The Peasant and the Devil

Once there lived a man. He was such a hard worker when it came to axes—meaning he was a carpenter.

So, he was building a house for one master, and then another man came up to him and asked:
"Come to me, brother, when you're done here."
It was about five or six versts to the other village. So, when he finished the job, settled the payment, and set off.

He had walked almost three versts when a devil came toward him:
"Hello, little man!"
"Hello, stranger."
"What do you mean, stranger?" the devil was surprised. "Well, even if I am a stranger, let's get to know each other!"
"And how will we get to know each other?" asked the man.
"Like this—let's sing songs together."
"Alright, let's do it!" agreed the man.

So, he started singing a song, and the devil tried to join in, but it was all out of tune. The man then said to the devil:
"Here's what I'll tell you: no matter how much we sing, I still need to get to my master. Let's do this instead: whoever sings a song, the other one will carry them on their back!"

The devil thought and thought, then said:
"I'll sing first, and you carry me!"

So, the man crouched down, the devil climbed onto his back, and before he could even start the song, he finished it right away.
"Well, is that your whole song?" asked the man.
"That's it!"
"Now you crouch down—I'll climb onto you!"

So, he climbed onto the devil and started singing: "O-a-i-e... O-a-i-e!"
The devil asked:
"Well, is that your whole song?"
And the man replied:
"How can it be the whole song? I haven't even started yet!"

The devil got scared, threw off his rider, and ran away. The man ran after the devil, shouting:
"Stop him, stop him!"

But he couldn't catch him because the devil disappeared into the clouds, and the man went on his way.

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The Peasant and the Devil

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