Chapter 1 Summary

The narrator of this story is Gimpel, and is called Gimpel the Fool by the people in his village. He declares immediately that he doesn't think himself a fool; however, his community gave him that name when he was still a schoolboy. Gimpel is an orphan whose grandfather took him in when his parents died; however, the grandfather soon had to turn him over to the local baker because he was too old to look after him. He says that he has seven names in all: "imbecile, donkey, flax-head, dope, glump, ninny, and fool." It's the last one that has endured.

The reason that the villagers call him a fool is that he is gullible, easy prey for their practical jokes. Eventually, it became the only way the community relates to him. After all, Gimpel reasons, according to the Wisdom of the Fathers...