The Devil as a Fool
In modern media portrayals, the Devil is often portrayed as this suave mastermind who is always several steps ahead of any mortal. But in German folklore, his portrayal was rather different - quite frequently he was the butt of jokes. The following tale serves as a good example (and one which would not be out of place in an old Warner Bros. cartoon):
The Huntsman and the Devil
A huntsman once went into the forest with his loaded rifle, and smoked a pipe with tobacco while doing so. Then the Devil suddenly appeared, and called out to him: “Let me try as well, for I want to know how smoking tastes!” “You shall have this joy”, said the huntsman, “but my little pipe will soon go out. I will give you my large pipe.” And with these words, he took his rifle off his shoulder and put it into the Devil’s mouth. The latter started to suck on it, but he could not get any smoke from the barrel of the rifle. Then he became angry and started to scream: “Huntsman, you have tricked me! The large pipe doesn’t smoke at all!” “Wait,” said our huntsman, “I shall give you fire”, and pulled the trigger of the rifle. Oh, how the Devil was able to puff now! He forcefully shook himself, threw the large rifle pipe far away from him, and screamed: “Listen, my dear huntsman, I don’t want to smoke with you. For your tobacco is too strong for me!” As soon as he had said this, he was suddenly gone.
Source: Pohlmann. Sagen aus der Wiege Preussens und des deutschen Reiches, der Altmark. 1901, p. 15.
So what other folk tales do you know off where the Devil comes off as rather foolish?
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