The farmer and the devil

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The farmer and the devil is a fairy tale ( ATU 1030). It is in the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm from the 5th edition of 1843 instead of 189 (KHM 189) and is based on Ludwig Aurbachers The Devil and the farmer in his book for the youth of the 1834th

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At dusk, a farmer finds a glowing pile of coal in his field. A little black devil sits on it and claims to be sitting on a huge treasure. The farmer is very clever and wants the treasure that, in his opinion, belongs to him because it is in his field. The devil will give him the treasure if he gives him half the crops for two years. The farmer promises him the part that grows above the earth and plants all beets. The devil wants to trade the second year, but the farmer plants wheat. The bruised devil drives into a ravine and the farmer gets the treasure.

origin

Grimm's note cites the source in Aurbacher pp. 249–251 . The bad conclusion there is that the devil and the farmer bet who can withstand more heat, better in an oral story in Müllenhoff p. 278 : The devil threatens the frightened farmer to scratch himself with him. The farmer's wife shows him a crack in the oak table and says her husband is still at the blacksmith's nail sharpening. Aurbacher's text is also more detailed: The devil first chooses the one underground because he saw the seeds fall into the ground, then he stands with his stubble and his stubble next to the farmer at the market and is laughed at. Grimm also mentions: Danish in Thiele 2, 249; Estonian in Reinhart Fuchs CCLXXXVIII , where at the end the bear is killed by the fox's cunning while trying to take away the ox; French at Rabelais 4, Cap. 45-47 ; Rückert's poem The Deceived Devil according to an Arabic source. According to popular belief, fruits that grow above the earth must be sown in increasing light, those below the earth in decreasing light. In Normandy, people talk about the competition for the most beautiful church, the devil built one out of stone, but St. Michael out of ice. When it melts, the devil chooses the top herb, Michael keeps that in the earth. Compare German mythology 678.980.981.

The narrative type AaTh 1030 harvest division is documented throughout Europe, more rarely with other actors (saint, woman, Eulenspiegel, fox, goat vs. troll, nature spirit, wolf), other objects of division, principles of division or as the input of a further narrative chain. The oldest evidence is Juan Mannel's De lo que contescio al Bien et al Mal in El Conde Lucanor (14th century), with scratch bet first in Rabelais ' Gargantua 4, chap. 45–47 Le Diable de Papefiguière , which perhaps drew from Arabic sources. The actors Bauer and Teufel are only typical of Europe. One suspects originally dualistic creation myths of gods and adversaries (as in KHM 148 ). Hans-Jörg Uther observes that towards the 19th century the devil is more and more often just the plaything of the cunning (e.g. KHM 101 ).

literature

  • Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm : Children's and Household Tales. Complete edition . With 184 illustrations by contemporary artists and an afterword by Heinz Rölleke. 19th edition. Artemis & Winkler, Düsseldorf / Zurich 2002, ISBN 3-538-06943-3 , pp. 770-771 .
  • Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm : Children's and Household Tales. With an appendix of all fairy tales and certificates of origin not published in all editions . Ed .: Heinz Rölleke . 1st edition. Original notes, guarantees of origin, epilogue ( volume 3 ). Reclam, Stuttgart 1980, ISBN 3-15-003193-1 , p. 271-272, 512 .
  • Heinz Rölleke : Grimm's fairy tales and their sources. The literary models of the Grimm fairy tales are synoptically presented and commented on (=  series of literature studies . Volume 35 ). 2nd Edition. Wissenschaftlicher Verlag, Trier 2004, ISBN 3-88476-717-8 , p. 472-475, 580-581 .
  • Hans-Jörg Uther : Handbook to the "Children's and Household Tales" by the Brothers Grimm. Origin, effect, interpretation . de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2008, ISBN 978-3-11-019441-8 , pp. 388 .
  • Köhler, Ines: Harvest division. In: Encyclopedia of Fairy Tales. Volume 4. pp. 225-234. Berlin, New York, 1984.
  • Wehse, Rainer: Woman as an unknown animal. In: Encyclopedia of Fairy Tales. Volume 5. pp. 192-199. Berlin, New York, 1987.

Web links

Wikisource: The Farmer and the Devil  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heinz Rölleke : Grimms fairy tales and their sources. The literary models of the Grimm fairy tales are synoptically presented and commented on (=  series of literature studies . Volume 35 ). 2nd Edition. Wissenschaftlicher Verlag, Trier 2004, ISBN 3-88476-717-8 , p. 472-475, 580-581 .
  2. ^ Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm : Children's and Household Tales. With an appendix of all fairy tales and certificates of origin not published in all editions . Ed .: Heinz Rölleke . 1st edition. Original notes, guarantees of origin, epilogue ( volume 3 ). Reclam, Stuttgart 1980, ISBN 3-15-003193-1 , p. 271-272, 512 .
  3. ↑ Köhler, Ines: Harvest division. In: Encyclopedia of Fairy Tales. Volume 4. pp. 225-234. Berlin, New York, 1984.
  4. ↑ Hans-Jörg Uther : Handbook on the "Children's and Household Tales" by the Brothers Grimm. Origin, effect, interpretation . de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2008, ISBN 978-3-11-019441-8 , pp. 388 .