He went on and on and on till he also came to the oven and the cauldron. The men who guarded the oven and the cauldron stopped him and asked him his business, and on finding out that he was going to kill the devil, they told the youth that he must first eat the bread of the oven and then drink the wine in the cauldron if he could. The son of the cinders wished for nothing better. He ate the loaves that were baked in the oven, drank all the wine, and further on he saw the wooden bridge and the iron bridge, and beyond the bridges the apple-trees.
The devil had observed the youth from afar, and his courage began to ooze out of him when he saw the deeds of the son of the ashes. “Any fool can go across the iron bridge,” thought the youth, “I’ll go across the wooden one,” and as it was no very great feat to eat the sweet apples he ate the sour ones.—“There will be no joking with this one,” said the devil, “I see I must get ready my lance and measure my strength with him.”
The son of the ashes saw the devil from afar, and full of the knowledge of his own valour went straight up to him.
“If thou doest not homage to me, I’ll swallow thee straight off,” cried the devil.
“And if thou doest not homage to me, I’ll knock thee to pieces with my lance,” replied the youth.
“Oh ho! if we’re so brave as all that,” cried the three-faced monster, “let us out with our lances without losing any more time.”
So the devil out with his lance, whirled it round his head, and aimed it with all his might at the youth, who gave but one little twist with his finger, and crick-crack! the devil’s lance broke all to bits. “Now it’s my turn,” cried the son of the cinders; and he hurled his lance at the devil with such force that the devil’s first soul flew out of his nose.—“At it again once more, if thou art a man,” yelled the devil, with a great effort. “Not I,” cried the youth, “for my mother only bore me once,” whereupon the devil breathed forth his last soul also. Then the youth went on to seek the devil’s wife. Her also he chased down the road after her husband, and when he had cut them both in two, lo and behold! all three of his kinsfolk stood before him, so he turned back home and took them with him. Now his brothers and sister had grown very thirsty in the devil’s belly, and when they saw a large well by the wayside, they asked their brother Cinder-son to draw them a little water. Then the youths took off their girdles, tied them together, and let down the biggest brother, but he had scarcely descended more than half-way down when he began to shriek unmercifully: “Oh, oh, draw me up, I have had enough,” so that they had to pull him up and let the second brother try. And with him it fared the same way. “Now ’tis my turn,” cried Cinder-son, “but mind you do not pull me
The Cinder-Youth and the Three Damsels.—p. 91.