In 1973 I read an old hardcover book containing European children’s stories. The stories were probably written in the early 1900s. In one story a boy gets a job at a grain mill and is not accepted there. He returns later when he finds out that he has inherited the mill and they accept him with a song.
I found the collection; it is called “Children of the Alps.” The story is called “Jorli’s Mandolin,” and is written by Johanna Spyri.