The Devoted Friend Summary.

The Devoted Friend Summary.

“The Devoted Friend” is a fairytale.

Operates as a story within a story. 

In the frame story,

 a Linnet, 

a Duck, 

and a Water-rat,

They are all gathered around a pond.

the devoted friend by oscar wilde adapted by Marek veet.

One morning the old rat put his head out of this hole little ducks were swimming in the pond and their mother was trying to teach them to stand on their heads in the water the little ducks did not pay any attention to her,

'they're such bad children 

the rat said they deserve to be drowned nothing of the kind the duck answered they are still little and parents must be patient oh I don't know anything about the feelings of parents said the rat I'm not a family man I've never been married and I don't ever want to be love is fine but friendship is much better I know nothing in this world that is higher than devoted friendship and what should a devoted friend do asked a small green bird sitting in a willow tree who overheard the conversation yes I want to know it too said the duck what a silly question said the rat I would expect a devoted friend to be devoted to me of course and what would you do in return ask the bird, I do not understand you answered. 

the story,   

I will listen to it I like fiction very much.

I will tell you a story to explain it said the bird is the story about me ask the rat if it is I will listen to it I like fiction very much and the bird told the story of a devoted friend once upon a time.

The inside story, told by Lynette, depicts the relationship between a poor, innocent farmer named Hans and a wealthy merchant named Miller. At the beginning of the story, the reader learns that Miller claims to be Hans' sincere friend, and constantly takes flowers from Hans's garden and fills his bag. 

Miller chooses to sit comfortably when Hanna faces a lot of trouble.

I don't want to lose my friend.

When winter sets in, Hanna faces a lot of trouble as her only source of income is an enclosed garden, Hans suffers a lot and sells various personal belongings for bread,

Friendship in its place, flour in its place

 , and in winter Hans faces too many hard times. Miller does not go to meet him, 

Miller chooses to sit comfortably in his home with his wife and son. Miller's son said they invite him to their home in the winter.

I will never bring my friend to my house, 

he will become jealous of me after seeing my comfort.

Miller visits Hans again and begins to exploit Hans in various ways.

When spring comes, Miller visits Hans again and begins to exploit Hans in various ways. Although Miller claims that he will very generously give Hans his wheelbarrow, he admits that the wheelbarrow is extremely damaged, and the reader never actually sees this wheelbarrow pass into Hans’s hands. When Hans exclaims that he has a single piece of wood he could use to repair said wheelbarrow, Miller selfishly takes the wood for himself, declaring that it was just the thing he’s been needing to patch his roof.

The Devoted Friend Summary.

Hans is prevented from tending his garden. 

Later, Miller convinces Hans to carry a sack of flour to the market, mend his barn roof, and drive his sheep to the mountain. 

All the while, Miller espouses beautiful, wise-sounding things about the nature of friendship and generosity, and Han writes him in his diary. During this period of working for the Miller, Hans is prevented from tending his garden. Hans simply consoles himself with “the reflection that the Miller was his best friend,” and continues to work away for the Miller.

During a stormy night, he "Had to pay the price for his friendship ".

One night, during a storm, the Miller visits Hans and tells him to fetch the doctor, as the Miller’s son hurt himself falling from a ladder. Hans asks if he can borrow Miller’s lantern to guide the way in the darkness, but Miller refuses, citing that the lantern is new. Hans sets off in the dark and successfully reaches the doctor. Unfortunately, Hans gets lost on the moor on the way back, as he has no light to guide him. He falls into a deep hole and drowns. His body is found the next day by some passing goatherds.

“One certainly suffers for being generous!”

After Hans’s body is brought back to the village, the villagers hold a funeral. As the chief mourner, the Miller laments that he has no one to give his broken wheelbarrow now that Hans is dead, and that he wouldn’t get a cent for it if he tried to sell it. 

Declaring that he will never “give away anything again,” Miller exclaims that “One certainly suffers for being generous!”

Moral 

No remorse for own actions.

The Water-rat did not understand the moral of the story. 

After a pause, the Water-rat asks what became of the Miller, and the Linnet responds that the Water-rat did not understand the moral of the story. The Water-rat is horrified the story had a moral at all and dives back into his hole. A few minutes later, Linnet tells the Duck that the Water-rat ran off because he told him a story with a moral. 

Telling a story with a moral “is always a very dangerous thing to do.”

The Duck is understanding and affirms that telling a story with a moral “is always a very dangerous thing to do.” The narrator has the final word, adding, “And I quite agree with her.”

The Devoted Friend Summary.