“If you will bury me just three feet deep,” said the devil, “I will give you a large sum of money.”
“I will bury you just one and a half feet deep, if you can give me much money,” said the guachinango.
“I will give you five hundred pesos,” said the devil. “Dig the ground near the stump of that mabolo-tree. There you will find the money in a dirty black purse.”
After the guachinango had buried the devil, he went to the mabolo-tree and took the money. Then he went to the nearest village and played casino. As soon as he lost all his money, he returned to the devil. “I have lost all the money you gave me,” he said. “I will now bury you twenty-one feet deep.”
“No, do not bury me so deep as that, my friend!” said the devil calmly. “I can give you twice as much money as I gave you before. You will find it in the same place that you found the other.”
The guachinango took the money and went to the village again to gamble. Again he lost. He returned to the devil, and asked him angrily why he always lost the money he gave him. “I don’t know,” answered the devil. “I have given you fifteen hundred pesos, but you haven’t even a cent now. You ought to set me free at once.”
“Aha! I won’t let you go,” said the guachinango. “I will bury you thirty-nine feet now.”
“I have a plan in mind,” said the devil, “which will benefit you extremely; but before I explain my plan, let me ask you if you would like to marry the daughter of the king.”
“I have a great desire to be king some day,” said the guachinango; “but how can you make me the husband of a princess, when you are only a devil, and I am nothing but a poor guachinango?”
“As soon as you set me free,” said the devil, “I will enter the mouth of the princess and go into her brains. Then I will give her a very painful headache which no physician can cure. The king will make an announcement saying that he who can cure his daughter of her disease shall marry her. When you hear this announcement, go to the palace at once, and offer your services to the king. As soon as you reach the princess, tell me that you have come, and I will leave her immediately. The princess will then recover her former health, and you will be married to her. Do not fail to go to the palace, for I am determined to reward you for your kindness to me.”