The Mythology & Folklore Database
Once upon a time there was a boy who had served a man in the northern mountains for a long time. This man was a master at ale brewing. It was so uncommonly good, the like of it was not to be found. So, when the boy was to leave his place and the man was to pay him the wages he had earned, he would take no other pay than a keg of Yule-ale. Well, he got it and set off with it, and he carried it both far and long, but the longer he carried the keg the heavier it got, and so he began to look about to see if anyone were coming with whom he might have drink, that the ale might lessen and the keg lighten. And after a long, long time, he met an old man with a big beard.
"Good day," said the man.
"Good day to you," said the boy.
"Where are you going?" asked the man.
"I'm looking for someone to drink with me, and lighten my keg," said the boy.
"Can't you drink with me as well as with anyone else?" said the man. "I have traveled both far and wide, and I am both tired and thirsty."
"Well, why shouldn't I?" said the boy. "But tell me, where are you from, and what sort of man are you?"
"I am the Lord, and come from Heaven," said the man.
"I will not drink with you," said the boy, "for you make such distinction between persons here on earth, and you divide rights so unevenly that some get so rich and some so poor. No, I will not drink with you!" And having said this he trudged off again with his keg.
When he had gone a bit farther the keg grew too heavy again. He thought he could not carry it any longer unless someone came with whom he might drink, and so lessen the ale in the keg. Yes, he met an ugly, scrawny man who came rushing along.
"Good day," said the man.
"Good day to you," said the boy.
"Where are you going?" asked the man.
"Oh, I'm looking for someone to drink with, and lighten my keg," said the boy.
"Can't you drink with me as well as with anyone else?" said the man. "I have traveled both far and wide, and I am tired and thirsty."
"Well, why not?" said the boy. "But who are you, and where do you come from?"
"Who am I? I am the Devil, and I come from Hell, that's where I come from," said the man.
"No!" said the boy. "You only torment and plague poor folk, and if there is any unhappiness astir, they always say it is your fault. I will not drink with you."
So he went far and farther than far again with his ale keg on his back, until he thought it grew so heavy there was no carrying it any farther. He began to look around again if anyone were coming with whom he could drink and lighten his keg. So after a long, long time, another man came, and he was so dried up and scrawny it was a wonder that his bones hung together.
"Good day," said the man.
"Good day to you," said the boy.
"Where are you going?" asked the man.
"Oh, I was only looking about to see if I could find someone to drink with, that my keg might be lightened a little, it is so heavy to carry."
"Can't you drink with me as well as with anyone else?" said the man.
"Yes, why not?" said the boy. "But what sort of man are you?"
"They call me Death," said the man.
"I will gladly drink with you.," said the boy. And as he said this he put down his keg and began to tap the ale into a bowl. "You are a good man, for you treat all alike, both rich and poor."
So he drank to his health, and Death drank to his health, and Death said he had never tasted such drink, and as the boy was fond of him, they drank bowl after bowl until the ale was lessened, and the keg grew light.
At last Death said, "I have never known drink which tasted better, or did me so much good as this ale that you have given me, and I scarce know what to give you in return." But after he had thought awhile, he said the keg should never get empty, however much they drank out of it, and the ale that was in it should become a healing drink, by which the boy could make the sick whole again better than any doctor. And he also said that when the boy came into a sick man's room, Death would always be there, and show himself to him, and it should be to him a sure sign if he saw Death at the foot of the bed that he could cure the sick with a draft from the keg; but if he sat by the pillow, there was no healing nor medicine, for then the sick person belonged to Death.
Well, the boy soon grew famous, and was summoned far and near, and he helped many to health again who had been given up. When he came in and saw how Death sat by a sick man's bed, he foretold either life or death, and his foretelling was never wrong. He became both a rich and powerful man, and at last he was summoned to a king's daughter far, far away in the world. She was so dangerously ill that no doctor thought he could do her any good, and so they promised him all that he might ask for if he would only save her life.
Now, when he came into the princess's room, there sat Death at her pillow; but as he sat he dozed and nodded, and while he did this she felt better.
"Now, life or death is at stake," said the doctor; "and I fear, from what I see, there is no hope."
But they said he must save her, if it cost land and realm. So he looked at Death, and while he sat there and dozed again, he made a sign to the servants to turn the bed around so quickly that Death was left sitting at the foot, and at the very moment they turned the bed, the doctor gave her the draft, and her life was spared.
"Now you have cheated me," said Death, "and we are quits."
"I was forced to do it," said the doctor, "unless I wished to lose land and realm."
"That shall not help you much," said Death. "Your time is up, for now you belong to me."
"Well," said the boy, "what must be must be. But you'll let me have time to read the Lord's Prayer first?"
Yes, he might have leave to do that. But he took very good care not to read the Lord's Prayer. He read everything else, but the Lord's Prayer never crossed his lips, and at last he thought he had cheated Death for good and all.
But when Death thought he had really waited too long, he went to the boy's house one night, and hung up a large tablet with the Lord's Prayer painted on it over against his bed. So when the boy woke in the morning he began to read the tablet, and did not quite see what he was doing until he came to Amen. But then it was just too late, and Death had him.