You Got One Soul, and I Got Two

Once upon a time, there lived a very poor young man. From an early age, he was left an orphan, without a father or mother. He had to hire himself out as a farmhand. He worked and worked, endured hardships, bent his back for his masters, but achieved nothing in life. So, he decided to leave his master and go wherever his eyes would take him. As he walked along the road, he said to himself:

"I've bent my back for many, but I've never served the devil. Maybe I'll serve him now, and perhaps something will come my way."

Just then, the devil appeared before him and asked:

"Will you come into my service?"

"Why not? That's exactly why I set out, wherever my eyes would take me."

"Well, then follow me!"

The young man followed the devil, and he led him to his house.

"Here's the deal, lad," said the devil. "Take off your clothes and put on what I give you. For a whole year, you are forbidden to change clothes, wash, cut your hair, or shave. And when the year is over, your service will end."

The young man did as he was told. The devil built a large shop right in the town square, filled it with all sorts of fine goods, and set the young man to take money and keep accounts.

The young man set to work. The clerks bustled about, selling goods, while he sat on a stool all day long, counting money.

Business was brisk, money flowed like a river, and Satan came every day to collect his share.

One fine day, a nobleman came to the young man and asked to borrow two thousand rubles.

"Come back in the evening, maybe I'll give it to you."

As soon as the nobleman left, the devil appeared. The young man asked him what to do.

"Give him the money!" ordered the devil.

In the evening, the nobleman returned to the shop.

"Well, have you decided? Will you give me the money?"

"Write a receipt," replied the young man. "Here's the money."

That's all the nobleman needed. He wrote a receipt, grabbed the money, and ran off to play cards with other nobles. But his joy was short-lived; soon he lost every last penny.

Not a week had passed before the nobleman appeared in the shop again, asking to borrow ten thousand rubles; and again, the young man told him to come back in the evening. The devil arrived, and the young man asked him what to do.

"Give him the money!" ordered Satan.

In the evening, the nobleman appeared, wrote a receipt, and the young man counted out ten thousand rubles for him.

But the scoundrel quickly squandered that money too, and within a month, he returned to the young man, this time asking for a hundred thousand.

"Come back in the evening," the young man told him.

The devil came, and the young man told him everything. The evil spirit thought and thought, then said:

"Alright, give him what he asks for."

And again, the young man counted out the money for the nobleman, taking a receipt in return. Several months passed, and the nobleman blew all the money and was left with nothing. A cane in his hand—that was all his wealth. He wandered around the town aimlessly, whistling.

By then, the young man had completed his year of service to Satan. He went to his master, gave his report, everything in good order. But being an honest man, he reminded the devil:

"We're short the money I lent to the nobleman."

"Alright, don't worry, he'll pay it all back."

"Then pay me for my service, and I'll be on my way."

"Wait a couple of days, then we'll settle up."

The next day, the devil got into a carriage and went to his debtor. He cornered the nobleman, who hemmed and hawed, but had nothing to pay with.

"Alright," said the devil, "I don't need your money, but give one of your daughters in marriage to this young man."

Then the evil one pulled out a portrait of a hideous creature from his pocket: dressed in rags, filthy, unshaven, with a tangled beard and long claws on his fingers. The nobleman's hair stood on end, but he had no choice. He called his three daughters and told them what was happening. The two older daughters resisted with all their might, but the youngest said:

"I'll marry him, Father. Whatever happens to me, just don't let my parents end up in debtor's prison in their old age."

The older sisters mocked the youngest, taunting her with her ugly fiancé, but she remained silent and prepared for the wedding.

Meanwhile, the devil washed, groomed, and dressed the young man, and he became a handsomest man the world had ever seen.

The wedding day arrived, and the devil brought the young man to the nobleman's house. Everyone looked at him in amazement, unable to believe their eyes. The father-in-law asked:

"But where is the groom?"

"Here he is," replied the devil, and he pushed the handsome man forward.

Such envy and bitterness overcame the older daughters that they locked themselves in their rooms and hanged themselves.

The young man had his wedding, and the devil rewarded him with a rich treasury as a farewell gift, saying:

"You served me honestly, but you still got one soul, while I earned two."

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You Got One Soul, and I Got Two

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