Herr Korbes: A Strange and Deadly Grimm Tale

Herr Korbes is a German animal tale collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. It follows a rooster and a hen travelling together in a little carriage drawn by four mice. Along the way, they gather an unusual collection of passengers, including a cat, a millstone, an egg, a duck, a pin and a needle. Their journey ends at the home of Herr Korbes, where a series of strange events leads to an unexpected and violent conclusion.

The Rooster and the Hen Begin Their Journey

Once upon a time, a rooster and a hen decided to take a journey together.

The rooster set about preparing a carriage for their adventure. He built a beautiful little wagon with four red wheels and harnessed four mice to pull it.

When everything was ready, the hen climbed into the carriage beside the rooster. The four mice began pulling the wagon, and the unusual travellers set off.

As they moved along the road, the rooster took pride in his fine little carriage. He wanted the journey to proceed smoothly, and he was careful to protect his bright red wheels from dirt.

Before long, they met a cat.

The cat was curious about their destination and asked where they were going.

The rooster answered that they were travelling to the house of Herr Korbes.

The cat asked whether it could join them.

The rooster readily agreed, inviting the cat to climb into the carriage. However, he warned the newcomer to sit at the back so that it would not fall off the front. He also reminded the cat not to dirty the little red wheels.

Then he called out to the wheels and the mice, encouraging them to continue along the road.

The carriage rolled forward, carrying its growing company towards the house of Herr Korbes.

More Unusual Passengers Join Them

The journey continued, and the travellers soon encountered another unusual passenger: a millstone.

Instead of travelling alone, the millstone joined the group and took its place with the others.

After the millstone came an egg. The egg also climbed aboard the little carriage.

Next, they met a duck, which joined the journey. A pin followed, and finally, a sewing needle became part of the strange company.

The carriage now carried an extraordinary collection of passengers. Alongside the rooster and the hen were the cat, the millstone, the egg, the duck, the pin and the needle, while the four mice continued pulling the wagon.

Each passenger was different from the others. Some were living creatures, while others were ordinary objects that had somehow become travellers.

Nevertheless, they all continued towards the same destination.

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The rooster and the hen had begun their journey as two companions, but by the time they reached the end of the road, they were travelling with a company no ordinary carriage would be expected to carry.

Arrival at Herr Korbes’s House

Eventually, the travellers arrived at the house of Herr Korbes.

However, Herr Korbes was not at home.

The mice pulled the carriage into the barn, while the rooster and the hen flew up onto a perch. The cat settled beside the hearth, and the duck positioned itself on the pole above the well.

The egg rolled itself into a towel. The pin hid itself in the cushion of a chair, while the sewing needle jumped onto the bed and positioned itself in the middle of the pillow.

The millstone took up a position above the doorway.

Each passenger found a place to wait.

The house was quiet, and Herr Korbes had not yet returned. Nothing happened immediately, but the unusual visitors were already positioned throughout the building.

The rooster and the hen remained on their perch. The cat stayed by the hearth, the duck waited near the well, and the other objects remained hidden in their chosen places.

Before long, Herr Korbes finally returned home.

He entered the house without knowing that an extraordinary group of visitors had arrived before him.

A Series of Strange Misfortunes

Herr Korbes went to the hearth and prepared to light a fire.

As he approached, the cat suddenly threw a quantity of ashes into his face.

Startled and covered in ashes, Herr Korbes hurried into the kitchen to wash himself.

When he reached the water, the duck splashed water into his face.

He then looked for a towel so that he could dry himself. However, the egg rolled towards him, broke and covered his eyes with its contents.

Unable to see properly, Herr Korbes became increasingly angry.

He decided to sit down and recover from the succession of unpleasant surprises. But when he lowered himself into the chair, the hidden pin pricked him.

The pain made him even more furious.

He left the chair and threw himself onto his bed, hoping to find some relief. Unfortunately, the sewing needle was waiting in the middle of the pillow.

As soon as he laid his head down, the needle pricked him.

Herr Korbes cried out in pain.

By this point, he had suffered one unpleasant surprise after another. The ashes had covered his face, the duck had splashed water on him, the egg had obstructed his eyes, and the pin and needle had injured him.

He could no longer bear what was happening inside his own home.

The Final Surprise at the Door

Furious and desperate to escape the strange series of misfortunes, Herr Korbes sprang from the bed.

He decided to leave the house and get away from whatever was causing him so much trouble.

He hurried towards the door, intending to escape into the open world.

However, the final passenger was waiting above the doorway.

As Herr Korbes reached the house door, the millstone suddenly leapt down and struck him dead.

His journey through the house had ended in a terrible way. The rooster, the hen and their companions had arrived before him, taken up their positions and subjected him to a succession of strange attacks.

The tale closes with the grim observation that Herr Korbes must have been a very wicked man.

The story does not explain exactly what he had done to deserve such a fate. Instead, it leaves readers with that final remark after describing the extraordinary events inside his house.

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Moral Lesson

Herr Korbes is a dark, comic folk tale rather than a straightforward lesson about good behaviour. Its final remark suggests that Herr Korbes must have been wicked, but the story never explains his supposed wrongdoing. Readers should therefore recognise the ending as part of the tale’s strange humour rather than treat it as proof that every misfortune is deserved.

Knowledge Check

1. Who began the journey at the start of the story?

A rooster and a hen began the journey together.

2. How was the carriage pulled?

Four mice were harnessed to the carriage and pulled it along the road.

3. Which passengers joined the rooster and hen?

A cat, a millstone, an egg, a duck, a pin and a sewing needle joined them.

4. What happened when Herr Korbes tried to light the fire?

The cat threw ashes into his face.

5. How did the pin and needle trouble Herr Korbes?

The pin pricked him when he sat on the chair, and the needle pricked him when he laid his head on the pillow.

6. What happened to Herr Korbes at the end of the tale?