Household Tales · Chapter
The Three Apprentices explained
Three apprentices, having lost their work, agree to travel together but are approached by the Devil disguised as a richly-dressed man.
What happens
Three apprentices, having lost their work, agree to travel together but are approached by the Devil disguised as a richly-dressed man. He offers them wealth and success in exchange for obeying a strict rule: each must answer every question with a fixed phrase—'All three of us,' 'For money,' and 'And quite right too!'—and say nothing else. They accept, and their pockets fill with gold. At an inn, a wealthy merchant entrusts his money to the host, who murders him for it. The apprentices are framed for the crime and condemned to death, but the Devil appears as a nobleman at the scaffold, reveals their innocence, and exposes the innkeeper as the true murderer. The innkeeper is executed, the Devil claims the soul he sought, and the apprentices are freed with lifelong wealth.
Themes in this chapter
Virtue Rewarded and Vice Punished
The innocent apprentices are saved from execution, while the murderous innkeeper is executed for his crime, illustrating the moral that evil deeds are punished and innocence protected.
Greed and Its Downfall
The innkeeper's greed leads him to murder the merchant for his gold, but his crime is exposed and he is executed, showing the destructive consequences of avarice.
Characters to notice
- the Devil
Disguised as a richly-dressed man, the Devil tempts the three apprentices with wealth and sets the terms of their speech; later appears as a nobleman to save them from execution and claim the innkeeper's soul.
- the servant
The three apprentices are the central characters; they agree to the Devil's bargain, are framed for murder, and ultimately freed.
- the judge
Presides over the trial of the apprentices, accepts their confessions, and sentences them to death before the truth is revealed.
- the rich man
A wealthy merchant who entrusts his money to the innkeeper and is murdered by the host and his wife for his gold.
Key passages
“There were once three apprentices, who had agreed to keep always together while travelling, and always to work in the same town.”
Three journeymen had sworn to stay together and find work in the same place.
Establishes the pact of mutual support among the apprentices.
“The first was to answer, 'All three of us,' to every question; the second was to say, 'For money,' and the third, 'And quite right too!'”
The Devil commanded each apprentice to reply with a single fixed phrase to any question.
The central magical condition of the Devil's bargain.
“When it was midnight, and the host thought that all were asleep, he came with his wife, and they had an axe and struck the rich merchant dead; and after they had murdered him they went to bed again.”
At midnight, the innkeeper and his wife murdered the merchant with an axe while he slept.
The crime for which the apprentices are framed.
“Then said the Devil to the three, 'Now I have got the soul which I wanted to have, and you are free, and have money for the rest of your lives.'”
The Devil declared that he had claimed the innkeeper's soul and granted the apprentices freedom and lasting wealth.
The resolution where the Devil reveals his true target and rewards the apprentices.