Grimm's Household Tales

There was once a young fellow who enlisted as a soldier, conducted himself bravely, and was always the foremost when it rained bullets. As long as the war lasted, all went well, but when peace was made, he received his discharge, and the captain said he could go where he liked. His parents were dead, and he no longer had a home, so he went to his brothers and begged them to take him in and keep him until war broke out again. The brothers, however, were hard-hearted and said, “What can we do with you? You are of no use to us. Go and make a living for yourself.” The soldier had nothing left but his gun. He took that on his shoulder and went out into the world. He came to a wide heath, on which nothing was to be seen but a circle of trees. Under these he sat down sorrowfully and began to think over his fate. “I have no money,” he thought. “I have learned no trade but that of fighting, and now that they have made peace, they don’t want me any longer. So I see beforehand that I shall have to starve.” All at once he heard a rustling, and when he looked around, a strange man stood before him, who wore a green coat and looked quite stately, but had a hideous cloven foot. “I already know what you need,” said the man. “You shall have gold and possessions, as much as you can squander, however you please. But first I must know whether you are fearless, so that I may not bestow my money in vain.” “A soldier and fear—how can those two things go together?” he answered. “You can put me to the proof.” “Very well, then,” answered the man, “look behind you.” The soldier turned around and saw a large bear, which came growling toward him. “Oho!” cried the soldier, “I will tickle your nose for you, so that you will soon lose your taste for growling,” and he aimed at the bear and shot it through the muzzle. It fell down and never stirred again. “I see quite well,” said the stranger, “that you are not lacking in courage, but there is still another condition that you will have to fulfill.” “If it does not endanger my salvation,” replied the soldier, who knew very well who was standing by him. “If it does, I’ll have nothing to do with it.” “You will have to look to that yourself,” answered Greencoat. “For the next seven years you shall neither wash yourself, nor comb your beard or your hair, nor cut your nails, nor say the Lord’s Prayer even once. I will give you a coat and a cloak, which you must wear during this time. If you die during these seven years, you are mine; if you remain alive, you are free, and rich as well, for all the rest of your life.” The soldier thought of the great extremity in which he now found himself, and since he had so often gone to meet death, he resolved to risk it now also and agreed to the terms. The Devil took off his green coat, gave it to the soldier, and said, “If you have this coat on your back and put your hand into the pocket, you will always find it full of money.” Then he pulled the skin off the bear and said, “This shall be your cloak and your bed also, for you shall sleep on it, and you shall lie in no other bed, and because of this apparel you shall be called Bearskin.” After this the Devil vanished.

The soldier put the coat on, felt at once in the pocket, and found that the thing was really true. Then he put on the bearskin and went out into the world and enjoyed himself, refraining from nothing that did him good and his money harm. During the first year his appearance was passable, but during the second he began to look like a monster. His hair covered nearly his whole face, his beard was like a piece of coarse felt, his fingers had claws, and his face was so covered with dirt that if cress had been sown on it, it would have come up. Whoever saw him ran away, but since he gave the poor money everywhere so that they would pray that he might not die during the seven years, and since he paid well for everything, he still always found shelter. In the fourth year he entered an inn where the innkeeper would not receive him and would not even let him have a place in the stable, because he was afraid the horses would be scared. But when Bearskin thrust his hand into his pocket and pulled out a handful of ducats, the innkeeper let himself be persuaded and gave him a room in an outbuilding. Bearskin was, however, obliged to promise not to let himself be seen, lest the inn get a bad name.

As Bearskin was sitting alone in the evening, wishing from the bottom of his heart that the seven years were over, he heard loud lamenting in a neighboring room. He had a compassionate heart, so he opened the door and saw an old man weeping bitterly and wringing his hands. Bearskin went nearer, but the man sprang to his feet and tried to escape from him. At last, when the man realized that Bearskin’s voice was human, he let himself be prevailed on, and by kind words Bearskin succeeded so far that the old man revealed the cause of his grief. His property had dwindled away by degrees. He and his daughters would have to starve, and he was so poor that he could not pay the innkeeper and was to be put in prison. “If that is your only trouble,” said Bearskin, “I have plenty of money.” He had the innkeeper brought there, paid him, and put a purse full of gold into the poor old man’s pocket besides.

When the old man saw himself set free from all his troubles, he did not know how to be grateful enough. “Come with me,” he said to Bearskin. “My daughters are all miracles of beauty. Choose one of them for yourself as a wife. When she hears what you have done for me, she will not refuse you. Truly, you do look a little strange, but she will soon put you to rights again.” This pleased Bearskin well, and he went. When the eldest saw him, she was so terribly alarmed at his face that she screamed and ran away. The second stood still and looked at him from head to foot, but then she said, “How can I accept a husband who no longer has a human form? The shaved bear that was once here and passed itself off as a man pleased me far better, for at any rate it wore a hussar’s uniform and white gloves. If it were nothing but ugliness, I could get used to that.” The youngest, however, said, “Dear father, that must be a good man to have helped you out of your trouble, so if you have promised him a bride for doing it, your promise must be kept.” It was a pity that Bearskin’s face was covered with dirt and hair, for otherwise they might have seen how delighted he was when he heard these words. He took a ring from his finger, broke it in two, and gave her one half; the other he kept for himself. He wrote his name, however, on her half, and hers on his, and begged her to keep her piece carefully, and then he took his leave and said, “I must still wander about for three years, and if I do not return then, you are free, for I shall be dead. But pray to God to preserve my life.”

The poor betrothed bride dressed herself entirely in black, and when she thought of her future bridegroom, tears came into her eyes. Nothing but contempt and mockery fell to her lot from her sisters. “Take care,” said the eldest. “If you give him your hand, he will strike his claws into it.” “Beware!” said the second. “Bears like sweet things, and if he takes a fancy to you, he will eat you up.” “You must always do as he likes,” began the elder again, “or else he will growl.” And the second continued, “But the wedding will be a merry one, for bears dance well.” The bride was silent and did not let them vex her. Bearskin, however, traveled about the world from one place to another, did good where he was able, and gave generously to the poor so that they might pray for him.

At length, as the last day of the seven years dawned, he went once more out onto the heath and seated himself beneath the circle of trees. It was not long before the wind whistled, and the Devil stood before him and looked angrily at him. Then he threw Bearskin his old coat and asked for his own green one back. “We have not gotten that far yet,” answered Bearskin. “You must first make me clean.” Whether the Devil liked it or not, he was forced to fetch water and wash Bearskin, comb his hair, and cut his nails. After this he looked like a brave soldier and was much handsomer than he had ever been before.

When the Devil had gone away, Bearskin was quite lighthearted. He went into the town, put on a magnificent velvet coat, seated himself in a carriage drawn by four white horses, and drove to his bride’s house. No one recognized him. The father took him for a distinguished general and led him into the room where his daughters were sitting. He was forced to place himself between the two eldest, and they served him wine, gave him the best pieces of meat, and thought that in all the world they had never seen a handsomer man. The bride, however, sat opposite him in her black dress and never raised her eyes or spoke a word. When at length he asked the father whether he would give him one of his daughters as a wife, the two eldest jumped up and ran into their bedrooms to put on splendid dresses, for each of them imagined she was the chosen one. As soon as the stranger was alone with his bride, he brought out his half of the ring and threw it into a glass of wine, which he handed across the table to her. She took the wine, but when she had drunk it and found the half ring lying at the bottom, her heart began to beat. She got the other half, which she wore on a ribbon around her neck, joined them, and saw that the two pieces fit exactly together. Then he said, “I am your betrothed bridegroom, whom you saw as Bearskin, but through God’s grace I have received my human form again and have once more become clean.” He went up to her, embraced her, and gave her a kiss. In the meantime the two sisters came back in full dress, and when they saw that the handsome man had fallen to the share of the youngest and heard that he was Bearskin, they ran out full of anger and rage. One of them drowned herself in the well; the other hanged herself on a tree. In the evening someone knocked at the door, and when the bridegroom opened it, it was the Devil in his green coat, who said, “Do you see? I now have two souls in place of your one!”