# Simpleton — Household Tales character guide

> Simpleton in Household Tales by Jacob Grimm.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** the Simpleton

**First appearance:** 0000-the-frog-king-or-iron-henry

## Snapshot

The ragged youngest son who sleeps in the goose-house while his brothers mock him, yet serves a tabby-cat seven years and wins a princess.

## Who they are

Hans is the drudge of the mill, fed scraps and denied a bed while his brothers bring home blind horses and lame ones. His patience and quiet service to a strange cat go unnoticed by everyone but the reader, and the tale's whole moral hinges on whether such unnoticed faithfulness can outlast mockery. When the princess arrives asking for the miller's boy, the story's early contempt suddenly reverses.

## In the story

### [The Queen Bee](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/household_tales_se/chapters/the-queen-bee)

The youngest brother, kind-hearted and simple, who saves the ants, ducks, and bees, and completes the three tasks with their help.

### [The Three Feathers](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/household_tales_se/chapters/the-three-feathers)

The youngest son, considered simple by his brothers, but succeeds in all three contests with the help of a magical toad.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/household_tales_se/characters/simpleton
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/household_tales_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/household_tales_se/characters