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To Eisenkopf


To Yara


To Sylvain & Jocosa


To White Wolf                                                                 




The Devil Eisenkopf		                                                                      

























Eisenkopf

"Children, gather round the fireplace, and I shall tell you a story of a boy who made a promise to the devil... a promise he would not keep.  This particular devil was called Eisenkopf.  He once traveled these lands by foot--all the while looking for unsuspecting people for whom he could make mischief."
T
here was once a boy named Peter who came from a small village.  He lived only with his father who was very poor.  One day he told Peter, "My son, I cannot afford to feed you any longer.  You must make your own way."  So Peter did as his father bade him and took a job in a nearby village working for a farrier.  At the end of a year's work, the farrier came to Peter and said, "My good boy, you have worked hard, but I cannot afford to keep you any longer, for the work I have is not enough for both of us."  The man told Peter to hold out his hand, and in it he placed a tiny acorn. "This is payment for all your hard work, " said he.  By this Peter was quite distressed, but he made no sign to the  farrier. 

Peter started home, but by and by he thought, "It's better simply to eat this nut rather than bring such a pittance home to father."  So, Peter cracked the acorn against a rock.  Lo and behold, out came many thousand sheep, cattle, and fowl!  Peter sighed, "Oh, look at my plight!  I'm yet far from home with no way to herd all of these animals with me.  Surely, I am both foolish and cursed."

Just then, a beggar came up to Peter and offered, "I can help you, boy!  I will return these beasts to your acorn if you will promise never to marry."  Peter thought this a strange condition, but as he had no mind to marry anyway, he quickly agreed.  He sped home and lost no time in showing his father the magic of the acorn.  Soon, they had traded a portion of their livestock for land and became the wealthiest ranchers in the village. 

Not long after, Peter's father came to him saying, "Peter, my son, it's time that you married."

"I cannot, father," he replied, "for I gave a promise to the beggar who aided me."

Peter's father looked at him and said, "People promise this and that, but they don't intend to keep such promises.  Besides, from your tale I'm certain that the one who made you promise was none other than the wicked Eisenkopf!  He deserves no fealty from you."

"But if, indeed, it was Eisenkopf, will he not punish me if I break my vow?"

"Fear not," answered the old man.  "If Eisenkopf should come, you need only run to the stable, where I have left a grey mare.  She is faster than the wind and always saddled.  You can return when he loses interest, and we will live happily."

Eisenkopf comes to the wedding
So, in due course, Peter chose a bride and married.  However, no sooner had the wedding feast begun than Eisenkopf appeared at the window.  Peter rushed to the stable, mounted the mare, and galloped away... with Eisenkopf giving chase!  For many moons he rode, forever afraid to stop. 

Eventually, Peter passed by a lake with fields of wild wheat growing nearby.  Seeing that he had outdistanced his pursuer, he stopped to let the mare drink and to gather grain for her to eat, hurrying off again as soon as Eisenkopf appeared on the horizon.  This Peter repeated time and again, until he could not remember how many times he had stopped to feed the mare nor how many he had fled as Eisenkopf approached.  For six years Peter ran, and for six years Eisenkopf gave steady chase.

Finally, Peter came to the end of the world.  There were no more lakes, nowhere left to run... only a tiny cottage surrounded by a wide garden, where an old woman sat on her porch.  "What news?" she inquired.

"I am a weary traveler, mother.  I have been riding to escape the revenge of Eisenkopf, to whom I gave a pledge that I did not keep.  I am disconsolate and without hope, for my plight was caused by my own misdeed.  However, since my fate cannot be undone, what service may I provide for you--that my journey here will not have been without merit?"

"Young man, dismount and enter my home.  For no one shall hinder you whilst you remain within the boundaries of my garden," she answered.  "But heed my words.  Never pluck the flowers that grow in the garden nearest the fountain."

"I promise," he agreed.

So, Peter did as she advised, and surely Eisenkopf halted at the boundary of her garden.  The months passed as Peter resided in the hospitality of the kind old woman.  He worked hard in her garden, ever mindful that Eisenkopf remained watchfully present.  One day, he saw the old woman pluck one of the forbidden flowers.  She held it to her nose and spoke into it.   "To town," she said, and she disappeared.  Soon enough, the old woman appeared again, bearing goods that could not be found in her garden.  He knew immediately that these flowers had the power to transport him home!  However, Peter remembered his promise, as well as the woman's kindness. 

Over the ensuing months, Peter witnessed the old woman using the magic flowers time and again.  However, he did not touch them.  His desire to return home was great, but Peter had suffered enough from broken promises.  At the end of three years, the old woman came to him and said, "It is time that you go home, my child."

"How can it be, mother?  Eisenkopf yet awaits me if I journey beyond your garden," he answered. 

"Eisenkopf has remained here too long," she replied, "and the soil here obeys my wishes.  He is firmly planted in the ground, never again to move freely and to cause mischief."

At this, Peter was quite elated.  The woman gave him a flower that she herself plucked from the garden nearest the fountain.  He already knew what to do, and--after thanking the woman considerably, Peter held the flower to his nose.  "Take me home, " he said.  And the flower did just that. 

Peter awoke in the fields of his youth.  He dashed toward his father's house, at the base of the hill.  Upon arriving, Peter found his father in bed, sickly and weak from old age.  "I have not long, my son.  But I'm thankful to see you once more before I go."

"Father, what of my wife that I knew for only a day?" 

"She is passed, my boy... for she loved you and could not bear your absence so long.  She died only recently, after nearly ten years of misery."  Peter felt his heart sink into his stomach.  He held his father's head in his hands and cried an endless stream of tears.  "Oh, papa, I have paid dearly for my sin."  And, at that, his father passed.


"So, you see children, Peter broke a promise, and for that he suffered greatly - and, although he redeemed himself by keeping his promise to the old woman, his life was already changed forever."

Author's Note: The original story was roughly 3000 words.  So, I cut it significantly.  Furthermore, I changed a great deal about the second half of the story, in order to make the lesson more pointed.  In my version, the duration of Peter's stay with the old woman takes the place of (and combines) several elements of the original.  More importantly, I changed the ending to make it clear what price Peter had paid for his broken promise.  In the original, Peter ends up with a golden-haired maiden after discovering that his wife is dead.  Moreover, his father does not die. 

    In my story, the revelation that his wife is dead and the development that his father is dying are the toll for Peter breaking his promise to Eisenkopf.  He gets to return home, because he was able to keep his promise to the old woman, who--it turns out--was testing his resolve all along.  This is an addition that I made, in order to give Peter the chance to redeem himself.  In the original, Peter is a very good boy who makes this one mistake.  He is kind to three old women, and that eventually provides him with the tools to escape Eisenkopf.  However, I did not want the fact that he is redeemed to muddle the consequences of his lie to Eisenkopf, and so my version ends more bitterly than the original.


Bibliographical Information:
Author: Andrew Lang
Year Published:  1903
Web Source: Crimson Fairy Book
 Back to Cover Page
Back to Introduction
Story 2 - The Yara
Story 3 - Sylvain and Jocosa
Story 4 - The White Wolf
Image Web Source - Eisenkopf Comes to the Wedding From the Crimson Fairy Book Illustrations
Image Web Source - The Black Panther From Bamkapow.com
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