THE EVIL ONE WHO MARRIED THREE SISTERS (From the Italian)

ONCE upon a time the Evil One made up his mind that he would like to get married, so he changed himself into a handsome young man; he mounted a coal-black steed; and away he rode to the city to find a wife for himself.

EACH ONE WAS SAID TO BE HANDSOMER THAN THE OTHERS

In this city lived a merchant who had three daughters, and they were so beautiful that each one was said to be handsomer than the others.

The Evil One soon made acquaintance with the merchant, and in a short time proposed for the hand of his eldest daughter.

The girl was delighted at the idea of having him for a husband, for she thought him the handsomest man she had ever seen. The father gave his consent, and the marriage was celebrated with great feasting and rejoicing.

Afterward the Evil One and his bride entered a coach and drove away together. They went on and on until they had left the city and had driven through a lonely forest, and as soon as they had passed that they came to a most magnificent house which the Evil One had raised up for himself.

The coach drew up before the door and he helped his bride to alight. “This is my home,” said he, “and as long as you are my true and obedient wife all the treasures it contains are yours.”

The girl was overcome with joy at the sight of his magnificent possessions, and when he led her in and through one handsome room after another she could hardly control her pride and delight. Afterward he showed her through the gardens, and the flowers were so many and various that she had never seen the like before.

The Evil One and his bride now lived very happily together for a month, but at the end of that time he told the girl that he was obliged to go away on a journey and that he would not return for three days. During that time she must amuse herself as best she could. She might go all over the house and examine the treasures that were in it, and he gave her a great bunch of keys which were the keys of the different rooms. One door alone she must not open, and that was the Red door at the end of the passage. If she opened this, even so much as a crack, great misfortune would follow.

He then kissed his bride and bade her farewell, but before leaving he gave her a bunch of flowers, and begged her to wear it while he was away.

After he had gone the girl fastened the flowers in the bosom of her dress, and then she began to open the different doors in the house and to go through the rooms, for many of them she had never seen before. She was amazed at the treasures she found in them, and began to think her husband must be the richest man in all the world.

She amused herself very well for two days, and during that time the flowers upon her bosom remained as fresh as when her husband had first given them to her.

But by the time the third day came the girl had seen everything there was in the house except what lay behind the Red door. As she had nothing to do except wonder about that she grew more and more curious. “It must be some treasure more magnificent than all the rest,” she said to herself, “and which my husband intends to surprise me with. It would surely do no harm if I just took one peep at it.”

She put the key in the door and turned it. Immediately, and in spite of all she could do to hold it, the door swung wide open, and she saw at her feet a pit filled with fire. She sprang back, but before she could close the door a flame leaped up and scorched the flowers upon her bosom so that they hung black and dead.

Frightened out of her senses the girl managed to shut the door and lock it. The first thing she did was to take off the flowers and hide them, and then she went out to the garden to gather a fresh bunch before her husband’s return. She hunted everywhere, but nowhere could she find flowers such as he had given her.

While she was still searching she heard him riding up to the door and she was obliged to go out to meet him.

As soon as the Evil One saw her he asked, “Have you opened the Red door?”

“No,” answered the girl, and she trembled so that she could hardly stand.

“Then where are the flowers I gave you?”

“They withered because they had no water, and so I threw them away.”

“That is false,” cried the Evil One; “you have disobeyed me, and you shall be punished as you deserve.” And with that he caught hold of the girl and threw her into the pit.

Then he mounted his black charger and rode away to the merchant’s house.

The merchant was delighted to see him and began to enquire about his daughter.

The Evil One put on a very mournful look. “My dear wife is dead,” he said, “and I am so lonely that I can scarcely bear it. Give me, I beg of you, your second daughter for a wife, that she may take her sister’s place in my house and comfort me.”

The merchant was very much grieved to hear of his daughter’s death, but he felt pity for the Evil One, and as his second daughter was willing he gave her to him as a wife.

As soon as they were married they got into a coach and drove away together.

When they reached the house of the Evil One the new bride was as much delighted with it as her sister had been. They went inside and she could not admire enough all the magnificence she saw.

She and her husband lived together very happily for a month, and at the end of that time he told her he was obliged to go on a long journey, and he would not be able to return for three days. However, he told her she might amuse herself while he was away by going over the house. He gave her the keys of all the rooms, and said she might go into any of them; only the Red door at the end of the long passage she must not open on any account.

The girl promised, and then after bidding her good-by the Evil One rode away, but to her, too, before leaving, he gave a bunch of flowers, and begged her to wear it until he returned.

After he had gone the girl began to go through the house, and when she saw all the treasures that were in it she could hardly restrain her joy. She examined the furniture and statues and the ornaments of gold and silver.

At the end of two days she had opened every door in the house except the Red door. She began to wonder what was behind it, and though she tried to occupy herself with other things she grew more and more curious. At last she could restrain her curiosity no longer.

“I will only open the door a crack,” she thought, “and will just peep in, and my husband need never know it.”

She put the key in the lock and turned it, and immediately the door swung wide open. The girl could not hold it.

Below her lay a pit of fire, and in it was her sister, and before she could step back or move, a flame leaped up and burned the flowers on her bosom to a crisp.

The girl was frightened to death, for now she knew the man she had married was the Evil One himself.

She managed to shut the door at last, and the first thing she did was to throw the flowers away. Then she went out in the garden to gather a fresh bunch. She hunted everywhere, but no place could she find any in the least like those that had been burned.

While she was still hunting her husband came home; she was afraid to have him find her in the garden, and so she went out to meet him.

The first thing he asked her was, “Where are the flowers I gave you to wear?”

“They fell from my bosom while I was out walking, and I have not been able to find them.”

“That is not true,” cried the Evil One in a terrible voice. “You have opened the Red door and the flowers are burned.”

“No,” cried the girl half fainting with terror. But with no more words the Evil One caught hold of her and threw her down into the pit with her sister.

He locked the door upon them and mounted his coal-black charger and rode back to the merchant’s house.

As soon as the merchant saw him from the window he came out to meet him. “Has any misfortune happened to my dear daughter?” he cried.

The Evil One began to lament. “Alas, she is dead,” he said, “and I am left so lonely that it seems as though I could not bear it.”

In the end the merchant gave the Evil One his third daughter for a wife, though it broke his heart to part with her, for she was his youngest daughter and dearer to him than either of the others.

The Evil One married her, and they got in the coach and drove away together.

When the new bride saw the magnificent house he lived in, she was no less pleased with it than her sisters had been.

For a month she and her husband lived there very happily, and then he told her he was obliged to go away on a long journey, and would be gone three days. He gave her the keys of the house, and told her she might go into any of the rooms she chose. Only the Red door at the end of the long passage she must not open on any account.

The new bride promised, and her husband gave her a bunch of flowers, which he begged her to wear while he was gone. Then he rode away.

The girl watched him until he was out of sight, and then the very first thing she did was to put the flowers in a glass of water, that she might keep them fresh until he came back.

After that she began to amuse herself by going over the house and seeing what it contained.

For two days she was very busy in this way, but at the end of that time she had seen everything, and began to wonder what was behind the Red door.

She stood it as long as she could and then she put the key in the lock and turned it. Immediately the door swung open. What was the girl’s horror to see at her feet a chasm of fire, and in it her two dear sisters whom she had thought were dead.

As soon as they saw her they cried aloud, “Alas, alas! What have you done! You have opened the Red door and now you, too, will be thrown into this pit of fire as we were.”

“No, my dear sisters,” said the girl. “Reach me your hands and I will help you out, and then we will find some way to escape from the power of this Evil One.”

The sisters reached her their hands and she managed to pull them out, first one and then the other. After they had kissed each other and wept together the youngest sister hid the others away in her closet among her clothes. And none too soon, for already she heard her husband at the door.

She made haste to pin the flowers he had given her upon the bosom of her dress, and then she went out to meet him.

The first thing the Evil One said was, “Did you open the Red door?”

“No, I did not open it,” answered the girl.

The Evil One looked, and she had the flowers upon her bosom, and they were as fresh as when he had given them to her. Then he believed her, and he could not do enough to show how delighted he was with her. He showered gifts upon her, and there was nothing she might not have had for the asking.

So they lived for awhile, apparently in great peace, and the young wife kept her sisters hidden, so that the Evil One suspected nothing. One day she said to her husband, “I would like to send a present to my father, so that he may know how prosperous I am, but I have no chest suitable to send it in.”

The Evil One immediately said he would have one made, and she told him the shape and size she wished it. It was to be of heavy wood, bound round with iron, and such and such a size. When it was finished it was big enough for a person to get in it and to have room to lie there.

When the chest was brought home the young wife had it taken to her room, and after she had locked the door she bade her eldest sister climb into the chest and then she closed the lid and fastened it.

Then she called her husband. “Carry this to my father’s house,” she said, “and whatever you do, do not open the lid nor look in it. I will be watching you from my window, and if you attempt to do that I shall surely see you.”

The Evil One took the chest and started off with it, but he had a great deal of curiosity, and he wondered what his wife was sending to her father to make the chest so heavy. He waited, however, until he was well out of sight of the house, and then he put down the chest and prepared to open it.

The girl inside called out, “I see what you are doing! I see what you are doing!”

The Evil One thought it was his wife at home, who was calling after him. “My wife certainly has a keen sight,” he thought to himself; but he picked up the chest again and went on with it.

When he reached the merchant’s house he did not knock nor wait to see anyone. He opened the door and threw the chest inside. “Merchant, here is a present my wife sent you,” he called out. Then he shut the door and went on home.

You may imagine the joy of the good merchant when he opened the chest and found his eldest daughter inside it alive and well.

Not long after the wife said to her husband, “I would like to send another present to my father.”

The Evil One was willing, for he could refuse her nothing, so she had another chest made exactly like the first, and in this she put her second sister.

When all was ready she called her husband and bade him take the chest and carry it to her father. “And whatever you do, be sure you do not open it on the way,” she said. “I shall be watching from my window, and if you do I shall certainly see you.”

The Evil One took up the chest and started off with it. This time he waited until he was in the middle of the wood before he attempted to open it. No sooner had he put it down, however, and laid his hand on the lid than the girl inside called out:

“I see what you are doing! I see what you are doing!”

“My wife certainly can see farther than anyone in the world,” thought the Evil One. Then he took up the chest and went on again.

When he reached the merchant’s house he threw the chest inside the door. “Merchant, your daughter sends you this present,” he called out, and home he went again.

Now, some time after this the wife would send a third present to her father, and the Evil One was willing, so she had a third chest made exactly like the other two. She said to her husband, “Very soon the chest will be ready, and then I will call you. Carry it carefully, and do not open it on the way, for I will be out on my balcony this time and will see you if you do.”

As soon as the girl was alone she made a figure and dressed it in her clothes and set it out on the balcony. She put a quantity of the Evil One’s treasure into the chest, and got in herself and called to her husband.

He came in and there stood the chest all ready for him, with the lid closed. He picked it up and it was heavier than either of the others, so heavy that the sweat ran down his face.

He started off with it, and when he was a little way from the house he looked back. There was the figure sitting on the balcony, and the Evil One thought it was his wife. “Yes, there she is watching me,” he said, “and her eyes are so keen that if I do but sit down to rest my back she will see me.”

He went on with the chest, and this time he made no attempt to open it. He threw the chest inside the merchant’s door and called out, “Merchant, here is another present your daughter sends you;” and then he went on home again.

When the merchant opened the chest and found his third daughter in it he was beside himself with joy. The three sisters embraced each other tenderly, and the youngest divided the treasure equally, so that each one had enough to give her a rich dowry.

But the Evil One went on home, and by the time he reached there he was very hungry. He called to his wife to come and give him his supper, but there was no answer. He called her again, and then in a rage he went out onto the balcony where the figure was sitting. “Will you come when I call you or will you not?” he cried.

Still the figure made no answer. The Evil One laid his hand on its shoulder and gave it a shake, and as soon as he did that it all fell to pieces, and he saw the trick that had been played upon him. Raging he rushed about everywhere, but he could find only his wife’s empty jewel boxes.

“She has left me,” he cried, “and taken my treasures with her.”

He leaped upon his charger and rode away like the wind, determined to demand his wife of the merchant, but when he drew near the house he saw all three of the sisters sitting out on the balcony together. As soon as he appeared they began to mock at him and taunt him.

The thought of three wives at once was too much for the Evil One. In his rage and disappointment he suddenly burst and disappeared in fire and smoke, and since that time he has never been seen again.