The Man with Seven Knives by Otfried Preussler. Short summary

5 seconds

An unknown man approaches Casperl’s grandmother and, at gunpoint, orders her to give her the coffee grinder her grandson had given her. A saber and seven knives hang behind the robber’s wide leather belt.

1 minute

Kasperl’s grandmother was sitting outside her house, grinding coffee with the new coffee grinder that her grandson and his buddy Seppel had given her for her birthday. While her knob was being spun, the coffee grinder was playing Grandma’s favorite song.

Suddenly a stranger comes up to the old lady and tells her to hand over the grinder. She asks who he is. The stranger replies that the grandmother does not read the newspapers, so she does not know who he is.

Behind the wide leather belt of the unknown man there was a sabre and as many as seven knives. Seeing this, the old lady realized that the horrible robber Hotzenplotz was in front of her. He threatens the robbery victim with a gun to get her to give him the item.

The poor woman has no choice but to give him the coffee grinder her grandson gave her. Hotzenplotz’s atrocities were reported daily in the newspaper, and he held all the locals in awe, even the local police officer.