There once was an old man, Herb, who lived in the woods with his wife Martha. They were a nice old couple who liked to keep to themselves most of the time. On occasion they liked to visit their son Joseph who lived very far away in a deeper darker part of another forest. One day Herb decided that he missed Joseph and very much wanted to see him. Martha had a lot to do around the house and decided she wouldn’t go with Herb.

Martha had not trusted Herb lately because he had been acting strangely and sneaking out late at night, but she wished him luck.. Herb set out for his son’s place when no longer than a few miles down the road he came across a poor crippled woman who was struggling to walk along the same path Herb was taking. Herb asked where the woman was going and it turned out that she happened to be going to the same area that he was headed. He offered to help the woman on her way and she made him an offer. If he could help her on her way without her falling down then she would pay him 100 gold crowns. Herb agreed to the offer and they set out on their way. No more than two miles down the road the two were approached by a large grizzly bear who was obviously in no mood to play around. The bear attacked them and just as soon as he attacked, Herb took off running, leaving the old woman to fend for herself. What she didn’t know was that Herb was a huge coward and he couldn’t even protect himself let alone another human life. As Herb fled for his life, the grizzly bear stripped the old woman of hers; tearing her piece by piece as well as the 100 gold crowns that Herb would never see.

Herb continued on his journey and shortly forgot about the woman he failed to save while her life was taken from her. He seemed to always have this feeling that he was being watched and this made Herb very uneasy. As the long tiring journey continued on Herb was becoming hungry and lonely, but in the distance he saw an injured dog who was limping down the same path he was on. When the old man saw this he immediately thought of his son Joseph. Joseph loved dogs and Herb thought that he would take it to him and Joseph could restore its health giving him a good home as well. So he picked up the dog and kept on his way until he came upon a small town. Here he decided that he will rest and get something in his belly as well as feeding the dog, who must be famished after struggling to move before he had gotten there. Herb entered this little shop that was like a general store and basically had everything a traveler was looking for. As he approached the shop keep he could barely move from exhaustion so the shop keep asked him what was the matter. After Herb had pleaded his case and explained what had happened thus far, the shop keep decided to reward Herb for his kind heart. He went in back and pulled out a bow and arrow. This was no ordinary bow and arrow but they were a magical combination that would hit anything Herb set his mind on. The keeper warned Herb that he must only use this to do good and not for his personal gain or pleasure or the arrow would turn on him and kill him.

Herb remembered the shop keepers word and he left the town as he continued on his journey with the dog he had found. The two walked for a few hours until Herb had tripped on a stone in the path and fell into a puddle of water. This was no ordinary puddle of water because Herb had fallen right through it. It seemed to be some sort of transport that was very frightening to Herb. When he came through he came to a house that seemed to be his son’s place, or what he thought was his son’s place. He opened the door and there was his son sitting in the living room, but when he turned around to show Joseph the dog he had found, it disappeared as if it were a ghost. The man opened his eyes and he was tied up in the basement of the shop that he had stopped at with the dog earlier. It was all a dream!

The shopkeeper had captured Herb and tied him up in the basement, and he killed the dog that Herb was trying to save. The keeper had been known as a murderous lunatic that had been tried in other towns but never convicted. Witnesses and prosecutors kept disappearing and no case was solved. Herb was screaming for help until he was about to give up when the shopkeeper’s assistant came down stairs, not knowing what the keeper had done. He came down and untied Herb. Herb begged and pleaded that he had to get to his son’s house. After hearing of Herb’s troubles the assistant agreed to help him on his journey. The two cleverly snuck out of the basement when the assistant saw the keeper leave.

They continued on the path and shortly came to Joseph’s home where Joseph opened the door to greet his father. The assistant saw Joseph and began to pull at his face and hair. He had a mask and wig on to disguise himself because he was there to reap revenge on Joseph. Joseph had accidentally killed the assistant’s father in a farming accident a year ago and he vowed that his father’s death would be avenged. The assistant approached Joseph and stabbed him three times in the chest. As Herb screamed in agony and leaped to Joseph’s side. Herb held Joseph in his arms as his last breath had slipped away. As Herb looked up with tear filled eyes he saw the assistant take off down the path back towards town, but before he could get up to go after him he saw the man get close lined by fishing line that had been tied between trees along the path. His wife Martha had been following Herb every step of his trip and had seen what happened to their son and knew the keeper would have to head back to town so she set a trap. The fishing line had slit the assistant’s throat and the couple had watched the man spurt blood as he gasped for air. They just watched in horror as the man suffered for what he had done only to be reunited with his father in death.

The couple were in deep mourning outside Joseph’s house when they heard a sound from inside the house. It was a child crying. The child was Joseph’s. He and his girlfriend had just recently had a child that his parents had not known about yet. The couple were going to make it a surprise the next time that they would visit, but the visit turned out to be full of misfortune. His girlfriend was out to town and Joseph was watching their child until his life was taken from him in an ambush. As Herb and Martha looked upon the child they found a sense of comfort knowing that a part of Joseph will continue to live on. Looking on the child they could see Joseph in the child with the same innocence that Joseph had when he was a child.

Martha and Herb asked Joseph’s girlfriend to move in with them so they could be close to the child and help to take care of it after the misfortune that had befallen the family that dreadful day. She agreed and the four of them lived very comfortably for many years to come.