In the Brothers Grimm tale “The Straw, the Coal, and the Bean,” the three objects escape from a kitchen fire.
A straw, a piece of coal, and a bean are placed together in a kitchen while a woman prepares food. The bean has been overlooked, the straw lies nearby, and the coal is burning. They begin talking and decide to leave the kitchen together.
The three travelers reach a stream. The straw stretches across the water so the others can cross, but the coal ignites the straw. The bean laughs at the mishap until it bursts from laughing. A tailor happens to pass by and stitches the bean together, which is given as the tale’s explanation for the bean’s black seam.
The story is a short personification tale rather than a quest narrative. Its comic ending explains a familiar feature of beans, although the exact appearance may be described differently in translations.