Gotthelf Jeremias – The Soul and Money or Reconciliation (Part 1): What is more important: to keep your money or keep your soul? This story is illustrated by a family of Bernese peasants who own a large estate in Liebiwyl. The father, Christen, is an economical and pious man. He takes his time and too often puts off what needs to be done. The mother, Anneli, is more lively. Generous, she practices widely charity. As part of his communal office, Christen is the victim of an unscrupulous adviser who takes advantage of his naivety. He is forced to repay a large sum of money. He begins to blame his wife for his generosity to the poor. Anneli retorts her lack of business sense. Thus Christen can not bring himself to sell his most beautiful cows. They are however very fat and do not give much milk but it is attached. Between Christen and Aneli the conflict flames. The couple then begins a sulking that very quickly affects the whole family …

Jeremias Gotthelf is Albert Bitzius, a pastor of the early 19th century, writer and journalist. Deeply religious and conservative, he praises traditional and rural values ​​in the face of the changes of his time (industrialization, capitalism, the working class, democratization). His profound knowledge of the peasant society in which he grew up and which he describes in a fine, authentic way, has enabled him to write novels which, beyond the provincial framework of the campaign of the canton of Bern, are deeply human. .