Sad result of neglected upbringing

Tailor Böckel cuts off Fritzchen's head

The sad result of a neglected upbringing is an early picture story by the humorous draftsman and poet Wilhelm Busch .

The story appeared in the 1860s in the Fliegende Blätter published by Wilhelm Busch's first publisher, Kaspar Braun . It is of particular interest today because it anticipates some elements of the picture story Max and Moritz .

content

The picture story is a parody of morality that is told in 37 rhyming stanzas. Seven-year-old Fritz Kolbe, spoiled by poor upbringing on the part of his wealthy parents, regularly teases the tailor Böckel;

Hardly that this gentleman showed himself

Fritzchen immediately shouted: bad, bad, bad!

This reputation alludes to the widespread rumor that tailors fornicate goats . The tailor, thus teased, complains several times to Fritzchen's father, who, however, dismisses the matter as harmless nonsense and sees no reason to have an educational influence on Fritzchen.

Finally, the tailor seeks revenge. He lures Fritz into his house and cuts off his head with his huge scissors. He then throws the undressed corpse into the water, where it is swallowed by a fish. With the clothes of the boy, which is checkered striking the tailor mends a Tandler pants.

The fish has landed on the unsuspecting mother Kolbe's kitchen table. When opening it, she discovers her child and, in her shock, falls into a huge kitchen knife: Fritzchen, was her last breath . Fritzchen's father enters the scene and finds the corpses of his wife and child, whereupon he falls into the street in a sneeze fit after snuffing from the open kitchen window. The frail old aunt who walks along there is dragged along with him by his fall.

The hanged trader

After this family tragedy, the search for Fritzchen's murderer begins. Because of the patched trousers, the trader is mistaken for the murderer and hung on the gallows . But then you will find the receipt from the tailor Böckel in his vest . He is arrested after he has made himself suspicious that he is terrified when a goat grumbles behind his back. Böckel is sentenced to death by wheels . Before that, he took his own life in prison with his huge scissors.

Anticipations of the Max and Moritz story

A tailor who is teased with the mockery of "Meck, Meck, Meck" also plays a role in Max and Moritz . There he is not called Böckel, but Böck. Max and Moritz also denigrate his name to "Ziegen-Böck". Fritzchen's checked trousers are the trousers of the Moritz figure. The rounded facial features of Fritzchen and his hairstyle can be found in Max.

literature

• Michaela Diers: Wilhelm Busch . Life and work. Original edition, dtv 34452, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-423-34452-4 .
• Joseph Kraus; Kurt Rusenberg (Ed.): Wilhelm Busch. With testimonials and photo documents. 17th edition, In: rororo-Bildmonographien Nr. 50163, Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2007 (first edition 1970), ISBN 978-3-499-50163-0 .
• Gudrun Schury: I wish I were an Eskimo . The life of Wilhelm Busch. Biography. Aufbau, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-351-02653-0 , as a paperback in: Aufbau-Taschenbücher Nr. 7071, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-7466-7071-3 .
• Gert Ueding : Wilhelm Busch. The 19th century in miniature . Extended and revised new edition. Insel, Frankfurt am Main / Leipzig. 2007 (first edition Frankfurt 1977, ISBN 3-458-05047-7 ), ISBN 978-3-458-17381-6 .
• Eva Weissweiler : Wilhelm Busch. The laughing pessimist . A biography. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2007, ISBN 978-3-462-03930-6 .

Web links

Wikisource: Sad Result of Neglected Upbringing  - Sources and Full Texts

• Online source at Zeno

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Weissweiler, p. 130
2. ↑ Weissweiler, p. 114 and p. 115
3. ↑ Schury, p. 95 and p. 96