Doof

Doof is the count's seemingly hopeless son in one of Wilhelm Holstein's Brothers Grimm tales. He spends three full years at school but returns knowing only how to understand the speech of dogs, birds, and frogs. His father considers the education useless and sends him away. The strange ability soon proves valuable. Doof learns why ravenous hounds are terrorizing a tower, uncovers a hidden chest of gold, and amazes people by recognizing meaning in sounds everyone else ignores. A quarrelsome town eventually chooses him as its beloved new reverend. His unlikely success shows that a gift may have real purpose even when teachers, parents, and neighbors cannot immediately imagine how it could help anyone.