The Devils as Card Players

At ’t Hobosch in Eksel, where the bailiff once lived, a farmer had come to settle. The farmer let his farmhands sleep in the castle to guard the place. But the hands were always found murdered in the morning, so the farmer often had no help.

When a vagrant came asking for shelter one evening, the farmer sent him to the castle. ‘Be careful,’ the farmer warned, ‘every hand who slept there was killed.’ The vagrant asked for a prayer book, a rosary and a candle, and set off.

While the vagrant was frying bacon in the castle, bones suddenly fell down the chimney into the pan. ‘In God’s name, another fine slice of bacon!’ the vagrant said calmly each time, tossing the bones into a corner.

At midnight there was a knock at the door. ‘Wait, I’m eating,’ the vagrant said. When he eventually had three visitors, he said cheerfully: ‘Now we can play cards — we’re exactly four!’ But he did not entirely trust his guests. He deliberately dropped a card and bent down. ‘In God’s name, they all have horse’s hooves!’ he cried. At that the three visitors vanished without a trace.

When the vagrant wanted to sleep, he heard groaning from the cellar. He went to look and found a man chained to a ring in the wall. The man spoke: ‘You have freed me. Under the floor lie three large pots of gold: the first is for the church, the second for the poor, and the third for you.’

The next morning the vagrant told the farmer what had happened. The farmer was so delighted that he let the vagrant keep all the money. ‘Would you like to work for me?’ the farmer asked. The vagrant answered eagerly: ‘I’d love to! Since I always say my prayers, I can handle those three fellows from the castle!’ From that day on the castle of ’t Hobosch was haunted no more.