STORY 16: "THE DEVOTED FRIEND" BY OSCAR WILDE

"The Devoted Friend" is a darkly comic short story for children by the Irish author Oscar Wilde.  It was first published in 1888 in the anthology The Happy Prince and Other Tales, which also includes "The Nightingale and the Rose", "The Selfish Giant" and "The Remarkable Rocket". 

The two main characters in "The Devoted Friend" are a poor man known as little Hans and a rich Miller. The Miller claims to be a devoted friend of little Hans. In truth, he selfishly takes advantage of little Hans at every opportunity. Little Hans always does everything that the Miller asks him to do because he does not want to lose the Miller's friendship or offend him. Little Hans' desire to remain the Miller's friend ultimately proves fatal for him.