Grimms' Fairy Tales THE MISER IN THE BUSH Summary

Summary

A faithful servant who has worked unpaid for three years asks his miserly employer for wages and receives only threepence. Believing himself wealthy, the servant leaves to seek his fortune. On the road a little dwarf begs his small sum; moved by pity he gives it away and the dwarf rewards his kindness with three gifts: a bow that brings down whatever he shoots at, a fiddle that makes people dance to his music, and the power that everyone must grant his requests.

Soon after, the servant encounters an old miser who longs for a thrush in a tree. The servant uses his bow to bring the bird down, luring the miser into the bush; then he plays his fiddle and forces the miser to dance until his clothes are torn and he promises increasing sums for release. The miser finally offers a hundred florins, and the servant accepts. Seeking revenge for being roped into this trick, the miser accuses the servant before a judge, who sentences the servant to death. The servant asks to play his fiddle one last time; bound by the dwarf’s gift that everyone must grant his asks, he performs and makes the judge, officials, jailer, hangman, and assembled crowd dance uncontrollably. The judge relents, returns the hundred florins, and, under the music’s compulsion, the miser confesses that he had stolen the money; the servant stops playing and leaves the miser to his fate.

Key events

1. Servant receives only threepence after three years' service and leaves.
2. Servant gives the threepence to a begging dwarf and receives three magical gifts.
3. Servant shoots a thrush for a miser and forces the miser to dance with the fiddle until he pays 100 florins.
4. Miser accuses servant before a judge; servant is condemned to death.
5. Servant plays the fiddle at the gallows, making the court and crowd dance and forcing the miser to confess.

Analysis

This tale operates as a compact morality fable that rewards kindness and punishes greed through ironic reversals and magical justice. The protagonist’s simple generosity (giving up the threepence) leads directly to empowerment; the dwarf’s gifts function as proportional instruments of poetic justice rather than as wish-fulfillment fantasy. The bow and fiddle mirror two sides of social power: the bow achieves subtle, instrumental ends (bringing down the thrush), while the fiddle exposes and regulates communal behavior by literally forcing bodies to act against will. The fiddling scene in court stages social institutions—judge, clerks, hangman—as vulnerable to the same human follies they are meant to regulate, undermining official authority and restoring moral order through public confession.

Narratively, the tale relies on accumulation and escalation: small kindness → magical reward → trick → revenge → courtroom climax. The concise third-person narration uses direct speech to reveal character and motive, and the dwarf’s triple-gift motif echoes fairy-tale economy (threefold repetition) that structures expectation and delivers the payoff. Symbolically, the bush hides both danger and exposure: it conceals the thrush and entraps the miser, then becomes the site of his humiliation. The story emphasizes fairness over legalism: formal judgment initially fails, and supernatural compulsion substitutes for a just process, culminating in a confession that reconciles moral balance without legal technicalities.

Important quotes

“I have worked hard for you a long time, I will trust to you to give me what I deserve to have for my trouble.”

his servantThe servant asks his miserly employer for fair wages after three years of unpaid labor, which triggers the story's events.

“As you have such a kind honest heart, I will grant you three wishes—one for every penny; so choose whatever you like.”

a little dwarfThe dwarf rewards the servant's pity with three magical gifts that structure the tale's plot and resolution.

“'I stole it,' said the miser in the presence of all the people; 'I acknowledge that I stole it, and that you earned it fairly.'”

the miserUnder the compulsion of the fiddle's music, the miser publicly confesses his theft, restoring moral balance.

Characters in THE MISER IN THE BUSH

• A farmer
• his servant
• a little dwarf
• an old miser
• a thrush
• the judge
• officers
• the jailer
• the hangman
• people