"And what is that you've got in your hand?"
"A sack."
And the devil yelled out at the top of his voice and gave the alarm. From all sides the unclean rushed up and began closing every gate and window in hell with strong bolts and bars.
And the soldier walked round hell outside the walls, unable to get in.
He cried out to the Prince of Hell:
"Let me into hell, I beg you. I have come to you to be tormented, because I have sinned before God and before man."
"No," shouted the Prince of Hell, "I won't let you in. Go away. Go away, I tell you. Go away, anywhere you like. There's no place for you here."
The soldier was more troubled than ever.
"Well," says he, "if you won't let me in, you won't. I'll go away if you will give me two hundred sinful souls. I will take them to God, and perhaps, when he sees them, he will forgive me and let me into heaven."
"I'll throw in another fifty," says the Prince of Hell, "if only you'll get away from here."