Arca: Difference between revisions
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|Has Critical Literature=Nishimura (2001); Rajna (1880) | |||
|Has Summary='''The Chest of Stones''' | |||
A father settles all his riches on his son, and the son soon stops caring for the father, who is left miserable and impoverished. The father goes to speak to a friend of his, bemoaning his fate, and the friend suggests that he borrow some of his money, and trick his son into believing that he is still in possession of a fortune. The old man does so, dressing himself in fine clothes and ostentatiously counting bag upon bag of florins in clear view of the household. Knowing he is being observed, he places the bags of gold into a chest or safe, and locks it. The attitude of his son and the rest of the household changes immediately. They treat him with respect, welcome him to their table, and give him the choicest cuts of meat. Unbeknownst to them, the old man returns the gold to his friend and replaces the sacks, one by one, with stones, so that when his son sneaks into his chambers and shakes the chest, it is still heavy with supposed treasure. Inside the chest he also places a mallet or mace inscribed with a message: whoever finds this mallet must reveal what he has discovered. After a comfortable few years, the old man at last dies, and straightaway the son hurries to the chest, expecting great riches - only to find stones, and the mace. He is ashamed of his behaviour. | |||
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Revision as of 10:08, 19 November 2025
The Chest of Stones
A father settles all his riches on his son, and the son soon stops caring for the father, who is left miserable and impoverished. The father goes to speak to a friend of his, bemoaning his fate, and the friend suggests that he borrow some of his money, and trick his son into believing that he is still in possession of a fortune. The old man does so, dressing himself in fine clothes and ostentatiously counting bag upon bag of florins in clear view of the household. Knowing he is being observed, he places the bags of gold into a chest or safe, and locks it. The attitude of his son and the rest of the household changes immediately. They treat him with respect, welcome him to their table, and give him the choicest cuts of meat. Unbeknownst to them, the old man returns the gold to his friend and replaces the sacks, one by one, with stones, so that when his son sneaks into his chambers and shakes the chest, it is still heavy with supposed treasure. Inside the chest he also places a mallet or mace inscribed with a message: whoever finds this mallet must reveal what he has discovered. After a comfortable few years, the old man at last dies, and straightaway the son hurries to the chest, expecting great riches - only to find stones, and the mace. He is ashamed of his behaviour.
| Critical Literature |
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| Nishimura (2001), Rajna (1880) |
| Arca appears in the following versions and secondary versions |
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| Arca is narrated in the following occurrences | ||||
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| Arca appears in the following manuscripts |
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| This inset story appears in no manuscripts of the database |