Rarely have the most vital drives of human life into old age been portrayed so compellingly as in this early story by Hesse, written in 1904. Through the example of the four vagrants and "sun brothers" – the residents of the former inn "Zur alten Sonne," which has been converted into a poorhouse – he depicts the tragicomic coexistence of these discarded existences, whose peculiarities and weaknesses are strangely familiar to us and become increasingly apparent with age. With affectionate irony and a sensitivity that illustrates findings from modern behavioral research and group dynamics, Hesse describes the final life stages of the work-shy small manufacturer Hürlin, the alcoholic Lukas Heller, the happy simpleton Holdria, and the vagabond Stefan Finkenbein.