Hans in Luck by Brothers Grimm [PDF]

Information: Hans in Luck

• Author: Brothers Grimm
• Publication Date: 1819
• Main Characters:
  • Hans: A young servant who has worked seven years for his master. Cheerful and easily convinced, he trades away his wages through a chain of swaps and ends the story with nothing but total happiness.
  • The Horseman: The first person Hans meets on the road. He trades his horse for Hans's heavy lump of silver, setting the chain of exchanges in motion.
  • The Shepherd: A farmer with a cow who trades it to Hans for the horse, convincing him a cow is far more practical for daily life.
  • The Butcher: Trades his pig for Hans's cow, warning that the cow might be stolen property and persuading Hans that a pig is a safer bet.
  • The Scissor-Grinder: The final trader, who exchanges a common grindstone for Hans's goose, promising that grinding scissors is the path to endless coins.
• Brief Summary: After serving his master faithfully for seven years, Hans receives a large lump of silver as payment and sets off for home. Along the way, he meets a series of travelers and trades his silver for a horse, the horse for a cow, the cow for a pig, the pig for a goose, and the goose for a grindstone. Each time, Hans believes he has made a brilliant deal because he solves his immediate discomfort. When the heavy grindstone falls into a well, Hans rejoices at being free of all burdens and arrives home with nothing but pure happiness.
• Thematic Analysis: The tale explores the tension between material wealth and personal contentment. Hans represents a radical form of happiness that does not depend on accumulating possessions, raising the question of whether his trades are foolish or deeply wise. The Grimms also weave in themes of labor, freedom, and the social pressure to value things over peace of mind.
• Historical Context: "Hans in Luck" was included in the second edition of the Brothers Grimm's *Kinder- und Hausmarchen* in 1819, drawing on a version by Friedrich August Wernicke published in 1818. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were part of a broader Romantic-era movement to preserve Germanic folk traditions, and this tale, classified as ATU 1415 in the Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index, belongs to a long European tradition of "foolish bargain" stories.