Comin’ Thro’ the Rye by Robert Burns. Short summary

5 seconds

The villains bullied the brave John. He struggled for a long time, but when he grew old, they killed him. The wretched man’s body was tortured, beaten, and rubbed. So he ended up in mugs of foamy drink and now amuses people.

1 minute

John was enraged at the three kings and buried. But he was very brave, so in the spring, cheerful and merry, he rose from the ground. All summer long he stood on the mound, shaking his head and threatening his foes with his spear. By autumn, he became weak and bent down under the weight of his worries. They decided to kill him again, so defenseless, and stabbed him to death. Then they took John to the mill and tortured him for a long time: they beat him, tossed him up, plunged him into the well and drowned him mercilessly.

The unfortunate miller’s heart was happily rubbed between the stones. Then he was boiled in a cauldron, eventually ending up in mugs of bubbling liquor.

John is dead, but continues to amuse the people, raising the courage in their souls. The unhappy widow can now distract herself and for a while, forget about worries and domestic problems. The main thing is that the barrel where John Barley Grain lives never runs dry.