Sæmund - Old Nick Made Himself As Little As He Was Able
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Andrew James Symington
Pen And Pencil Sketches Of Faröe And Iceland
Longmans, Green And Co., London & New York
1862
Iceland
Sæmund - Old Nick Made Himself As Little As He Was Able: devil tricked, cunning, clerical wit, folklore
Public Domain (copyright expired)
n/a
Sæmund - Old Nick Made Himself As Little As He Was Able
Sæmund one day asked Old Nick how little he could make himself. “Why,” replied he, “as for that I could make myself as small as the smallest midge.” Thereupon Sæmund bored a tiny hole in the door post, and asked him to make good his boast by walking into it. This he at once did; but no sooner was he in, than Sæmund stopped the hole with a little plug of wood, and made all fast.
Old Nick cursed his folly, cried, and begged for mercy; but Sæmund would not take out the stopper till he promised to become his servant and do all that he was told. This was the reason why Sæmund always had it in his power to employ Old Nick in whatever business he liked.
Folktales, Fairytales, myths, legends, stories, fantasy