THE POOR DEVIL
Once upon a time there was a peasant, who led his cow to pasture in the spring, and prayed G.o.d to have her in His care.
The evil one was sitting in a bush, heard him, and said to himself: "When things turn out well, they thank G.o.d for it; but if anything goes wrong, then I am always to blame!"
A few days later the cow strayed into a swamp. And when the peasant came and saw her he said: "Look at that! The devil has had his finger in the pie again!"
"Just what I might have expected," thought the devil in his bush. Then the peasant went off to fetch people to help drag the cow out. But in the meantime the devil slipped from his bush and helped out the cow, for he thought:
"Now he will have something to thank me for, too."
But when the peasant came back and saw the cow on dry land, he said: "Thank G.o.d, she"s out again!"
NOTE
The little story of "The Poor Devil." (Bondeson, p. 212. From Smaland) which shows him attempting to rival G.o.d, is at once humorous and philosophical.
XXII
HOW SMALAND AND SCHONEN CAME TO BE
The Smalanders declare:
At the time when our Lord created the earth, he made a level and fruitful stretch of land, and that was Schonen. But the devil had been busy in the meantime, and had created Smaland, a barren region consisting mainly of hills and swamps. When our Lord saw it, it looked very hopeless to him, and he strewed the bits of earth that remained in his ap.r.o.n out over it, and created the Smalanders. They turned out to be a fine race of men, handsome and strong and able to take care of themselves in any situation. It is said to this very day, that if you take a Smalander and set him down on a rock in the sea, he will still manage to save himself. But in the meantime the devil had been down in Schonen, and had created the people who live there, and that is why they are so slow, boastful and servile. But the people of Schonen say:
Once as our Lord and St. Peter were walking together, they heard a terrible commotion in a forest. "Go see what is happening there,"
said our Lord. St. Peter went. And there was the devil and a Smalander, who were pummeling each other with might and main. St.
Peter tried to separate them; but they paid no attention to him. So he took his sword and chopped off both their heads. And he told our Lord what he had seen and done: "No, that was not well done," the latter replied, "go and put back their heads where they were, and touch the wounds with your sword, and both will come to life again." St. Peter did so, but he exchanged heads. Since that time the Smalanders all have a bit of the devil about them, and those who know the devil, will tell you that he is more or less like the Smalanders.
NOTE
The unfruitful district of Smaland and the lazy and servile people of Schonen (as retold and communicated by Dr. v.
Sydow-Lund), are supposed to be creative efforts of the devil, at least so the Danes and Swedes were wont to say, and Selma Lagerlof has repeated it after them with variants. But the people of Schonen lost no time in inventing a close relationship between the Smalanders and the devil.
XXIII
THE EVIL ONE AND KITTA GRAU
One day the devil met Kitta Grau:
"Where have you been, old man?" asked Kitta Grau, for she recognized him.
"Well," said the evil one, "I have been out on the farmstead where the newly wedded couple live. This is the third time I have tried to sow dissension between them; but they think so much of each other that it is a sheer impossibility."
"You talk like a real stupid. That is something I could bring about the very first time I went there," said Kitta Grau.
"If you can do that, you shall have a splendid pair of shoes," was the evil one"s reply.
"Mind you keep your word!" said Kitta, and turned toward the farmstead.
There the woman was home alone; for her husband had gone to the forest. Kitta said to the young wife:
"You really have a splendid husband."
"And that is the truth," the woman replied, "for he grants my every wish before it is spoken."
"But take my word for it," said Kitta, "there is still a bit of deceit in him. He has a pair of long hairs under his chin--if you could get at them with a razor, and cut them off while he is asleep, then he would be altogether without malice."
"Well," said the woman, "if that will help, I will be sure to keep an eye open after dinner and attend to it, for then he always takes a little noon-day nap."
Then Kitta Grau went out into the forest to the husband and bade him good-day.
"You really have a very good wife," said Kitta.
"She could not be bettered," replied the husband.
"Well you might be mistaken for all that," said Kitta. "When you come home, be on your guard, for when you go to take your noon-day nap, she has in mind to cut your throat. So be sure not to go to sleep."
The husband did not think much of the matter; but still he thanked Kitta Grau for her trouble.
Then he went home and ate his dinner, laid down and pretended to fall asleep at once.
Thereupon his wife went to his shaving-kit, took out his razor, went softly up to him and took hold of his chin with her hand.
Up flew the man.
"Do you want to murder me?" he cried, and gave his wife such a thump that she measured her full length on the floor.
And from that day forward there was no peace in the house. Now Kitta Grau was to receive her reward from the evil one. But he was so afraid of her that he did not venture to give her the shoes until he stood on one side of a stream, while she stood on the other, and then he pa.s.sed them over to her on a long pole.
"You are ever so much worse than I am," he told Kitta Grau.
The black man had made a bargain with a merchant. He had promised him that all goods which he might buy he should sell again within three weeks" time at a handsome profit. But, if he had prospered, after seven years had pa.s.sed he was to be the devil"s own. And he did prosper; for no matter what manner of old trash the merchant bought, and if it were no more than an old worn-out fur coat, he was always able to sell it again, and always at a profit.
Kitta Grau came into his shop and showed him the handsome shoes the evil one had given her.
So the merchant said: