Once when Asphurtzela was playing with a group of little boys, a woman passed by with a coca[4] full of water on her shoulder. Just then Asphurtzela threw his codchi;[5] the codchi whirled through the air, struck the woman’s coca and broke it. The woman was angry, and called out: ‘Mayst thou be cursed! But how can I curse thee, only son of thy mother? For this trick may thy brothers and sister never be delivered from the claws of the devi!’
Asphurtzela did not understand this. He hastened inside, and said to his mother: ‘Give me to suck, mother!’ ‘What a time to ask such a thing,’ said his mother. But the boy would not wait, so his mother gave him his wish.
Asphurtzela bit his mother’s breast, and said: ‘Tell me, mother, have I any brothers?’ His mother did not wish him to know, but she was in such pain that she told him everything. When Asphurtzela heard her tale, he prepared to go away. His mother entreated him not to leave her, but the boy would not be persuaded, and set out.
He wandered far and near, and came to an open field, where he saw men ploughing the ground. He shouted out to them: ‘Take care, save yourselves, a hundred-headed devi is coming!’ The men were filled with terror, and fled in all directions.
Asphurtzela slung the plough over his back, took it to a smith, and said: ‘Make me out of this iron a pair of shoes and a bow and arrow.’ The smith did so; Asphurtzela put on the iron shoes, took the bow and arrow, and went in quest of the hundred-headed devi.
He went some distance and approached the devi’s house. At that time the devi’s mother was sitting on the roof, and, seeing some one coming, she said to her daughter-in-law: ‘Dost thou see any one, or do my eyes deceive me?’ When her daughter-in-law assured her that it was some one, the devi’s mother moaned: ‘Woe to his mother’s breast, and woe to my son’s mother’s breast!’
In the meantime Asphurtzela arrived quite near the house, leaped over the stream, and came to the door. He saw there a young girl, and said: ‘Surely thou art my sister!’ The girl only knew her three brothers, and would not admit this, but when Asphurtzela told her his tale, she believed him.
Then the devi’s mother came and said: ‘Come, child, I will put thee in safety and hide thee, lest my son eat thee when he comes home.’ ‘Go in there, dog of an old woman! May God bring thee and thy son to shame!’ said Asphurtzela, and he waited impatiently for the return of the devi.
Just then the devi appeared, with game slung over his shoulder, and tree roots thrust under his arm. When he saw a strange boy standing boldly in front of his house, he said to himself: ‘For fear of me bird dare not fly in heaven nor worm creep on earth. Who can this boy be who is strutting about so carelessly?’
The devi was mad with fury when he saw him. Flames shot from his eyes; he cast an angry glance at him, and shouted out: ‘Who art thou? and what art thou doing here?’ ‘Shall I tell thee who I am? I am thy wife’s brother; I am come to be thy guest, so thou must be my host,’ said Asphurtzela. ‘Very well,’ returned the devi, ‘come in and let us prepare supper. We must skin the game and cook it.’ They began to skin the game, but by the time the devi had skinned one beast, Asphurtzela had finished all the game, thrown it into the pot and cooked it.