The nine children of the baker family Graf are not angels of innocence. Especially the boys are up to all sorts of mischief. Whether they secretly acquire Flobert rifles and go poaching, steal strawberries from the neighbor's garden while being ready to deal with the guard dog, Graf's childhood and youth memories depict a rough village life around 1900. Corporal punishment and child labor are commonplace, as are brawling and drunken farmers. As amusing and anecdotal as these autobiographical stories are, they reveal a harsh and brutal rural reality.