There was once a young fellow who
enlisted as a soldier, conducted himself bravely, and was always the foremost
when it rained bullets. So long as the war lasted, all went well, but when
peace was made, he received his dismissal, and the captain said he might go
where he liked. His parents were dead, and he had no longer a home, so he went
to his brothers and begged them to take him in, and keep him until war broke
out again. The brothers, however, were hard-hearted3 and said, "What can
we do with thee? thou art of no use to us; go and make a living for
thyself." The soldier had nothing left but his gun; he took that on his
shoulder, and went forth into the world. He came to a wide heath, on which
nothing was to be seen but a circle of trees; under these he sat sorrowfully
down, and began to think over his fate. "I have no money," thought
he, "I have learnt no trade but that of fighting, and now that they have
made peace they don't want me any longer; so I see beforehand that I shall have
to starve." All at once he heard a rustling, and when he looked round, a
strange man stood before him, who wore a green coat and looked right stately,
but had a hideous cloven foot. "I know already what thou art in need
of," said the man; "gold and possessions shall thou have, as much as
thou canst make away with do what thou wilt, but first I must know if thou art
fearless, that I may not bestow my money in vain." "A soldier and
fear - how can those two things go together?" he answered; "thou
canst put me to the proof." "Very well, then," answered the man,
"look behind thee." The soldier turned round, and saw a large bear,
which came growling towards him. "Oho!" cried the soldier, "I
will tickle thy nose for thee, so that thou shalt soon lose thy fancy for
growling," and he aimed at the bear and shot it through the muzzle; it
fell down and never stirred again. "I see quite well," said the
stranger, "that thou art not wanting in courage, but there is still
another condition which thou wilt have to fulfil." "If it does not
endanger my salvation," replied the soldier, who knew very well who was
standing by him. "If it does, I'll have nothing to do with it."
"Thou wilt look to that for thyself," answered Greencoat; "thou
shalt for the next seven9 years neither wash thyself, nor comb thy beard, nor
thy hair, nor cut thy nails, nor say one paternoster. I will give thee a coat
and a cloak, which during this time thou must wear. If thou diest during these
seven years, thou art mine; if thou remainest alive, thou art free, and rich to
boot, for all the rest of thy life." The soldier thought of the great
extremity in which he now found himself, and as he so often had gone to meet
death, he resolved to risk it now also, and agreed to the terms. The Devil took
off his green coat, gave it to the soldier, and said, "If thou hast this
coat on thy back and puttest thy hand into the pocket, thou wilt always find it
full of money." Then he pulled the skin off the bear and said, "This
shall be thy cloak, and thy bed also, for thereon shalt thou sleep, and in no
other bed shalt thou lie, and because of this apparel shalt thou be called
Bearskin." After this the Devil vanished.
The
soldier put the coat on, felt at once in the pocket, and found that the thing
was really true. Then he put on the bearskin and went forth into the world, and
enjoyed himself, refraining from nothing that did him good and his money harm.
During the first year his appearance was passable, but during the second he
began to look like a monster. His hair covered nearly the whole of his face,
his beard was like a piece of coarse felt, his fingers had claws, and his face
was so covered with dirt that if cress had been sown on it, it would have come
up. Whosoever saw him, ran away, but as he everywhere gave the poor money to
pray that he might not die during the seven years, and as he paid well for
everything he still always found shelter. In the fourth year, he entered an inn
where the landlord would not receive him, and would not even let him have a
place in the stable, because he was afraid the horses would be scared. But as
Bearskin thrust his hand into his pocket and pulled out a handful of ducats,
the host let himself be persuaded and gave him a room in an outhouse. Bearskin
was, however, obliged to promise not to let himself be seen, lest the inn
should get a bad name.
As
Bearskin was sitting alone in the evening, and wishing from the bottom of his
heart that the seven years were over, he heard a loud lamenting in a neighbouring
room. He had a compassionate heart, so he opened the door, and saw an old man
weeping bitterly, and wringing his hands. Bearskin went nearer, but the man
sprang to his feet and tried to escape from him. At last when the man perceived
that Bearskin's voice was human he let himself be prevailed on, and by kind
words bearskin succeeded so far that the old man revealed the cause of his
grief. His property had dwindled away by degrees, he and his daughters would
have to starve, and he was so poor that he could not pay the innkeeper, and was
to be put in prison. "If that is your only trouble," said Bearskin,
"I have plenty of money." He caused the innkeeper to be brought
thither, paid him and put a purse full of gold into the poor old man's pocket
besides.
When
the old man saw himself set free from all his troubles he did not know how to
be grateful enough. "Come with me," said he to Bearskin; "my
daughters are all miracles of beauty, choose one of them for thyself as a wife.
When she hears what thou hast done for me, she will not refuse thee. Thou dost
in truth look a little strange, but she will soon put thee to rights
again." This pleased Bearskin well, and he went. When the eldest saw him
she was so terribly alarmed at his face that she screamed and ran away. The
second stood still and looked at him from head to foot, but then she said,
"How can I accept a husband who no longer has a human form? The shaven
bear that once was here and passed itself off for a man pleased me far better,
for at any rate it wore a hussar's dress and white gloves. If it were nothing
but ugliness, I might get used to that." The youngest, however, said,
"Dear father, that must be a good man to have helped you out of your
trouble, so if you have promised him a bride for doing it, your promise must be
kept." It was a pity that Bearskin's face was covered with dirt and with
hair, for if not they might have seen how delighted he was when he heard these
words. He took a ring, from his finger, broke it in two, and gave her one half,
the other he kept for himself. He wrote his name, however, on her half, and
hers on his, and begged her to keep her piece carefully, and then he took his
leave and said, "I must still wander about for three years, and if I do
not return then, thou art free, for I shall be dead. But pray to God to
preserve my life."
The
poor betrothed bride dressed herself entirely in black, and when she thought of
her future bridegroom, tears came into her eyes. Nothing but contempt and
mockery fell to her lot from her sisters. "Take care," said the
eldest, "if thou givest him thy hand, he will strike his claws into
it." "Beware!" said the second. "Bears like sweet things,
and if he takes a fancy to thee, he will eat thee up." "Thou must
always do as he likes," began the elder again, "or else he will
growl." And the second continued, "But the wedding will be a merry
one, for bears dance well." The bride was silent, and did not let them vex
her. Bearskin, however, travelled about the world from one place to another,
did good where he was able, and gave generously to the poor that they might
pray for him.
At
length, as the last day of the seven years dawned, he went once more out on to
the heath, and seated himself beneath the circle of trees. It was not long
before the wind whistled, and the Devil stood before him and looked angrily at
him; then he threw Bearskin his old coat, and asked for his own green one back.
"We have not got so far as that yet," answered Bearskin, "thou
must first make me clean." Whether the Devil liked it or not, he was
forced to fetch water, and wash Bearskin, comb his hair, and cut his nails.
After this, he looked like a brave soldier, and was much handsomer than he had
ever been before.
When
the Devil had gone away, Bearskin was quite lighthearted. He went into the
town, put on a magnificent velvet coat, seated himself in a carriage drawn by
four white horses, and drove to his bride's house. No one recognized him, the
father took him for a distinguished general, and led him into the room where
his daughters were sitting. He was forced to place himself between the two
eldest, they helped him to wine, gave him the best pieces of meat, and thought
that in all the world they had never seen a handsomer man. The bride, however,
sat opposite to him in her black dress, and never raised her eyes, nor spoke a
word. When at length he asked the father if he would give him one of his
daughters to wife, the two eldest jumped up, ran into their bedrooms to put on
splendid dresses, for each of them fancied she was the chosen one. The
stranger, as soon as he was alone with his bride, brought out his half of the
ring, and threw it in a glass of wine which he reached across the table to her.
She took the wine, but when she had drunk it, and found the half ring lying at
the bottom, her heart began to beat. She got the other half, which she wore on
a ribbon round her neck, joined them, and saw that the two pieces fitted
exactly together. Then said he, "I am thy betrothed bridegroom, whom thou
sawest as Bearskin, but through God's grace I have again received my human
form, and have once more become clean." He went up to her, embraced her,
and gave her a kiss. In the meantime the two sisters came back in full dress,
and when they saw that the handsome man had fallen to the share of the
youngest, and heard that he was Bearskin, they ran out full of anger and rage.
One of them drowned herself in the well, the other hanged herself on a tree. In
the evening, some one knocked at the door, and when the bridegroom opened it,
it was the Devil in his green coat, who said, "Seest thou, I have now got
two souls in the place of thy one!"
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