Die Sterntaler

The villagers of Finkenwald are in utter misery as the grim king demands taxes in gold nobody can pay, so all the able weavers are in indented service, only children and elderly remain. A grandfather's last hope is sending a kid with their last silver coins to beg the king for the parents release as mercy. Granddaughter Mina volunteers, and happens to solve problems for various people on the way as her compassion and generosity keep being rewarded unexpectedly: she frees a talking dog, convinces a grieving father to undo the blocking of a village's only stream, helps the ferryman solve the lack of fishing success. Only the king isn't impressed, yet after she earns the queen's support grants her a single chance to redeem her parents, which she fails at. A nocturnal miracle changes her luck and Finkenwald's.