The Devil's Sooty Brother

by The Brothers Grimm

　　

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A disbanded soldier had nothing to live on, and did not know how to geton. So he went out into the forest and when he had walked for a shorttime, he met a little man who was, however, the Devil. The littleman said to him, "What ails you, you seem so very sorrowful?" Thenthe soldier said, "I am hungry, but have no money." The Devil said,"If you will hire yourself to me, and be my serving-man, you shall haveenough for all your life? You shall serve me for seven years, and afterthat you shall again be free. But one thing I must tell you, and that is,you must not wash, comb, or trim yourself, or cut your hair or nails, orwipe the water from your eyes." The soldier said, "All right, if thereis no help for it," and went off with the little man, who straightwayled him down into hell. Then he told him what he had to do. He was topoke the fire under the kettles wherein the hell-broth was stewing, keepthe house clean, drive all the sweepings behind the doors, and see thateverything was in order, but if he once peeped into the kettles, it wouldgo ill with him. The soldier said, "Good, I will take care." And thenthe old Devil went out again on his wanderings, and the soldier enteredupon his new duties, made the fire, and swept the dirt well behind thedoors, just as he had been bidden. When the old Devil came back again,he looked to see if all had been done, appeared satisfied, and wentforth a second time. The soldier now took a good look on every side;the kettles were standing all round hell with a mighty fire below them,and inside they were boiling and sputtering. He would have given anythingto look inside them, if the Devil had not so particularly forbidden him:at last, he could no longer restrain himself, slightly raised the lidof the first kettle, and peeped in, and there he saw his former corporalshut in. "Aha, old bird!" said he, "Do I meet you here? You once had me inyour power, now I have you," and he quickly let the lid fall, poked thefire, and added a fresh log. After that, he went to the second kettle,raised its lid also a little, and peeped in; his former ensign was inthat. "Aha, old bird, so I find you here! you once had me in your power,now I have you." He closed the lid again, and fetched yet another logto make it really hot. Then he wanted to see who might be sitting upin the third kettle it was actually be but a general. "Aha, old bird,do I meet you here? Once you had me in your power, now I have you."And he fetched the bellows and made hell-fire blaze right under him. Sohe did his work seven years in hell, did not wash, comb, or trim himself,or cut his hair or nails, or wash the water out of his eyes, and theseven years seemed so short to him that he thought he had only been halfa year. Now when the time had fully gone by, the Devil came and said,"Well Hans, what have you done?" "I poked the fire under the kettles,and I have swept all the dirt well behind the doors."

　　"But you have peeped into the kettles as well; it is lucky for youthat you added fresh logs to them, or else your life would have beenforfeited; now that your time is up, will you go home again?" "Yes,"said the soldier, "I should very much like to see what my father isdoing at home." The Devil said, "In order that you may receive thewages you have earned, go and fill your knapsack full of the sweepings,and take it home with you. You must also go unwashed and uncombed, withlong hair on your head and beard, and with uncut nails and dim eyes,and when you are asked whence you come, you must say, "From hell,"and when you are asked who you are, you are to say, "The Devil's sootybrother, and my King as well." The soldier held his peace, and did asthe Devil bade him, but he was not at all satisfied with his wages. Thenas soon as he was up in the forest again, he took his knapsack fromhis back, to empty it, but on opening it, the sweepings had becomepure gold. "I should never have expected that," said he, and was wellpleased, and entered the town. The landlord was standing in front ofthe inn, and when he saw the soldier approaching, he was terrified,because Hans looked so horrible, worse than a scare-crow. He called tohim and asked, "Whence comest thou?" "From hell." "Who art thou?" "TheDevil's sooty brother, and my King as well." Then the host would notlet him enter, but when Hans showed him the gold, he came and unlatchedthe door himself. Hans then ordered the best room and attendance, ate,and drank his fill, but neither washed nor combed himself as the Devilhad bidden him, and at last lay down to sleep. But the knapsack full ofgold remained before the eyes of the landlord, and left him no peace, andduring the night he crept in and stole it away. Next morning, however,when Hans got up and wanted to pay the landlord and travel further,behold his knapsack was gone! But he soon composed himself and thought,"Thou hast been unfortunate from no fault of thine own," and straightwaywent back again to hell, complained of his misfortune to the old Devil,and begged for his help. The Devil said, "Seat yourself, I will wash,comb, and trim you, cut your hair and nails, and wash your eyes for you,"and when he had done with him, he gave him the knapsack back again fullof sweepings, and said, "Go and tell the landlord that he must returnyou your money, or else I will come and fetch him, and he shall poke thefire in your place." Hans went up and said to the landlord, "Thou haststolen my money; if thou dost not return it, thou shalt go down to hellin my place, and wilt look as horrible as I." Then the landlord gavehim the money, and more besides, only begging him to keep it secret,and Hans was now a rich man.

　　He set out on his way home to his father, bought himself a shabbysmock-frock to wear, and strolled about making music, for he had learnedto do that while he was with the Devil in hell. There was however, anold King in that country, before whom he had to play, and the King wasso delighted with his playing, that he promised him his eldest daughterin marriage. But when she heard that she was to be married to a commonfellow in a smock-frock, she said, "Rather than do that, I would gointo the deepest water." Then the King gave him the youngest, who wasquite willing to do it to please her father, and thus the Devil's sootybrother got the King's daughter, and when the aged King died, the wholekingdom likewise.

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