32 lines
2 KiB
Text
32 lines
2 KiB
Text
The Peasant and the Devil
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There was once on a time a far-sighted, crafty peasant whose tricks
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were much talked about. The best story is, however, how he once got
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hold of the Devil, and made a fool of him. The peasant had one day been
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working in his field, and as twilight had set in, was making ready for
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the journey home, when he saw a heap of burning coals in the middle of
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his field, and when, full of astonishment, he went up to it, a little
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black devil was sitting on the live coals. "Thou dost indeed sit upon a
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treasure!" said the peasant. "Yes, in truth," replied the Devil, "on a
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treasure which contains more gold and silver than thou hast ever seen
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in thy life!" "The treasure lies in my field and belongs to me," said
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the peasant. "It is thine," answered the Devil, "if thou wilt for two
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years give me the half of everything thy field produces. Money I have
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enough of, but I have a desire for the fruits of the earth." The
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peasant agreed to the bargain. "In order, however, that no dispute may
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arise about the division," said he, "everything that is above ground
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shall belong to thee, and what is under the earth to me." The Devil was
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quite satisfied with that, but the cunning peasant had sown turnips.
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Now when the time for harvest came, the Devil appeared and wanted to
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take away his crop; but he found nothing but the yellow withered
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leaves, while the peasant, full of delight, was digging up his turnips.
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"Thou hast had the best of it for once," said the Devil, "but the next
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time that won't do. What grows above ground shall be thine, and what is
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under it, mine." "I am willing," replied the peasant; but when the time
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came to sow, he did not again sow turnips, but wheat. The grain became
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ripe, and the peasant went into the field and cut the full stalks down
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to the ground. When the Devil came, he found nothing but the stubble,
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and went away in a fury down into a cleft in the rocks. "That is the
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way to cheat the Devil," said the peasant, and went and fetched away
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the treasure.
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