The Story of the Baked Head by Wilhelm Hauff. Short summary

5 seconds

The tailor accidentally gets a bag with the head of an executed janissary. He tosses it to the baker, who tosses it to the barber, and so on until the ugly head appears near the corpse of a Jew. Unrest begins in the town.

1 minute

The Turkish sultan likes to walk around the city dressed up to see with his own eyes the lives of his subjects. The slave ruler Mansuri finds an unknown poor tailor to sew a new suit. The tailor is given a roll with a sample suit and gold coins. At home, he finds a human head in the sack.

His wife advises him to put the head in the clay pot with the neighbouring baker. The baker drops the dreadful discovery on the blind barber. The barber takes it to the inn and hides it in the meat pantry. The innkeeper takes the head to the place of the Jew’s execution and places it beside the corpse. A passing janissary recognises the face of his leader.

The sultan that night executed the head of the janissaries and wrapped his head in cloth. The slave simply mixed up the wrappings. Mansuri rushes to the old man, who confesses that the head is in the oven. Eventually it is discovered near the dead Jew. The Sultan, in order to put an end to the unrest in the city, declares the tailor, the baker, the barber and the innkeeper guilty. They are fined, and the town quiets down.