The Devil and the Man

Once upon a time, a man and a woman were walking down the road. They met a devil.

"Good day to you, man! And to your wife as well!" said the devil.

The man didn’t like how the devil greeted him—the woman wasn’t his wife at all!

"Ah, you unclean spirit!" he replied. "Why are you saying that? She’s not my wife!"

"Then who is she to you?"

"A relative."

"What kind? How is she related to you?"

"Well, look here, devil," the man answered. "Her mother is my wife’s mother-in-law. Now figure it out yourself—what’s our relationship!"

The devil sat down by the side of the road and started counting. When he ran out of fingers on his hands, he started using his toes—he was so eager to figure out how the woman was related to the man. But no matter how hard he racked his brain, no matter how much he twisted and turned, he just couldn’t figure it out.

The devil grew exhausted and angry. He asked the man:

"Tell me, man, how are you related? I just can’t understand!"

"No way! Figure it out yourself. That’s what you’re a devil for!"

And to this day, the devil is still scratching his head, trying to figure out how that woman is related to the man… What do you think—who is she to him?

More fairy tales

• Honesty of Pekală
• The Cook and the Tsar
• He who waits for cherries to fall into his mouth will not achieve anything good
• Flint the Brave
• The Turk and the Girl