So, before I step back to the 1600’s, I thought I share a
story with you. It’s a good way to start
a Monday morning.
The Soldier and the
Devil.
THE Devil encountered a soldier outside the
town, and said to him, “Good friend, please help me to get through the town. I
can’t go alone, though I should be very glad to do so, for the two-eyed dogs
would surround me in every street. They attack me as soon as I enter the town.”
“I’d be glad to help you,” said the soldier,
“but one can’t do any business without money.”
“What do you want then?” said the Devil.
“Not a great deal,” returned the soldier,
“for you’ve plenty of money. If you’ll fill my gauntlet, I shall be quite
satisfied.”
“I’ve as much as that in my pocket,” said the
Devil, and filled the glove to the brim with gold coins.
The soldier reflected, and said, “I really
don’t know where to put you. Wait just creep into my knapsack; you’ll be safer
there than anywhere.”
“That’ll do! But your knapsack has three
straps. Don’t buckle the third, or it might be bad for me.” The devil, you see,
was afraid the buckled straps would form the pattern of the cross
“All
right! Squeeze in.” So the Devil crept
into the knapsack. But the soldier was
one of those people who don’t keep their word as they ought. As soon as the
devil was in the knapsack, he buckled all three straps tight, saying, “A
soldier mustn’t go through the town with loose straps. Do you think that the
corporal would excuse me on your account if he saw me so untidy?”
The soldier had a friend on the other side
of the town who was a smith. He marched straight off to him with the Devil in
his knapsack, and said, “Old friend, please beat my knapsack soft on your
anvil. The corporal always scolds me because he says that my knapsack is as hard
and angular as a dry shoe.”
“No,” said the soldier, “harder still.” And again the blows hailed on the knapsack.
“That’s
enough,” said the soldier at last. “I’ll come to you again, if it’s necessary.”
Then he took the knapsack on his shoulder,
and went back to the town, where he pitched the Devil out of the knapsack in
the middle of the street. The dogs began
to gather around.
The Devil was crushed as flat as a mushroom.
He could hardly stand on his legs. It had never gone so ill with him before;
but the soldier had money enough and to spare, and there was some left over for
his heirs.
When the soldier died and arrived in the
other world, he went to hell and knocked at the door. The Devil peeped through the door to see who
it was, and yelled out, “No, no, you scamp, you’re not wanted here; you may go
wherever you like, but you won’t get in here.”
So
the soldier went to the Old Gods, and told them how it had fared with him.
They
replied, “Stay here now; there’s plenty of room for soldiers.”
Since that time the
Devil has admitted no more soldiers into hell.
Scandinavian Ghost Stories
and Other tales of the Supernatural
Edited by Joanne Asala
16 Sep 2019
That was a great story. Haven't heard it before. thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteYes, complete agreement. A great story.
ReplyDelete