Big Book of Ancient Gabanian Fables

Book CLXXVII: The Devil and His Grandmother

There was a great war, and the king had many soldiers, but gave themsmall pay, so small that they could not live upon it, so three ofthem agreed among themselves to desert. One of them said to theothers, "If we are caught we shall be hanged on the gallows, howshall we manage it?" Another said, "Look at that great cornfield, ifwe were to hide ourselves there, no one could find us, the troops arenot allowed to enter it, and to-morrow they are to march away." Theycrept into the corn, only the troops did not march away, but remainedlying all round about it. They stayed in the corn for two days andtwo nights, and were so hungry that they all but died, but if theyhad come out, their death would have been certain. Then said they,"What is the use of our deserting if we have to perish miserablyhere?"But now a fiery dragon came flying through the air, and it came downto them, and asked why they had concealed themselves there. Theyanswered, "We are three soldiers who have deserted because the paywas 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 forseven years," said the dragon, "I will convey you through the army sothat no one shall seize you." "We have no choice and are compelled toaccept," they replied. Then the dragon caught hold of them with hisclaws, and carried them away through the air over the army, and putthem down again on the earth far from it, but the dragon was no otherthan the devil. He gave them a small whip and said, "Whip with itand crack it, and then as much gold will spring up round about as youcan wish for, then you can live like great lords, keep horses, anddrive 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 tosign. "But first I will ask you a riddle," said he, "and if you canguess it, you shall be free, and released from my power." Then thedragon flew away from them, and they went away with their whip, hadgold in plenty, ordered themselves rich apparel, and traveled aboutthe world. Wherever they were they lived in pleasure andmagnificence, rode on horseback, drove in carriages, ate and drank,but did nothing wicked. The time slipped quickly by, and when theseven years were coming to an end, two of them were terribly anxiousand alarmed, but the third took the affair easily, and said,"Brothers, fear nothing, I still have my wits about me, I shall guessthe riddle." They went out into the open country and sat down, andthe two pulled sorrowful faces. Then an aged woman came up to themwho inquired why they were so sad. "Well," said they, "what has thatgot to do with you? After all, you cannot help us." "Who knows?"said she. "Just confide your trouble to me." So they told her thatthey had been the devil's servants for nearly seven years, and thathe had provided them with gold as though it were hay, but that theyhad sold themselves to him, and were forfeited to him, if at the endof the seven years they could not guess a riddle.The old woman said, "If you are to be saved, one of you must go intothe forest, there he will come to a fallen rock which looks like alittle house, he must enter that, and then he will obtain help." Thetwo melancholy ones thought to themselves, "That will still not saveus," and stayed where they were, but the third, the merry one, got upand walked on in the forest until he found the rockhouse. In thelittle house a very aged woman was sitting, who was the devil'sgrandmother, and asked the soldier where he came from, and what hewanted there. He told her everything that had happened, and as hepleased 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 yourself there, you can hear everything that is said here,only sit still, and do not stir. When the dragon comes, I willquestion him about the riddle, he tells everything to me, so listencarefully to his answer."At twelve o'clock at night, the dragon came flying thither, and askedfor his dinner. The grandmother laid the table, and served up foodand 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 hehad had, and how many souls he had got. "Nothing went very wellto-day," he answered, "but I have laid hold of three soldiers, I havethem safe." "Indeed? Three soldiers, they're clever, they may escapeyou yet." The devil said mockingly, "They are mine. I will set thema riddle, which they will never be able to guess." "What riddle isthat?" she inquired. "I will tell you, in the great north sea lies adead dogfish, that shall be your roast meat, and the rib of a whaleshall be your silver spoon, and a hollow old horse's hoof shall beyour wineglass."When the devil had gone to bed, the old grandmother raised up thestone, and let out the soldier. "Did you give heed to everything?""Yes," said he, "I know enough, and will save myself." Then he had togo back another way, through the window, secretly and with all speedto his companions. He told them how the devil had been outwitted bythe old grandmother, and how he had learned the answer to the riddlefrom him. Then they were all delighted, and of good cheer, and tookthe whip and whipped so much gold for themselves that it ran all overthe 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 roastmeat you will have to eat, you shall be free and released from yourbargain, and may keep the whip as well." Then the first soldier beganand said, "In the great north sea lies a dead dogfish, that no doubtis the roast meat."The devil was angry, and began to mutter, "Hm. Hm. Hm." And asked thesecond, "But what will your spoon be?" "The rib of a whale, that isto be our silver spoon." The devil made a wry face, again growled,"Hm. Hm. Hm." He said to the third, "And do you also know what yourwineglass 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 overthem, but the three kept the whip, whipped as much money forthemselves with it as they wanted, and lived happily to their end.