A simple pitch burner moves to the forest with his family to avoid the plague. It is a worthwhile undertaking to compare the two versions of what is perhaps Adalbert Stifter’s most impressive story: the unpolished original version The Pitch Burners dates from 1849 and is preferred by many. It stands against Granite the “study version”, first published in 1853 in Bunte Steine (Coloured Stones), in which Stifter aspired to a classical ideal. Reading this book can tell us a lot about Stifter’s twin souls.