“With these considerations, so realistic and reasonable to him, Charles finally reached the house of his parents; he greeted his parents and the brothers and explained that it did not suit him to solve such a problem; the youngest should try, that much was clear to him.

However, should his father insist on his going out again he was certainly willing to comply, but from the very beginning the father had left it to them to return at any time if the realization of the task appeared impossible.

“With a smile the father heard the decision of his son, embraced him, and accepted him back in the business.

“So the youngest son Hans said farewell to his beloved parents and his brothers and set out on his journey.
His mother had put the bottle of water and the bread for the way into a bag; he took it over his shoulder and left.

“The sun greeted him friendly, and Hans returned the greeting for the golden man was the great sponsor of his beloved golden corns.

“Innumerable little faces swayed at him with a smile when he looked at the waving fields which lay to the right and left of the way.

“He had found a good companionship indeed, and so he was not alone and had some animated conversation greeting this family and that family here and there. Here they all were still together, a fact that he missed at home in the store-house all too often. Eventually Hans had to bid farewell to his thousand friends in the fields, for the journey now went on through the forest.

“The forest welcomed him with a fresh breeze of flowery fragrance and embraced him with his strong and knotty arms as he entered.
The way was so narrow that Hans was always leaning, as it were, against the green wood, and it seemed to him as if he actually did not walk - although he covered quite some distance.

“The great green friend too was full of round faces that shone at him from everywhere with a smile.
The children of the wood may not have been placed as close together as the corns but still their sense of family appeared as strong as in the fields.

“In the midst of these happy events and encounters the youngest son of the miller met an old man who came along on the shadowy forest way.

“The clothes of this man must have seen a lot of the world already, Hans thought, for they looked quite worn - as if they had a sheer endless adventurous journey behind them.

“The wrinkled face of the old man lit the shadowy path as if he wanted to replace the sun, and something struck Hans in particular: the wanderer smiled at him and at all the families of the green forest like the golden corns - quite the way he knew it from his father.

“Soon the young son of the miller felt at home in the unexpected presence of this serene and seasoned traveller, and he felt the desire to befriend with the wanderer.
As if he had infinitely much time - like the radiant faces of the golden corns always had expressed - the man now stood still, leaning on his stick, and gave way for Hans to pass by.