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 that he cared nothing for money. Then gradually he let himself be persuaded and at last said:

“Very well. If you bring me the gold within an hour I won’t bind you with bast. But don’t keep me waiting or I may change my mind.”

The young devil—oh, you never saw a more stupid young fellow!—scurried off and, long before the hour was up, he came panting back with a great big bag of gold.

“Is that enough?” he asked.

The farmer who had really never seen so much money in all his life hemmed and hawed but finally said:

“Well, it isn’t as much as I expected but I’ll accept it.”

The young devil, delighted with his bargain, hurried back to hell and told all his black comrades how grateful they ought to be to him for saving them from the farmer who was planning to bind them, hand and foot, with bast.

When the other devils heard the whole story, they laughed at him loud and long.

“You are certainly the stupidest devil in hell!” they said. “Why, that man has made a fool of you!”