"The Old Man and His Grandson" - The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm

There was once a very old Man, so old that his eyes had become dim, and his limbs trembled.

When he sat at table his hands shook so that he could hardly hold his spoon, and sometimes he spilt soup on the tablecloth. This vexed his son and daughter-in-law, and they would no longer let him have a place at the table, but made him sit in a corner by the stove.

They gave him his food in an earthenware bowl, and a very scanty portion too. He sat in his place looking at the others at table, and the tears came into his eyes.

One day his trembling hands could no longer hold the bowl ; it fell to the ground and broke to atoms.

The young wife scolded him, but he said nothing; then she bought him a wooden bowl for a few coppers, and he had nothing else to eat from.

As they were sitting together one day, the little Grandson, who was four years old, collected a lot of bits of wood.

' What are you doing there ? ' asked his Father.

' I am making a little trough,' answered the Child, ' for you and Mother to eat out of when I am big.' Husband and wife looked at each other for a while till their tears began to fall. Then they led the old Grandfather up to the table to take his meal with them.

And they never again said anything to him when he spilt his food.