Alfred Pongratz

The 13-year-old Ludwig is to have for every joke. At boarding school he cuts his stern teacher, Captain a. D. Semmelmaier, during the nap from the beard. The angry pedagogue then sends the spoiled flail back to his beloved Bavarian village. The long-suffering mother persuades the rector to resume her reforming boy at the Latin school. Everything seems to be working out for the better, but the upcoming marriage of his sister Ännchen with the Berlin beer brewer Karl Schultheiss presents Ludwig with new challenges.

After 50 years of service, the district usher Johann Peter Neusigl is supposed to get awarded a Royal-Bavarian medal of merit. Since government director Steinbeißl has announced that he wants to witness the awarding ceremony in person, district magistrate Kranzeder decided to splash out. He organises, with his wife Amalie, a banquet in their parlour, although both of them rather begrudge Neusigl the award. But after all, it is necessary to cut a good figure for the dignitaries. As the government director arrives, after a few incidents during his journey, belated, the event, however, has already degenerated into a boozy carousal which culminates in a scuffle.

12-year-old Jakob helps out at his mother's vegetable stand and also carries customers' purchased goods home. One day, an old woman with a long nose comes to the stand and claims that the herbs are bad and were better 50 years ago. Jakob is upset that she holds all the herbs to her nose and crushes them: "Take it away from your long nose!" he shouts and hits her hand. "Don't you like it, my beautiful long nose?" the woman scoffs, "You should have one too, even longer than mine." Finally, she buys some cabbages, which she wants Jakob to carry home for her. Jakob resists but is persuaded by his mother. Other market women whisper whether the old woman is not the evil fairy Kräuterweis.

Xaver Bimshofer is the richest peasant in the village; and therefore, his only daughter Lenerl should marry a guy, who is diligent enough to keep the exemplary farm running. But Bimshofer doesn’t know, that Lenerl has long been a couple with the servant Sepp. So he suspects that every young man in the village wants to conquer his poor, innocent daughter. So that Lenerl really resists all these attempts, he gets a stone statue from Thomas Kammerlehner’s barn, “The Chaste Kunigunde”, which is supposed to protect the girl’s chastity and to protect her from sin by its positive energy.