Household Tales · Chapter
The Devil and His Grandmother explained
Three soldiers desert the king's army due to poor pay and hide in a cornfield.
What happens
Three soldiers desert the king's army due to poor pay and hide in a cornfield. The Devil, disguised as a dragon, offers them a deal: serve him for seven years in exchange for a magic whip that produces gold. They sign a pact, but the Devil promises freedom if they can solve a riddle at the end of the term. As the seven years end, two soldiers grow anxious, but the third seeks help from the Devil's grandmother. She hides him and learns the riddle's answer from the Devil himself. The soldiers correctly answer the riddle, break the pact, and keep the whip to live happily ever after.
Themes in this chapter
Promises and Their Consequences
The soldiers enter a binding pact with the Devil, and their freedom hinges on fulfilling the terms of the riddle, highlighting the weight of promises.
Transformation and Redemption
The soldiers transform from desperate deserters to wealthy individuals, and ultimately redeem themselves by outsmarting the Devil and breaking free from his power.
Characters to notice
- the Devil
Disguised as a dragon, he makes a pact with three soldiers, offering them gold in exchange for seven years of service, and sets a riddle for their freedom.
- the Devil's grandmother
An aged woman living in a rock-house in the forest; she helps the soldier by hiding him and extracting the riddle's answer from the Devil.
- the three soldiers
Three deserters who sign a pact with the Devil; two are fearful, but the third cleverly seeks help and secures their freedom.
Key passages
“In the great North Sea lies a dead dogfish, that shall be your roast meat, and the rib of a whale shall be your silver spoon, and a hollow old horse’s hoof shall be your wineglass.”
The Devil reveals the riddle: their meal will consist of a dead dogfish from the North Sea, a whale rib as a spoon, and a hollow horse hoof as a wineglass.
This riddle is the key to the soldiers' freedom, and the grandmother helps them learn it.
“If you will serve me for seven years, said the dragon, I will convey you through the army so that no one shall seize you.”
The Devil offers to protect the soldiers from capture if they agree to serve him for seven years.
This sets up the central bargain of the story.