The Bear Skinner
December 07, 2003
You can find a condensed version of the story below.
Once upon a time there was a war. The war ended, and all the soldiers could go home. Some did so quite happily, but others had no home to return to, and they knew no trade but war.
One of those was a young and handsome officer. His money was spent far too quickly, and he had already sold his bright cap and his shiny gold buttons, and he had even sold his sword to a blacksmith, and finally he found himself begging for money on the streets.
One day he hadn't been given a single coin or a single piece of bread, and he was hungry and angry and under his breath he cursed, as soldiers do: "I'd rather deal with the devil than with these greedy merchants who wouldn't give bread to a starving man!"
He had hardly spoken these words, when the devil appeared in front of him.
"So you rather want to deal with the devil than stay a beggar?" he asked the soldier.
The courageous soldier did not run away, although the devil looked quite horrible. "Yes," he said.
"Then, here's the deal," the devil said. "I'll make sure that you will always find gold in your pocket. But you have to wear this old ragged bear skin and not wash, nor cut your hair or your beard or your fingernails for seven years. If you die before seven years are past, or if you break our agreement, I'll get your soul. But after those seven years, you are going to keep the gold and your soul both."
"That's a fair deal," the soldier said. He put on the bear skin and the deal was done.
Six years passed. The officer was still wearing the bear skin and he hadn't washed, nor had he cut his hair or his beard or his fingernails, and he looked very gruesome and wild. But he always had gold in his pocket, so he never lacked for anything -- except human company, for, gold or none, people feared and avoided him.
One evening he was sleeping on a soft bed in a good inn, when he heard sobbing from the next room. Curious, he rose and went looking, and in the next room he found an old man who was crying.
"Why are you crying?" the soldier asked.
The old man was so sad that he didn't care about the other man's apperance.
"I'm a trader," he said, "and I have lost all my wares to robbers. I'm ruined, I have no money to buy new wares, and I have three unmarried daughters to care for!"
The soldier pitied the man. "Maybe I can help you," he said. "But I want one of your daughters for my wife!"
"I can't give one of my daughters to a stranger," the old man said. "You will have to ask them yourself."
"That's good enough for me," the soldier said. He gave the trader a lot of gold, and accompanied him home to meet his daughters.
When the trader's eldest daughter saw the wild man in the bear skin, she turned to her father and said: "Marry him? You're out of your mind! He's but an animal from the forest!" And she walked away.
The trader's second daughter saw the wild man and screamed, "He's some wild thing of the woods, or even the devil himself, and he's ugly to boot -- you can't demand I marry him, I'd rather die!" And she ran away.
But the trader's youngest daughter looked at the soldier and said, "He's a very poor man, all ugly and ragged, and I pity him. I will marry him."
"So we will marry," the soldier said, "but I can not marry you right now. I will be back in a year and a day, and then we will marry. And I give you this so you'll recognize me," and he took a ring from his pocket and broke it in two. One half he gave to the trader's youngest daughter, the other he kept.
Another year went by and the seven years were finally over. The soldier threw the old bearskin away, he washed and had his hair and fingernails cut and his beard shaved and bought fine new clothes fit for a prince, because the devil had been true to his word -- the gold had not run out.
So, it was a very fine and wealthy looking young man who came to the old trader's house one day. No one recognized him, and the eldest and the second daughter tried everything to catch his eye, but the youngest was sitting silently in the corner, ignoring the young man.
The soldier walked up to her and said, "My lady, why won't you look at me?"
"I am betrothed to another man," the youngest daughter said, "and it would not be proper to look at you like my sisters do."
"But surely you can bring me a cup of wine?" said the soldier, and so the youngest daughter went to fetch wine. When she gave it to the soldier, he dropped his half of the ring into it. He drank the wine and looked into the cup. "My lady," he said, "You seem to have lost this!" And he showed her the ring at the bottom.
Imagine the girl's surprise when she found her part of the ring still on the chain where she wore it, and her even greater surprise when the two pieces fit together perfectly! She looked up at the soldier and finally recognized him and fell into his arms.
They got married soon thereafter and lived very happily. But the sisters who had shunned the soldier before went yellow and green with envy, they didn't sleep or eat anymore because they couldn't bear to look at their sister and her fine husband. And finally they became so furious that they killed themselves out of anger.
As the envious sisters were buried, the soldier met the devil again, and he said to him: "I always heard that you are so clever and devious and always get your due -- how can it be that I escaped you?"
And the devil, looking at the two coffins, said: "I have not gotten you. But I got two for one instead!" And he disappeared in a cloud of sulphurous smoke.
And here's the same story reduced to the bare bones...
An officer comes home from the war, not knowing where to go or what to do because he knows only fighting. Then he meets the devil who offers him a deal: he will always find gold in his pockets, but he has to wear a bear skin for seven years and not wash or shave or cut his hair. If he survives the seven years he's free and the gold will still be there, if he dies in that time, the devil gets his soul.
He agrees.
After some years, he looks pretty hideous, but his money still buys him a place at an inn, and there he hears weeping in the next room. He finds an old man who has lost all his money and is indebted, and is crying because he has three daughters and does not know how to care for them.
The officer gives him a lot of gold, and the old man offers him the hand of one of his daughters.
The elder two turn away in horror, but the youngest is willing to honor her father's deal. But the officer says, that he cannot marry her now but will return in three years (knowing that by then the seven years will be over), he breaks a ring in half and gives her one part.
Three years later he's still alive and freshly washed and clothed and shaven and looking very fine. He returns to that old man's house where he isn't recognized, but the two elder daughters are fuzzing around him, hoping to catch his eye, while the youngest sits quietly, wearing mourning colors, for her promised husband has failed to return. But he shows her the ring and they marry and the elder sisters are so furious that they kill themselves.
And in the end the devil appears again to the officer who still wonders how he got off that easy and tells him, now he's gotten two for one.
Storytelling Advice
If you tell this story 'as written', it will take about 8-10 minutes.
The 'Bare Bones' Version will take about 2-3 minutes and is closer to the original.
As you might have noticed I took some liberties with the story, embellishing, changing some things, inventing others, and so on. I encourage you to do the same: This is a fairy tale, and it's meant to be told and changed -- not memorized.
Author's Notes & Documentation
none yet.