God changes nature of plant to punish wastefulness of man: yield of plant is decreased.
Mythological motifs. · Origin of plant characteristics. · Various origins of plant characteristics. · Plant characteristics as punishment. · view the constellation · filed as A2723.2
“When the Lord, who just then came by, saw tliat, he was angry, and said, " Henceforth shall the stalks of corn bear no more ears ; men are no longer worthy of heavenly gifts." The by-standers who heard this, were terrified, and fell on their knees and prayed that he would still leave something on the stalks, even if the people were undeserving of it, for the sake of the innocent birds which would otherwise have to starve.”
— Grimm's Household Tales: With the Author's Notes, Tale 194 · served from our shelf uncorrected OCR — being verified against the scan
- GermanGrimm's Household Tales: With the Author's Notes, Tale 194Thompson cites: Grimm No. 194.