Summary

In Chapter 1, the third-person narrator introduced a young foundling boy named Dirk who lived in a cabin in the woods, which he called the waldhütte, with an old woman and an old man. The old woman showed young Dirk a cat giving birth. The old man, whom Dirk called Papi, was a woodcutter. In Chapter 2, the old man showed Dirk how to carve objects and the old woman told him stories. Dirk overheard the old man and woman arguing in Chapter 3. The old man announced that he would show Dirk how to cut down a tree.

In Chapter 4, Dirk walked with the old man into the forest. Dirk thought about his companions’ argument and recalled a time when they had worried about Napoleon’s army coming near their cabin. The old man demonstrated how to use an axe. As Dirk swung the...