he had before faced death, and he made up his mind to brave it once again, and so gave his consent to the proposed conditions. The Devil then drew off his coat, handed it to the soldier, and said, "When you are wearing this coat, you have only to thrust your hand into the pocket and you will find it full of gold."
He then went and cut off the bear's skin. "This," he said, "is to be your cloak and your bed; on this must you sleep and on no other bed must you lie, and on account of your apparel, you shall be called Bearskin." And with these words the Devil disappeared.
The soldier put on the green coat, thrust his hand at once into the pocket, and found he had not been deceived. Then he threw the bearskin over his shoulders and started again on his travels, but he now enjoyed himself, and denied himself nothing that did him good and his money harm.
In the first year his appearance was tolerable, but in the second year he already looked more like a monster than a man. His face was nearly covered with hair, his beard was like a piece of coarse felt, there were claws at the ends of his fingers, and cress might have been grown in the dirt that had collected on his face. Everyone who saw him fled before him; he was still, however, able to find shelter for himself, for, in whatever place he stayed, he always gave largely to the poor, begging them in return to pray for him, that he might not die before the close of the seven years, and he always paid handsomely for everything he ordered.
It was in the course of the fourth year that he came to an inn, the landlord of which refused to take him in, or even to allow him a place in the stables, for he was afraid that even the horses would take fright.
