without actually working for it.

What Happens in the Story?

The main character, Henry, was incredibly lazy. His only job was to take his goat to the pasture and bring it back home. Even this simple task was too much effort for him!

Henry decided to marry a woman named Fat Trina. He hoped she would take care of both his goat and her own. Trina was also quite clever. She suggested they trade their goats for a beehive. A beehive, she reasoned, would not need constant looking after.

They managed to gather a pitcher full of honey from their new beehive. As they looked at the honey, they started to talk about their future. They wondered if they should get a gosling, which is a baby goose.

Trina thought that if they had a gosling, they would need a child to look after it. But Henry quickly disagreed. He complained that children, just like servants, often do not obey.

This argument made Trina very angry. She picked up a stick, intending to hit Henry. Instead, she accidentally hit and broke the pitcher of honey! The honey spilled everywhere.

After the mess, they both agreed on one thing. Now that the honey was gone, they wouldn't need to get a goose after all. This way, they wouldn't have to look after it.

Connections to Other Tales

The character of Henry in this story mentions a complaint about servants. This part of the tale refers to another one of the Brothers Grimm's stories. It is called The Wise Servant, which is Grimm tale number 162.