"The Devoted Friend"
Hans is a gardener, the devoted friend of a rich miller. On the basis of this friendship, the miller helps himself to flowers from Hans' garden, and promises to give Hans an old, broken wheelbarrow, to replace one that Hans was forced to sell so that he could buy food. Against this promise, the miller compels Hans to run a series of arduous errands for him; one stormy night, the miller asks Hans to fetch a doctor for his sick son. Returning from the doctor, Hans is lost on the moors in the storm, and drowns in a pool of water. After Hans' funeral, the miller's only emotion is regret, as he has been unable to dispose of the wheelbarrow.
The story is told by a linnet to an intellectual water-rat, who fancies himself a literary critic; the water-rat is sympathetic to the miller rather than Hans, and storms off on being informed that the story has a moral.
Read more about this topic: The Happy Prince And Other Tales
Famous quotes containing the words devoted and/or friend:
“A critic, after a life devoted to spoiling the pleasure of others, was astonished to find himself in eternal hellfire. “Judge not, lest ye be Judged,” giggled a passing fiend, and all Hades rocked with laughter at this wit. Moral: When you have all Eternity to get through, it is a blessing to be among those who are easily amused.”
—Stan Washburn (b. 1943)
“My Friend is not of some other race or family of men, but flesh of my flesh, bone of my bone. He is my real brother.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)