<h3><SPAN name="chap101"></SPAN>101 Bearskin</h3>
<p>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-hearted 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 seven 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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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
neighboring 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.</p>
<p>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.”</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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!”</p>
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