There was a man with three sons, and the youngest was called Simpleton. He was always looked down upon, mocked, and laughed at. One day, the oldest son wanted to go into the forest to cut wood. Before he left, his mother gave him a delicious cake and a bottle of wine so he wouldn't go hungry or thirsty.

In the forest, he met a little old man with gray hair who greeted him and said, "Please give me a piece of cake from your pocket and a sip of your wine; I'm so hungry and thirsty." But the clever son replied, "If I give you my cake and wine, I won't have any for myself. Go away," and he left the old man standing there and went on. But when he started chopping down a tree, he soon made a wrong swing, and the axe cut his arm, so he had to go home and get it bandaged. This was the little gray man's doing.

After that, the second son went into the forest, and his mother gave him a cake and a bottle of wine just like the oldest. The little old gray man met him too and asked for a piece of cake and a drink of wine. But the second son also said sensibly, "What I give you will be taken away from me; go away!" and he left the old man standing and went on. His punishment came quickly; after a few swings at the tree, he struck his leg, so he had to be carried home.

Then Simpleton said, "Father, please let me go and cut wood." The father replied, "Your brothers have hurt themselves doing it, leave it alone, you don't know anything about it." But Simpleton begged for so long that finally, his father said, "Just go then, you'll learn by getting hurt." His mother gave him a cake made with water and baked in the ashes, along with a bottle of sour beer.