eing made for the marriage, the soldier
arrives at the end of his term of service to "the little devil" who
had hired him, and from whom he had received his wealth in return for
his abstinence and cleanliness. So he calls the "little devil," and
says, "Now turn me into a nice young man."

Accordingly "the little devil cut him up into small pieces, threw them
into a cauldron and set them on to boil. When they were done enough,
he took them out and put them together again properly--bone to bone,
joint to joint, vein to vein. Then he sprinkled them with the Waters
of Life and Death--and up jumped the soldier, a finer lad than stories
can describe, or pens portray!"

The story does not end here. When the "little devil" returns to the
lake from which he came, "the grandfather" of the demons asks him--

"How about the soldier?"

"He has served his time honestly and honorably," is the reply. "Never
once did he shave, have his hair cut, wipe his nose, or change his
clothes." The "grandfather" flies into a passion.

"What! in fifteen whole years you couldn't entrap a soldier! What, all
that money wasted for nothing! What sort of a devil do you call
yourself after that?"--and ordered him to be flung "into boiling
pitch."

"Stop, grandfather!" replies his grandchild. "I've booked two souls
instead of the soldier's one."

"How's that?"

"Why, this way. The soldier wanted to marry one of three princesses,
but the elder one and the second one told their father that they'd
sooner marry the devil than the soldier. So you see both of them are
ours."

After he had heard this explanation, "the grandfather acknowledged
that the little devil was in the right, and ordered him to be set
free. The imp, you see, understood his business."

[For two German versions of this story, see the tales
of "Des Teufels russiger Bruder," and "Der
Baerenhaeuter" (Grimm, Nos. 100, 101, and Bd. iii. pp.
181, 182). More than twelve centuries ago,
Hiouen-Thsang transferred the following story from
India to China. A certain Rishi passed many times ten
thousand years in a religious ecstasy. His body became
like a withered tree. At last he emerged from his
ecstasy, and felt inclined to marry, so he went to a
neighboring palace, and asked the king to bestow upon
him one of his daughters. The king, exceedingly
embarrassed, called the princesses together, and asked
which of t