The Little Peasant facts for kids

The Little Peasant is a classic German fairy tale collected by the famous Brothers Grimm. You can find it in their well-known book, Grimms' Fairy Tales, as story number 61. It's a tale about a clever poor person who outsmarts richer, greedy people.

This story is similar to other folk tales from around the world. For example, it shares ideas with Big Peter and Little Peter from Norway and Little Claus and Big Claus by Hans Christian Andersen. These stories often show how someone with little can become successful using their wits.

The Clever Peasant's Story

Once upon a time, there was a very poor peasant and his wife. They didn't even own a cow. To try and get one, they had a woodworker make a calf out of wood. They took this wooden calf to the pasture with the other cows.

When the cowherd brought the cows back, the wooden calf was gone! The peasant said the cowherd was careless and took him to court. The judge made the cowherd give the peasant a real cow as a replacement.

A Tricky Plan

The peasant and his wife now had a cow, but they had nothing to feed it. So, they had to kill it. The peasant decided to take the cow's hide (its skin) to town to sell. On his way, he found a raven with broken wings. He carefully wrapped the bird in the cowhide.

The weather turned bad, so the peasant found shelter in a mill. The miller's wife gave him some bread and cheese. Soon, a parson (a church leader) arrived. Since her husband was away, the wife and the parson started to enjoy a big meal together.

Suddenly, the miller (her husband) came home! The wife quickly hid the parson and all the food. The clever peasant saw what happened.

The "Soothsayer" Hide

The peasant then pretended that the cowhide he carried was a special "soothsayer" – something that could tell the future. He made the raven inside the hide croak. He told the miller that the hide could reveal secrets.

First, the peasant "told" the miller where the hidden food was. The miller was amazed! After they all ate the hidden food, the peasant then "revealed" that something bad was hiding where the parson was. The parson got scared and ran away!

The miller was so impressed by the peasant's "magic" hide that he gave him 300 thalers (an old type of money). Now, the peasant was rich!

A New Challenge

Because the peasant was suddenly rich, the mayor called him in to ask how he got his money. The peasant simply said he sold his cowhide.

The other villagers, being greedy, thought they could get rich too. They killed their own cows and tried to sell the hides. But they didn't get much money at all! They were very angry with the peasant.

They decided to punish him by rolling him into the river in a barrel full of holes. As they were about to do it, a shepherd came by. The peasant, being clever, shouted that he wouldn't do it! He pretended they were trying to force him to become mayor, and he didn't want the job.

The shepherd, thinking he would become mayor, agreed to switch places with the peasant. The peasant quickly took the shepherd's sheep and left. The villagers then rolled the barrel with the shepherd inside into the river, thinking it was the peasant.

Later, the villagers saw the peasant with a large flock of sheep. They asked him where he got them. The peasant calmly said he found them in the river! Believing him, everyone jumped into the river to find sheep, but they all drowned. The peasant was the only one left, and he became very, very rich.

Other Versions of the Story

The story of "The Little Peasant" has inspired other creative works. For example, a writer named Anne Sexton wrote a poem called "The Little Peasant" in her book Transformations (1971). In this book, she retells sixteen of the Grimm's Fairy Tales in her own unique way.