In the fairy tale “The Godfather Death” contained in the book Grimm's Tale for Young and Old: The Complete Stories as translated by Ralph Manheim, the central theme is betrayal. Apparent betrayals occur seven times in a man's life, mostly for personal gain. Anyone who deceives, whether for the sake of family or kingdom, sincerely ends up lying to others to gain something of significant value. In the end, a father deceives his son twice, the son deceives his royal family and his own godfather twice, and the godfather deceives his godson once. The story begins with a poor man and his twelve children. The poor man is already so stressed about his finances that when the thirteenth child is born, the man decides to ask the first man he meets on the street to act as the child's godfather (Grimm 152). Man encounters God, the Devil and Death. In favor of a man who treats all equally, the poor man gives his son to be raised by Death. Once the child grows up, Death makes the man a famous doctor. Death tells man, when he visits patients, that if Death is at their head, they can consume a special herb from the doctor that will heal them; yet if Death is at their feet, they will belong to Death. Death also warns the doctor not to use the herb against Death's will (Grimm 153). After meeting the King on his deathbed, the doctor decides to outwit Death by turning the King so that Death stands with the King's head instead of his feet. and giving the king the special herb. While upset, Death warns the doctor who forgives him because the man is Death's godson. Unfortunately, soon the king's daughter falls on her deathbed, the doctor sees again...... middle of paper ...... the special herb that Death gave to the man at the beginning of his work (153-4) . Death gets angry at the first deception, but promises to forgive the man that time because he is Death's godson. Unwisely, the doctor pays little attention to his godfather's words and gestures and decides that it is worth risking the word of Death for the chance to become king and marry the princess. Finally, appearing angry at the deception, Death drags his godson into an underground cave. which is filled with thousands of candles lining up in endless rows. After hearing the explanation of the candles and observing his own dying candle, the doctor begs his godfather to grant him a longer life (Grimm 154). Seeing the perfect opportunity to get his revenge, Death acts as if he wants to increase his godson's lifespan, but actually ends his life (Grimm 155).