’No,wedonotwantmoney,’saidthey。’Wehavenopaymentstomake,andnotaxes,sowhatshouldwedowithit?’
TheoldDevillaydowntosleep——supperless。
TheaffairwastoldtoIvá;ntheFool。Peoplecameandaskedhim,’Whatarewetodo?Afinegentlemanhasturnedup,wholikestoeatanddrinkanddresswell,buthedoesnotliketowork,doesnotbegin“Christ’sname,“butonlyoffersgoldpiecestoeveryone。Atfirstpeoplegavehimallhewanteduntiltheyhadplentyofgoldpieces,butnownoonegiveshimanything。What’stobedonewithhim?Hewilldieofhungerbeforelong。’
Ivá;nlistened。
’Allright,’sayshe,’wemustfeedhim。Lethimlivebyturnateachhouseasashepherd[16]does。’
Therewasnohelpforit。TheoldDevilhadtobeginmakingtheround。
InduecoursetheturncameforhimtogotoIvan’shouse。TheoldDevilcameintodinner,andthedumbgirlwasgettingitready。
Shehadoftenbeendeceivedbylazyfolkwhocameearlytodinner——
withouthavingdonetheirshareofwork——andateupalltheporridge,soithadoccurredtohertofindoutthesluggardsbytheirhands。Thosewhohadhornyhands,sheputatthetable,buttheothersgotonlythescrapsthatwereleftover。
TheoldDevilsatdownatthetable,butthedumbgirlseizedhimbythehandsandlookedatthem——therewerenohardplacesthere:thehandswerecleanandsmooth,withlongnails。ThedumbgirlgaveagruntandpulledtheDevilawayfromthetable。AndIvá;n’swifesaidtohim,’Don’tbeoffended,finegentleman。
Mysister-in-lawdoesnotallowanyonetocometotablewhohasn’thornyhands。Butwaitawhile,afterthefolkhaveeatenyoushallhavewhatisleft。’
TheoldDevilwasoffendedthatintheKing’shousetheywishedhimtofeedlikeapig。HesaidtoIvá;n,’Itisafoolishlawyouhaveinyourkingdomthateveryonemustworkwithhishands。It’syourstupiditythatinventedit。Dopeopleworkonlywiththeirhands?Whatdoyouthinkwisemenworkwith?’
AndIvá;nsaid,’Howarewefoolstoknow?Wedomostofourworkwithourhandsandourbacks。’
’Thatisbecauseyouarefools!ButIwillteachyouhowtoworkwiththehead。Thenyouwillknowthatitismoreprofitabletoworkwiththeheadthanwiththehands。’
Ivá;nwassurprised。
’Ifthatisso’saidhe,’thenthereissomesenseincallingusfools!’
AndtheoldDevilwenton。’Onlyitisnoteasytoworkwithone’shead。
Yougivemenothingtoeat,becauseIhavenohardplacesonmyhands,butyoudonotknowthatitisahundredtimesmoredifficulttoworkwiththehead。Sometimesone’sheadquitesplits。’
Ivá;nbecamethoughtful。
’Why,then,friend,doyoutortureyourselfso?Isitpleasantwhentheheadsplits?Woulditnotbebettertodoeasierworkwithyourhandsandyourback?’
ButtheDevilsaid,’Idoitalloutofpityforyoufools。IfIdidn’ttorturemyselfyouwouldremainfoolsforever。But,havingworkedwithmyhead,Icannowteachyou。’
Ivá;nwassurprised。
’Doteachus!’saidhe,’sothatwhenourhandsgetcrampedwemayuseourheadsforachange。’
AndtheDevilpromisedtoteachthepeople。SoIvá;ngavenoticethroughoutthekingdomthatafinegentlemanhadcomewhowouldteacheverybodyhowtoworkwiththeirheads;thatwiththeheadmorecouldbedonethanwiththehands;andthatthepeopleoughtalltocomeandlearn。
NowtherewasinIvan’skingdomahightower,withmanystepsleadinguptoalanternonthetop。AndIvá;ntookthegentlemanuptherethateveryonemightseehim。
Sothegentlemantookhisplaceonthetopofthetowerandbegantospeak,andthepeoplecametogethertoseehim。Theythoughtthegentlemanwouldreallyshowthemhowtoworkwiththeheadwithoutusingthehands。ButtheoldDevilonlytaughttheminmanywordshowtheymightlivewithoutworking。Thepeoplecouldmakenothingofit。Theylookedandconsidered,andatlastwentofftoattendtotheiraffairs。
TheoldDevilstoodonthetowerawholeday,andafterthatasecondday,talkingallthetime。Butstandingtheresolonghegrewhungry,andthefoolsneverthoughtoftakingfoodtohimupinthetower。Theythoughtthatifhecouldworkwithhisheadbetterthanwithhishands,hecouldatanyrateeasilyprovidehimselfwithbread。
TheoldDevilstoodonthetopofthetoweryetanotherday,talkingaway。Peoplecamenear,lookedonforawhile,andthenwentaway。
AndIvá;nasked,’Well,hasthegentlemanbeguntoworkwithhisheadyet?’
’Notyet,’saidthepeople;’he’sstillspoutingaway。’
TheoldDevilstoodonthetoweronedaymore,buthebegantogrowweak,sothathestaggeredandhithisheadagainstoneofthepillarsofthelantern。OneofthepeoplenoticeditandtoldIvan’swife,andsherantoherhusband,whowasinthefield。
’Comeandlook,’saidshe。’Theysaythegentlemanisbeginningtoworkwithhishead。’
Ivá;nwassurprised。
’Really?’sayshe,andheturnedhishorseround,andwenttothetower。
AndbythetimehereachedthetowertheoldDevilwasquiteexhaustedwithhunger,andwasstaggeringandknockinghisheadagainstthepillars。AndjustasIvá;narrivedatthetower,theDevilstumbled,fell,andcamebump,bump,bump,straightdownthestairstothebottom,countingeachstepwithaknockofhishead!
’Well!’saysIvá;n,’thefinegentlemantoldthetruthwhenhesaidthat“sometimesone’sheadquitesplits。“Thisisworsethanblisters;aftersuchworktherewillbeswellingsonthehead。’
TheoldDeviltumbledoutatthefootofthestairs,andstruckhisheadagainsttheground。Ivá;nwasabouttogouptohimtoseehowmuchworkhehaddone——whensuddenlytheearthopenedandtheoldDevilfellthrough。Onlyaholewasleft。
Ivá;nscratchedhishead。
’Whatanastything,’sayshe。’It’soneofthosedevilsagain!Whatawhopper!Hemustbethefatherofthemall。’
Ivá;nisstillliving,andpeoplecrowdtohiskingdom。Hisownbrothershavecometolivewithhim,andhefeedsthem,too。Toeveryonewhocomesandsays’Givemefood!’Ivá;nsays,’Allright。Youcanstaywithus;wehaveplentyofeverything。’
Onlythereisonespecialcustominhiskingdom;whoeverhashornyhandscomestotable,butwhoeverhasnot,musteatwhattheothersleave。
evilallures,butgoodenduresEVILALLURES,BUTGOODENDURES
THERElivedinoldentimesagoodandkindlyman。Hehadthisworld’sgoodsinabundance,andmanyslavestoservehim。Andtheslavespridedthemselvesontheirmaster,saying:
’Thereisnobetterlordthanoursunderthesun。Hefeedsandclothesuswell,andgivesusworksuitedtoourstrength。Hebearsnomaliceandneverspeaksaharshwordtoanyone。Heisnotlikeothermasters,whotreattheirslavesworsethancattle:
punishingthemwhethertheydeserveitornot,andnevergivingthemafriendlyword。Hewishesuswell,doesgood,andspeakskindlytous。Wedonotwishforabetterlife。’
Thustheslavespraisedtheirlord,andtheDevil,seeingit,wasvexedthatslavesshouldliveinsuchloveandharmonywiththeirmaster。Sogettingoneofthem,whosenamewasAleb,intohispower,theDevilorderedhimtotempttheotherslaves。Andoneday,whentheywereallsittingtogetherrestingandtalkingoftheirmaster’sgoodness,Alebraisedhisvoice,andsaid:
’Itisstupidtomakesomuchofourmaster’sgoodness。TheDevilhimselfwouldbekindtoyou,ifyoudidwhathewanted。Weserveourmasterwell,andhumourhiminallthings。Assoonashethinksofanything,wedoit:foreseeingallhiswishes。Whatcanhedobutbekindtous?Justtryhowitwillbeif,insteadofhumouringhim,wedohimsomeharminstead。Hewillactlikeanyoneelse,andwillrepayevilforevil,astheworstofmastersdo。
TheotherslavesbegandenyingwhatAlebhadsaidandatlastbetwithhim。Alebundertooktomaketheirmasterangry。Ifhefailed,hewastolosehisholidaygarment;butifhesucceeded,theotherslavesweretogivehimtheirs。Moreover,theypromisedtodefendhimagainstthemaster,andtosethimfreeifheshouldbeputinchainsorimprisoned。Havingarrangedthisbet,Alebagreedtomakehismasterangrynextmorning。
Alebwasashepherd,andhadinhischargeanumberofvaluable,pure-bredsheep,ofwhichhismasterwasveryfond。Nextmorning,whenthemasterbroughtsomevisitorsintotheinclosuretoshowthemthevaluablesheep,Alebwinkedathiscompanions,asiftosay: