Mar 23, 2026 · 28 min · 13 segments
This episode is a special preview of Adam’s Sneak Peeks—a Pinna-exclusive series from the world of Grimm, Grimmer, Grimmest. In Adam’s Sneak Peeks, author and storyteller Adam Gidwitz shares early…
Adam GidwitzHost
This story is called The Poor Soldier Boy, and it is based on a fairy tale written by the Brothers Grimm called The Devil's Grimy Brother.
You'd think that being a soldier was a poor job choice for someone who didn't like war, and you would be right.
He was a poor boy from a poor family in a poor town, and when a general with a dozen shiny medals on his uniform came through that poor town, followed by a captain with six shiny medals on his uniform, followed by a sergeant with three shiny medals on his uniform, followed by a hundred soldiers with no shiny medals, but even the soldiers had shiny boots, well, the poor boy figured it was the army or starve.
So he joined the army, and he got his own pair of shiny boots and a shiny musket, and off he marched.
March faster! Clean your boots faster! Load your musket faster! Everything with that sergeant was always faster, faster, faster.
Your soldiers are lazy! Make them march faster! Make them clean their boots faster! Make them load their muskets faster! At first, the poor soldier boy liked the captain because at least he was yelling at the sergeant.
But soon he realized that the more the captain yelled at the sergeant, the more the sergeant yelled at the soldiers.
And of course, he yelled at the poor soldier boy most of all because the poor soldier boy hated doing all that work.
This story is called The Poor Soldier Boy, and it is based on a fairy tale written by the Brothers Grimm called The Devil's Grimy Brother.
You'd think that being a soldier was a poor job choice for someone who didn't like war, and you would be right.
He was a poor boy from a poor family in a poor town, and when a general with a dozen shiny medals on his uniform came through that poor town, followed by a captain with six shiny medals on his uniform, followed by a sergeant with three shiny medals on his uniform, followed by a hundred soldiers with no shiny medals, but even the soldiers had shiny boots, well, the poor boy figured it was the army or starve.
So he joined the army, and he got his own pair of shiny boots and a shiny musket, and off he marched.
March faster! Clean your boots faster! Load your musket faster! Everything with that sergeant was always faster, faster, faster.
Your soldiers are lazy! Make them march faster! Make them clean their boots faster! Make them load their muskets faster! At first, the poor soldier boy liked the captain because at least he was yelling at the sergeant.
But soon he realized that the more the captain yelled at the sergeant, the more the sergeant yelled at the soldiers.
And of course, he yelled at the poor soldier boy most of all because the poor soldier boy hated doing all that work.
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