الفصل الفصل 115 · The Devil and his Grandmother

. The Devil and his Grandmother

There was a great war, and the King had many soldiers, but gave them

small pay, so small that they could not live upon it, so three of them

agreed among themselves to desert. One of them said to the others, “If

we are caught we shall be hanged on the gallows; how shall we manage

it?” Another said, “Look at that great cornfield, if we were to hide

ourselves there, no one could find us; the troops are not allowed to

enter it, and to-morrow they are to march away.” They crept into the

corn, only the troops did not march away, but remained lying all round

about it. They stayed in the corn for two days and two nights, and were

so hungry that they all but died, but if they had come out, their death

would have been certain. Then said they, “What is the use of our

deserting if we have to perish miserably here?” But now a fiery dragon

came flying through the air, and it came down to them, and asked why

they had concealed themselves there? They answered, “We are three

soldiers who have deserted because the pay was so bad, and now we shall

have to die of hunger if we stay here, or to dangle on the gallows if

we go out.” “If you will serve me for seven years,” said the dragon, “I

will convey you through the army so that no one shall seize you.” “We

have no choice and are compelled to accept,” they replied. Then the

dragon caught hold of them with his claws, and carried them away

through the air over the army, and put them down again on the earth far

from it; but the dragon was no other than the Devil. He gave them a

small whip and said, “Whip with it and crack it, and then as much gold

will spring up round about as you can wish for; then you can live like

great lords, keep horses, and drive your carriages, but when the seven

years have come to an end, you are my property.” Then he put before

them a book which they were all three forced to sign. “I will, however,

then set you a riddle,” said he, “and if you can guess that, you shall

be free, and released from my power.” Then the dragon flew away from

them, and they went away with their whip, had gold in plenty, ordered

themselves rich apparel, and travelled about the world. Wherever they

were they lived in pleasure and magnificence, rode on horseback, drove

in carriages, ate and drank, but did nothing wicked. The time slipped

quickly away, and when the seven years were coming to an end, two of

them were terribly anxious and alarmed; but the third took the affair

easily, and said, “Brothers, fear nothing, my head is sharp enough, I

shall guess the riddle.” They went out into the open country and sat

down, and the two pulled sorrowful faces. Then an aged woman came up to

them who inquired why they were so sad? “Alas!” said they, “how can

that concern you? After all, you cannot help us.” “Who knows?” said

she. “Confide your trouble to me.” So they told her that they had been

the Devil’s servants for nearly seven years, and that he had provided

them with gold as plentifully as if it had been blackberries, but that

they had sold themselves to him, and were forfeited to him, if at the

end of the seven years they could not guess a riddle. The old woman

said, “If you are to be saved, one of you must go into the forest,

there he will come to a fallen rock which looks like a little house, he

must enter that, and then he will obtain help.” The two melancholy ones

thought to themselves, “That will still not save us,” and stayed where

they were, but the third, the merry one, got up and walked on in the

forest until he found the rock-house. In the little house, however, a

very aged woman was sitting, who was the Devil’s grandmother, and asked

the soldier where he came from, and what he wanted there? He told her

everything that had happened, and as he pleased her well, she had pity

on him, and said she would help him. She lifted up a great stone which

lay above a cellar, and said, “Conceal thyself there, thou canst hear

everything that is said here; only sit still, and do not stir. When the

dragon comes, I will question him about the riddle, he tells everything

to me, so listen carefully to his answer.” At twelve o’clock at night,

the dragon came flying thither, and asked for his dinner. The

grandmother laid the table, and served up food and drink, so that he

was pleased, and they ate and drank together. In the course of

conversation, she asked him what kind of a day he had had, and how many

souls he had got? “Nothing went very well to-day,” he answered, “but I

have laid hold of three soldiers, I have them safe.” “Indeed! three

soldiers, that’s something like, but they may escape you yet.” The

Devil said mockingly, “They are mine! I will set them a riddle, which

they will never in this world be able to guess!” “What riddle is that?”

she inquired. “I will tell you. In the great North Sea lies a dead

dog-fish, that shall be your roast meat, and the rib of a whale shall

be your silver spoon, and a hollow old horse’s hoof shall be your

wine-glass.” When the Devil had gone to bed, the old grandmother raised

up the stone, and let out the soldier. “Hast thou paid particular

attention to everything?” “Yes,” said he, “I know enough, and will

contrive to save myself.” Then he had to go back another way, through

the window, secretly and with all speed to his companions. He told them

how the Devil had been overreached by the old grandmother, and how he

had learned the answer to the riddle from him. Then they were all

joyous, and of good cheer, and took the whip and whipped so much gold

for themselves that it ran all over the ground. When the seven years

had fully gone by, the Devil came with the book, showed the signatures,

and said, “I will take you with me to hell. There you shall have a

meal! If you can guess what kind of roast meat you will have to eat,

you shall be free and released from your bargain, and may keep the whip

as well.” Then the first soldier began and said, “In the great North

Sea lies a dead dog-fish, that no doubt is the roast meat.” The Devil

was angry, and began to mutter, “Hm! hm! hm!” And asked the second,

“But what will your spoon be?” “The rib of a whale, that is to be our

silver spoon.” The Devil made a wry face, again growled, “Hm! hm! hm!”

and said to the third, “And do you also know what your wine-glass is to

be?” “An old horse’s hoof is to be our wineglass.” Then the Devil flew

away with a loud cry, and had no more power over them, but the three

kept the whip, whipped as much money for themselves with it as they

wanted, and lived happily to their end.