H7c1. The Cunning Man Enters Paradise. .15.16.27.28.31.

The cunning man first deceives Death (the devil), and then, also by deception, enters heaven.

Portuguese, Italians (Ticino, Tyrol), Ladins, French (Picardy, Walloons, Switzerland), Germans (Pomerania), Croats, Romanians, Slovaks, Russians (Vologda), Norwegians, Swedes, Finns, Estonians.

Southern Europe. Portuguese [a blacksmith sells his soul to the devil; a soldier (blacksmith) is kind to beggars, and these are St. Peter and the Lord; he is promised that his wishes will be fulfilled; these are: a bench or tree from which one cannot get down without the owner's permission; a hat that fits only him; a bag that falls into at the owner's will; always winning at cards; always winning a battle (fight); the devil or Death sticks to the bench; the soldier tells the devil to get into the bag and hits it with a hammer, placing it on an anvil; the devil runs away in terror; the soldier goes to hell, but is not allowed in; he is not allowed into heaven either; he throws his bag at the door of heaven and is dragged there himself; beats the devil at cards; throws his hat on the chair of St. Peter, so that only he can sit in it]: Cardigos 2006, no. 330: 81-82; Italians (South Tyrol) [a pious man gave everything to the poor; the devil lent him money; if he did not repay it within 7 years, he would take his soul; at the end of the term, the Lord, St. Peter, and St. John came and offered to fulfill three wishes; the man: whoever climbs my fig tree will not come down without permission; whoever sits on the bench will not get up; whoever touches the chest will not come off; the devil sent the eldest son, he stuck to the pear tree, was beaten; the younger - to the bench; the devil himself - to the chest; forgave the man the debt; after his death he was not allowed into either heaven or hell; then he waited until a sinless soul entered heaven, and threw his hat through the half-open door; asked permission to take it; Peter let him in; the man sat on the hat and refused to get up; is still in bliss in heaven]: Schneller 1861, no. 17: 32-35; Italians(Ticino) [Hans is 20 years old, he went on a journey; shared his food with two travelers, they were the Lord and St. Paul; they offered to fulfill two of his wishes; G.: whatever I want, let it be in my sack and not leave it without permission; that no one could climb down from the fig tree in my garden without my permission; as for the salvation of the soul, I can achieve it myself; in the city, the devil and two little devils settled in the town hall, whoever enters perishes; G. comes to the town hall, cooks food, the devils fall out of the fireplace; G. suggests playing cards: the loser must leave the town hall forever; the devils lost, but do not want to leave; G. tells them to end up in a sack; promises to release them if they show where the treasure is buried; the devil refuses; iron is thrown onto the sack; the little devils died, the devil agrees; he has to dig up the treasure himself and sign in blood that he will not do any more mischief; G. seeks a godfather for the newborn; refuses to take the Lord or St. Paul - there is no justice in their world; Death {masculine} takes him, she treats everyone equally; G.'s wife and child die; when Death comes for him, he asks to be allowed to eat the fruit of the trees planted; Death promises to come in a hundred years; Death comes, loses at cards, gives Hans another hundred years; the third time G. invites her to climb a fig tree and eat the fruit; Death cannot get down; gives another hundred years; after 300 years leads G. to hell; the devil, seeing him, drives him out of hell in horror; at the gates of heaven, G. asks St. Peter to call his friend St. Paul; while he is calling him, G. throws a sack over the threshold, then orders that he himself fall into it; and so remains in heaven]: Keller 1981: 190-197; Corsicans [the poor man Pipparella received Jesus and St. Peter hospitably; Peter advised him to ask the Lord for grace; P. asked that his pipe always burn and not require refilling; that no one could get up from the bench or climb out of the bag without his permission; P. grew old, and a little devil came for his soul; P. asked him to sit on the bench, made a hot fire in the hearth, then ordered him to jump into the bag, took it to the blacksmith, who beat him with a hammer for a long time, let him go, the little devil ran away; later P. was not allowed into heaven, into purgatory, and in hell they slammed the door in front of him when they realized who had come; P. asked Peter to open the door to heaven a little, threw the bench there, went in for his property; since then he sits in paradise on a bench and smokes a pipe]: Massignon 1984, no. 37: 86-88; Ladins[during the flight to Egypt, St. Joseph asked a blacksmith to shoe a donkey; he promised to fulfill three wishes for this; the blacksmith asked that without his permission anyone who sat on the bench would not get up, anyone who climbed a cherry tree would not get down, anyone who put his hand in a chest of nails would not take it out; the blacksmith sold his soul to the devil; when the latter came for his soul, the blacksmith sat him on the bench and began to hit him with a hammer; the devil promised to return in 7 years; the same with the cherry tree; after another 7 years he asked to get nails; the devil promised not to come anymore; after the blacksmith's death they did not let him into heaven; the devils were also afraid and did not let him in; the blacksmith asked St. Peter to open the door of heaven a little, threw his cap there, jumped on it himself and said that he was on his own land]: Decurtins, Brunold-Bigler 2002, no. 47: 129-132.

Western Europe. The French (Picardy) [a horseman rode up and ordered two horses to be shod immediately; the blacksmith did a good job, but was behind; the horseman showed how it was done: he cut off the horse's legs, put them in the forge, the horseshoes were in place, the horseman attached the legs back; this was God; he was ready to grant three wishes; the blacksmith: that no one could get up from the chair, get off the pear, or get out of the bag without my permission; the blacksmith summoned the devil who had been bothering him, promised him his soul, but asked him to sit in the chair in return; he began to beat him; the devil swore not to bother him anymore; the same with two other devils (pear; bag); after the blacksmith's death, they did not let him into heaven, but the devils were afraid to let him into hell either; he returned to heaven and told St. Peter that a coin had rolled under his door; he let him go find a coin, and the blacksmith did not come back]: Carnoy 1883, No. 4: 67-78; Walloons [a blacksmith made a pact with the devil; the latter promised to provide him with work for 7 years; the Lord and St. Peter were playing lacrosse and the Lord broke the stick; he brought it to the blacksmith to fix it; in return he promised to fulfill three wishes; the blacksmith asks for a punching bag from which he cannot get off, a chair (not to get up) without his permission, a bag into which anyone can climb at his command; the devil comes three times, falls into each of the traps; twice he postpones the term for another 7 years, the third time he promises to supply the blacksmith with iron for the rest of his days; the devils do not let the blacksmith into hell, St. Peter - into heaven; he asks to open the door a crack to look at the Garden of Eden, throws his apron in, is let in to pick it up and does not return]: Laport 1932, no. 330: 48-49; French (Switzerland, canton of Unterwallis) [a soldier has earned only three sous; returning from duty, he gives them to three beggars in succession; they turn out to be Jesus, St. Peter and St. John; Jesus asks what reward the soldier wants; Peter: ask for paradise; but the soldier does not want to die yet; then Jesus gives him a bag: you only have to give the order, and it will contain anything you want; Peter gave a gun that shoots without fail, and John gave a whistle that can help out of any trouble; two hunters want to shoot the same mountain goat; the soldier shot and killed it; the hunters are unhappy, but when the soldier blew his whistle, they almost died; Death took the soldier, but he was not allowed into either hell or heaven, and those two hunters ordered him not to be allowed into purgatory; he returned to the doors of heaven and asked to open them only a little; he threw the bag inside and ordered himself to find himself in it; and so he remained in heaven]: Jegerlehner 1909, No. 34: 154-156; (cf. the French(The Dauphiné) [a peasant named Victor Hugo gives shelter to God and the apostles; God promises to fulfill his wish; VG asks 1) that whoever climbs his apple tree without his permission be unable to get down (he thinks of boys picking apples), 2) that he win at cards, 3) that whoever sits in his chair be unable to get up without his permission; Death comes, a man offers her to pick apples, Death sticks to the apple tree; VG lets her go on condition that she will come for him only in a hundred years; he gets rich playing cards, leaves for the southern countries, returning, sees that all his acquaintances have already died; Death comes, sits in the chair, cannot get up, is let go on condition that she promises not to come for VG at all; he grows old, goes to the next world himself; beats Satan at cards, receives the souls of three milords who went to hell because of VG, to whom they lost everything; God lets VG into heaven, but only into a small room at the entrance; those entering see him with a bag containing the souls of the milords]: Joisten 1991, No. 21.1: 162-166); Germans(Pomerania) [St. Peter and the devil argued over who could mow a field faster and more evenly; Peter asked the blacksmith to forge a beautiful-looking scythe out of brass and a rough one out of iron, promising to fulfill three wishes; the devil chose a shiny scythe, which became dull when it hit the stones; the devil had to throw the stones away, piles of stones are visible to this day; Peter's scythe cut the stones like butter; the blacksmith asked that his glass of vodka never be empty, that anyone who climbed his pear tree could not get down without his permission, and that anyone who sat on his chair could not get off; Peter considered the blacksmith a fool, and, when leaving, turned a huge piece of iron into gold; when the devil came for the blacksmith, he asked him to pick pears for the road; the devil remained on the pear tree; later Death came, sat down on the chair and remained sitting; the blacksmith and Peter set off on a journey; the shepherd gave them a lamb; while the blacksmith was roasting him, he ate the liver; said that only adult sheep grow liver; Peter offered to divide the money they had earned together, but divided it into three parts: a third to the one who ate the liver; the blacksmith confessed right away; on the way, Peter revived a dead girl who was being carried to be buried; left alone, the blacksmith tried to revive the master's dead child, but nothing came of it; they led the blacksmith to be hanged; Peter appeared, revived the child, took the blacksmith away and ordered him not to try to revive anyone again; gave a bag that anyone could climb into at the blacksmith's request and would not get out without his permission; the blacksmith came to the inn; there were no rooms, but you could spend the night in the castle; no one had ever left there alive in the morning; at 11 pm, 9 little devils ran in; they had been looking for their father since he was left sitting on the pear tree; The blacksmith ordered the little devils to get into his bag and slept until the morning; only the youngest one got out of the bag alive and ran off to hell, the rest turned to ashes; returning home, the blacksmith let the devil and Death go for a promise not to come to him again; the blacksmith came to heaven, Peter ordered him to go to hell; the door of hell was opened by that little devil, the blacksmith nailed his long nose to the door; the blacksmith was not allowed into hell; he returned to the gates of heaven, ordered Peter to get into his bag, and he himself took his place and remains there to this day]: Jahn 1891, No. 49: 256-263.

Balkans. Croats [a vineyard was hit by hail, a blacksmith squeezed the juice out of what was left, carried the barrel to meet Death; he offered her to drink the juice together; asked if she could crawl through the hole from the plug, locked her in the barrel, hung it in the smoke toil; God sent the Devil to the blacksmith; the blacksmith asked permission first to forge a knife, an axe and a hoe, and for the Devil to climb into the bellows and blow; locked him in the bellows, beat him; three devils came, the blacksmith asked for help in splitting the log, pinched their fingers in the cracks, ordered the apprentices to beat him; went to heaven, they did not let him in, to hell – the same; slipped into heaven, sat on his old trousers, given to a beggar; God allowed him to stay]: Arkhipova 1962: 60-64; Romanians [a soldier returns from service having earned three zwanziger (1 zwanziger = 20 kreuzers) and three kreuzers; God and St. Peter decide to test him; Peter comes out to meet him three times in the guise of a beggar; the soldier gives him 1 zwanziger and 1 crown each time; Peter offers to grant wishes; the soldier asks for health, an inexhaustible pipe, a stick to protect himself, and a bag from which he cannot get out without his permission; he comes to a tavern of a Jew who is tormented by devils at night; the soldier demands schnapps, a deck of cards, and three candles; as three devils appear, he puts each one in the bag; after beating them, he lets them go on promise not to appear again; the soldier comes to a city where the king, in order to cross a bridge, is forced to promise the devils to give him back what he has just acquired; the king has forgotten that his wife is pregnant; the soldier has promised to help; he remains in the room with the baby, taking with him schnapps, cards, and three candles; again releases the devils for a promise to renounce his claims against the king; after two years, death comes for the soldier; having found himself in the bag, he promises to come for him only when he has become an old wreck; soon he dies, having taken from the king a promise to put a stick, a pipe and a bag in his coffin; he is not allowed into heaven, the devils drive him out of hell; the soldier returns to the doors of heaven, tells the guards to reach into the bag and passes through; God praises him and frees the guards]: Bîrlea 1966: 409-410.

Central Europe. Slovaks [a soldier returns from duty with only three coins; gives them to the poor; St. Peter gives him a pipe that never runs out of tobacco; cards that always win; a sack that anyone can climb into at the owner’s request; with these objects the soldier drives devils out of an inn; Death comes for the soldier; he beats it at cards, receiving another 10 years of life; when it comes again, he lures it into a sack and throws it into a well; no one dies, Death has to be freed; he is not allowed into either heaven or hell; by cunning and with the help of a Jew the soldier gets into heaven]: Gašparíková 1993, no. 33: 30 (=212: 143-144; throws his sack into the half-open door of heaven and wills himself to end up in it); Russian (Vologda) [A soldier served 25 years without receiving anything for his service, tells an old man he meets about his sorrow and receives from him cards and a bag, with which "no one will beat or offend him." He tries to spend the night in a village - they don't let him in because it's too crowded, but they let him into a new house, where "you can't spend the night." The soldier drinks vodka and sorts through the cards, at midnight a multitude of imps appear, start dancing, one hits him on the cheek with its tail - the soldier shouts "into the bag!", the devils climb into his bag. The next morning, the owners carry a coffin for him and are surprised that he is alive. He stays to live with them, marries the owner's daughter. A girl is born - he decides to take the first woman he meets as his godmother. He meets an old woman - Death, invites her to be his godmother, she agrees, and at parting gives his godfather advice: if he is called to a sick person and Death is at his head, then he should not undertake to treat him, but if at his feet, then he should treat him by sprinkling the sick person with cold water. The soldier is known as a healer. He is called to the sick Tsar - Death is at his head. The soldier orders the sick person to be moved to a bench, turns the bench, the old woman - Death does not keep up and ends up at his feet - the Tsar recovers. Death threatens to take revenge on the godfather - he shouts "Into the bag!" and throws the bag into the attic. A year later, Merciful Nicholas comes to the soldier with a request to release Death, the soldier holds her for two more years, Death threatens not to come for him when the time comes. A soldier outlives his family, hears a rumor about the imminent arrival of the Antichrist and decides to go to the next world himself. He is not allowed into heaven, but is allowed into hell. He catches devils in hell, makes a company out of them and begins to drill them. Satan finds out about him, comes and offers to play cards: if he wins, he takes the soldier's soul, if the soldier wins, he takes one of the souls from hell. Satan loses. The demons find out that they were sitting in his bag, complain and kick him out of hell - he leaves, taking the souls of his wife and daughter. He comes to heaven - the apostles refuse to let him in, but agree to let his wife and daughter through: the soldier stands between them and all three end up in heaven]: Burtsev 1895, No. 34: 153-159.

Baltoscandia. Norwegians [a blacksmith makes a 7-year pact with the devil; during this period he will be better than all the craftsmen; hangs a sign on his door "Master of Craftsmen"; the Lord and St. Peter enter to see him unrecognized; the Lord separates one leg at a time from a horse, puts it in the forge, shoes it, puts the legs back; puts the blacksmith's mother in the oven, reforges her into a young girl; when the blacksmith is asked to shoe a horse the next day, he tries to repeat the trick, is forced to pay for the dead horse; puts an old beggar woman in the oven, she burns; the blacksmith tells the Lord that the devil has not fulfilled the pact; the Lord promises to fulfill three requests of the blacksmith: he asks that without his permission no one be able to 1) get off the pear tree, 2) get out of the chair, 3) get out of his purse; Peter says that he should have asked for the kingdom of heaven; when the devil comes for the soul of a blacksmith, he offers him to pick pears first; the devil promises not to come again for 4 years; the same with the chair - another 4 years; offers the devil to get into the purse, puts it in the oven, hits it with a hammer; the devil promises never to come; when he grows old, the blacksmith goes to hell, the devil does not allow him to be let in, locks the bolts; the blacksmith crawls into heaven when the door is opened to let in a tailor whom he met on the way]: Dasent 1970: 105-113; the Swedes [the blacksmith greeted St. Peter and the Lord (or shod their horses); they asked what he wanted; he asked that no one could get off his bench and tree without his permission, and also a bag in which, by his order, anyone he wanted to send there would be; the blacksmith gave his soul to the devil in exchange for becoming a master in his craft; when the devil came, he could not get up from the bench, get down from the tree; the blacksmith got rid of the contract with the devil, but was not accepted into either hell or heaven; then he threw his bag into heaven and ordered himself to be in it]: Liungman 1961, No. 330: 71; Finns: Salmelainen 1947 [a farmhand earned 3 öre, bought three loaves of bread, went on a journey; gives three beggars a loaf each; one gives a bag that can hold anything you want; a card that always wins; a bag that never runs out of money; brings a flock of geese down from the sky into the bag; stays in a house, giving the geese as payment; the owner puts him in a room where the devil comes; the man beats him, takes the money; lures him into a bag, tells the blacksmiths to beat it with hammers, tells the devil to get lost; next time offers to become big, then tiny, lures him into a barrel, plugs him up; releases him for a promise not to return; gets married, looks for a godson for the child, meets Death; Death gives his godson an ointment that cures any disease; comes to a mortally ill king; Death is in the heads; the man turns the bed, manages to get to the head before Death, applies the ointment, the king recovers; Death wants to kill him, the man tells it to get into the bag; lets him go on condition of giving him another 30 years of life; if he says "I am deeply grateful" to anyone, he will die at once; he pronounces them, Death takes him to heaven, they don't want a gambler there; to hell; he plays with the devil, wins many souls, puts them in his bag; they carry it to heaven; he points it at himself, gets into the bag, finds himself in heaven]: 14-18 (=Goldberg 1953: 31-46); Estonians [a soldier meets an old man in the forest three times; shares bread with him until he has nothing left; the old man says that he is Peter, offers to go with him; left alone with a seriously ill man, makes him healthy; relatives offer money, Peter doesn't take it, the soldier takes it; then the hostess gave her a ram; Peter ordered it to be roasted, but not to be eaten without it; the soldier ate the heart; he said that there was no heart; the prince was seriously ill; Peter began to boil him in a cauldron, cleaned out the bones, revived him in the name of the Holy Trinity; Peter did not take the money, they filled the soldier's knapsack with gold; Peter divides it into three parts: the third goes to the one who ate the heart; the soldier confessed; Peter gave him everything and they parted; the princess died, the soldier came to revive her using Peter's method, but nothing worked; Peter entered and revived the princess; forgave the soldier and gave his knapsack a property: whatever he wants to put in there will end up there and will not leave without permission; there is no room at the inn: devils come at night; the soldier stayed and when the devils attacked, he told them to get into the knapsack; he went to the blacksmith, asked him to flatten the knapsack with a hammer; when he released it, the devils were beaten until they were blue; the soldier was already old; Peter: here are two roads; the soldier chose the wide one, came to hell, the devils were afraid of him and did not let him in; at the gates of heaven he asked Peter to take at least his knapsack, he himself ended up in it; Peter hung it on the gate, and it still hangs there]: Järv 2020: 250-256.