A long lost boy. a deathly stake. robbery. attempted slaying. and much misrepresentation all contribute to the temptingness of the Grimm Brother’s folk tale. “The Master-Thief” . While the folktale entreaties to the human romanticism of offense. specifically of first-class felons. the basic narrative carries ethical motives and a concealed awareness of human perceptual experience that non ever does good surpass immoralities.
“The Master-Thief” furuncles down to a narrative of trials. A peasant husbandman meets a comfortable gentleman and shortly discovers the gentleman to be his long lost boy. But the gentleman went from poorness to wealths through being a stealer. The male parent sends the boy to the local Godhead. because he fears for his son’s safety. The stealer goes in order to guarantee that he will non be caught and hanged. but instead can face the Godhead while still holding the possibility of guaranting his ain life. The Godhead outlines a trial for the thief’s accomplishment. First. the stealer must steal the lord’s Equus caballus from the guarded stable. Second. he must steal the lord’s bed sheets and marrying ring. and eventually he must steal the curate and the clerk from the church. The stealer successfully completes his undertakings and avoids holding his cervix stretched but still ends up banished from the lord’s lands.
The mere sum-up of “The Master-Thief” can non show the lesson of the narrative every bit clearly as the Grimm brothers themselves did so. The moral of “The Master-Thief” is that even the most first-class felon who can back up themselves through their trade. in the lap of luxury. will stop up entirely. deserted and near decease at all times. Possibly the greater moral may be one of money non being felicity. but the narrative itself communicates the former lesson more clearly so the later. Indeed. the Grimm brother’s describe the stealer in the beginning of the narrative as ‘a richly-dressed man’ who has ‘a glorious carriage’ . Indeed. the provincial male parent confuses the stealer for a duke or a count. since the stealer has so many epicurean things. Besides. the stealer is first-class at his trade. He is able to finish the Local lord’s three extremely hard undertaking through craft. But even with his wealth and accomplishment. the stealer is non to hold felicity nor a simple life.
The master-thief. despite money and accomplishment is far from holding a ‘good’ life. During the 2nd challenge. the stealer is about killed by a slug from the local Godhead. and throughout the stealer must work with the thought that failure equates to a trip to the gallows. The stealer takes pleasance merely from finishing his hard undertakings. and about being killed in the procedure. But the ultimate statement of how wealth and skill do non be a good life is in the last line of “the Master-Thief” . Although the stealer has escaped holding his cervix stretched. and has completed the 3 most hard undertakings of larceny which could be imagined. still “the arch-thief took leave of his parents. one time more went away into the broad universe. and no 1 has of all time heard of him since. ” The stealer leaves the country entirely. and for all his accomplishment and wealth. remains unidentified and unknown. every bit good as. finally. a roamer. The moral of the narrative ends up being that even though the adult male has money and is extremely skilled. these things do non compare to happiness since they are used for an immoral intent.
Neither the sum-up of “The Master-Thief” . nor a treatment of the lesson of the narrative could explicate the uneven return of the figure 3 within the narrative. The figure 3 appears foremost in the figure of major characters. second in the figure of trials. and 3rd. in random other topographic points. where it is less obvious. but still present. The first group of 3 is in the chief characters of the narrative. First is the stealer himself. Second. is the male parent of the stealer who appears in the beginning of the narrative in order to assist direct his boy. Third is the local Godhead. a count. who gives the stealer his trials and besides is the 1 to endanger the gallows. The 2nd group of 3 is in the trials themselves. which are given as 3 separate trials. each of which must be completed by the Master-thief.
The narrative. “the Master-thief” has other happenings of the figure 3. most in the oddest of topographic points. For case. to finish the first undertaking. stealing the lord’s Equus caballus. the stealer “bought the apparels of an old provincial woman… stained his face brown… filled a little cask with old Hungary wine…” He does precisely three things in readying. During the first undertaking he must set some soldiers to kip. Inside the stable. there are three soldiers. During the 2nd undertaking. he brings a ladder. a lantern and a dead organic structure to his work. Again. three things used in readying. For the last undertaking. the thief brings “… a long sack… a bundle… and a lantern. ” Once more. three pieces in readying. Besides during the last undertaking. the stealer dresses as a monastic. and is trying to capture a curate of the church. and a clerk of the church. Therefore. three church-related characters are at that place during the last undertaking. Even the rubric contains precisely three words. While these other three’s seem more random so planned. their being helps to pull a stronger correlativity between the narrative and the figure three.
“The Master-Thief” is many things. It is an interesting narrative. a narrative that contains a strong moral. and a solid nexus between the Grimm brothers and the usage of the figure three in their narratives. In this. “The Master-Thief” makes itself a premier illustration of a good folk tale by the brother’s Grimm and an interesting device for the communicating of a point.
