Грузинская народная сказка. The Priest and the Demon

The Priest and the Demon

A Georgian Folk Tale

In the old days there lived a peasant in a village. He had the only son. When his son grew up, he became so strong that could knock out a bull with a single punch. Therefore the villagers called him Samson. The peasant should be happy, but that was not the case! His son ate enough for four people, but he was "Jack of all trades and master of none": if he had something taken in his hands, all would have been broken down in a moment. The old man suffered for a long time but could not withstand it any more and finally said:

"Listen, my son, we can't live and work together! Come on, boy, you have to go out and take your chance somewhere else."

Samson took a piece of mchadee (bread made of cornflour), put it in his knapsack and went away aimlessly. Long or short, he came to the capital of that kingdom. He walked down the street, asking for a job, but no one would take him - nobody wanted a brute force. Then Samson went to the King and said:

"Your Majesty, find a man who could beat me, or take me to your palace and feed me!"

" Well, kiddy," - said the King, - "abide with me."

Thus Samson began living in the palace. For breakfast, lunch and dinner, the young man used to eat up three sheep. In a little while, the King had bothered to feed that glutton and sent the heralds throughout the kingdom "to find a man who could break the power of the king's man of muscle."

The heralds had walked around the whole kingdom, but could not find a worthy adversary. No one dared to fight with a giant, who swallowed up three sheep a day! Once, on their way back, the King's agents took a rest by the river. Suddenly they saw a priest riding a mule. When the clergyman saw a rickety bridge over the mountain river, he jumped off the mule, crawled under his belly, took the mule on his shoulders and carried him to the other side. The king's agents, having seen this, speculated among themselves:

"What the hell we have been looking for? Let's take him!"

No sooner said than done. They caught up with the priest and said:

"We perambulated the whole kingdom but haven't seen such a strong man like you. Let's go to the King, father. He has a hero and you should fight with him!"

"God be with you!" - the priest said to them. - "What a strong man did you find in my humble person? In the whole life, I have not fought with anyone."

But the king's servants did not allow the priest to go on his way and took him by force. Thus the courtiers went ahead and dragged the mule, and the priest was trailing behind them. Here they came to another narrow bridge in the mountain gorge. The mule refused to walk across the bridge because he used to "ride" the priest. The king's men began to beat the poor animal but the mule stood still, shaking his head and kicking. Finally, the torturers had dragged the mule across the bridge, but he stumbled leaving the bridge and broke his leg. The priest became furious and shouted:

"What are you doing? Why have you crippled the unhappy beast? Woe betide you!"

"Woe be to all the demons in the world!" - replied the king's men. - "It was not us who broke his leg, but he himself broke it! Take him the Devil, with all his legs!"

"Why are the demons to blame?" - said the priest. - You are to blame, not the Devil!"

Swearing so, they continued their journey. At that time, a little boy caught up with them and said to the priest:

"Father, take me to the King. I will fight with the hero instead of you."

The priest was surprised and could not believe him, but he was so glad to get rid of the problem that agreed immediately.

After a time they came to the King. The agents reported that the priest would fight with Samson. The king went into the middle of the hall and asked:

"Father, can you come to grips with my hero?"
"I'm an old man. Why should I fight with him?" - replied the priest. - "But I'm glad to say that my junior deacon can beat him!"

The king laughed at the sight of the little boy, but Samson flew into a temper. He walked towards the fighter, swinging himself from side to side and inspiring great awe in mice and men. He came to the boy, grabbed him by the throat and raised him over the heads of all beholders. Then he threw the baby on the ground with such a force that the kid should burst like a bubble of water. But the boy, to everyone's amazement, did not even fall down, but rose to his feet and laughed. Samson caught him again and threw to the ground, but he got up again. Then the boy stood up, jumped on the shoulders of the giant and squeezed his neck with such a force, that Samson yelled begging for mercy. The crowd paid a tribute to Samson with a scornful laughter, and he had to run away as fast as he could.

After that, the King called for the priest and gave him two bales of gold and silver. Here the priest and his "junior deacon" went home, dragging their treasures on the lame mule. When they got to the bridge, where the mule had broken his leg, the priest turned to his companion and said:

"All the gold and silver belongs to you, my friend and saviour: without you, I would have died!"
"No, father," - replied the boy. - "I give you this present with great pleasure, because you had protected the demons. People would do stupid things and blame the Devil, as if he is to blame. But that's not the point!"

Having said so, the "junior deacon" waved goodbye to the old man, turned around and disappeared under the bridge. Only then guessed the priest that it was not a boy, but a demon!

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The Priest and the Demon