Between Varlois and Comté, near Mont-Failly, there once lived a peasant named Tolomé with his family. At first, things were going well on his farm, but then Tolome’s father died, and from that day on, misfortunes began to fall on the poor man. Crop failures followed by crop failures, the cattle were overcome by diseases one worse than the other, the lord became more and more greedy, his wife and children did not stop getting sick, and in the end Tolome became completely impoverished. What was there to do? No matter how hard he tried, no matter how much he racked his brains from morning to evening, life became increasingly difficult.
And then on the very evening when his last horse died, there was a fire on the farm, and all the stables and barns burned down; Only the chicken coops, the dog kennel and part of the house survived. Nothing could be worse than this. Tolome was ruined, completely ruined.
The next morning he wandered along the edge of the burnt forest. His soul was so heavy that he involuntarily exclaimed:
“If only the devil could help me out!”
Before he had time to utter these words, out of nowhere a small man, only a few inches tall, jumped onto his shoulder and jumped back and forth over Toloma, who was dumbfounded with surprise.
Tolome noted with pleasure that he was a pretty little devil, cheerful, lively, playful and, moreover, dressed in a beautiful green doublet with fringes of pure gold. The hat, with a long peacock feather sticking out of it, was pulled jauntily down over his small face.
- Tolome, Tolome, your affairs are bad, as I see! Only weeds grow in your fields, your cattle have died, your wife is sick, almost the entire farm has burned down! You no longer know which saint to pray to, so you called me. Well, here I come. Let's talk frankly. How can I serve you?
Tolome explained to the devil what he needed.
- Excellent, Uncle Tolome. You will have a wonderful farm, large barns and sheds full of grain and hay, many horses and cows, your wife and children will get well - if only you want it...
- Do I want to? Of course!
“You will receive all this tonight, at the very minute when the rooster crows in your yard; but if I honestly keep my promise...
- What then?
“Then you will give me the soul of your eldest son.”
- The soul of my eldest son? -Yes.
- You're joking, right?
- Not at all. If you want, agree, if you want, no. Nothing for nothing is my rule. You give and you take!
Tolome thought about it. He understood that giving his son’s soul to an evil spirit was a terrible thing, but, on the other hand, he imagined how good it would be on the new farm, and agreed.
“He’s coming,” he said to the green man. “I agree, but on the condition that you have everything ready by the very minute the rooster crows.” If you don't make it in time, the farm will remain with me, and you won't get anything.
- Okay, deal with each other. Now sign it.
The evil spirit took out of his pocket a huge scroll of parchment in which ten such devils could be hidden. He unfolded it, then pulled out of his pocket, first a trimmed quill pen, then a table and, finally, a knife with which he cut the peasant’s hand. A scarlet drop appeared, the evil spirit moistened the pen with blood and handed it to Toloma to sign the terrible agreement. Tolome put his name next to many other names.
Then the little man turned somersault, hid the parchment, knife, pen and table in his pocket and disappeared into the bushes with joyful exclamations:
- Ha-ha-ha! Dick-and-Don has had a good day again!
Tolome wandered through the forest until evening.
Returning home, he saw that thousands of little devils were carrying stones, lime, sand, demolishing old walls, digging earth, forging, hewing - all this with unimaginable speed and hellish noise, while other devils were shining torches at them.
Tolome's wife and children immediately recovered, but they were very surprised by this commotion, and they could not understand where Tolome got all these workers who built their farm.
The peasant told his wife about what happened between him and the devil near the burnt forest and asked her for advice.
- What have you done, unfortunate thing! Give your son to the devil! You yourself are no better than the devil!
“And I was counting on you to help me deceive him and get out of this case with honor.”
Tolome's wife became thoughtful.
“Are you saying that the devil must finish all his work by the minute the rooster crows?” Fine. It is not for nothing that God has long decided that women should be friends with the serpent. I will be able to save both the new farm and the soul of my son.
The devils were ordered to finish their work before daylight, at five o'clock in the morning, when the roosters usually wake up. This is where Tolome’s wife decided to spend it.
At about four o'clock in the morning she slowly got up and went to the chicken coop. The work was almost finished. The peasant woman unlocked the chicken coop and woke up the rooster, who screamed at the top of his lungs: “Crow, crow!”
This is how they outwitted the devil Dick-and-Don. He fled with all his assistants, leaving the fence unfinished, with several stones missing. A new beautiful farm has grown up on the site of the old one. The barns and sheds were bursting with grain and hay, the stables and barns were filled with strong horses and fattened cows, and in the closet lay a large bag of gold.
From that day on, the peasant Tolome lived richly and happily and never again saw Dik-i-Don, who had been deceived by him, who decided no longer to renew his acquaintance with the one who had once deceived him.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru