The Old Grandfather

Yes, another of my favorite German fairy tales of my youth:

There was once a very old man, whose eyes had grown dim, ears deaf and whose legs shook.  When he sat at the table, he was hardly able to hold his spoon, he would spill soup all over the tablecloth, and a little would even run out of his mouth.  This disgusted his son and his daughter-in-law, and so finally the old grandfather had to sit in the corner behind the stove.

They gave him his food in an earthenware bowl and little at that.  He used to look sadly towards the table, and tears would come to his eyes.  One day, his trembling hands could not even hold the bowl any longer and it fell to the floor where it broke to pieces.  The young woman scolded him, but he said nothing and only sighed.  For a few pfennig she bought a wooden bowl for him to eat out of.

One evening before dinner, the four year old grandson was fitting some small boards together on the floor.

"What are you doing there?", asked the father.

"I am making a trough for you and mother to eat out of when I am grown up.", answered the son.

The husband and wife looked at one another for a while and finally both began to weep.  At once the grandfather was brought to the table.  From then on they always let him eat with them at the table, and not say anything - even when he did spill a little of the soup.