"Holla! I'll soon make you quiet," he caught hold of the leg of a
stool and struck about him.
Nine devils against one soldier were, however, too much, and while he
laid about lustily on those before him, those behind pulled his hair
and pinched him miserably.
"Ay, ay, you pack of devils, now you are too hard for me," said he;
"but wait a bit. I wish all the nine devils were in my knapsack,"
cried he, and it was no sooner said than done.
There they were. Then Brother Merry buckled it up close, and threw it
into a corner, and as all was now still he lay down and slept till
morning, when the landlord of the inn and the nobleman to whom the
castle belonged came to see how it had fared with him. When they saw
him sound and lively, they were astonished, and said--
"Did the ghosts, then, do nothing to you?"
"Why, not exactly," said Merry; "but I have got them all nine in my
knapsack. You may dwell quietly enough in your castle now; from
henceforth they won't trouble you."
The nobleman thanked him and gave him great rewards, begging him to
remain in his service, saying that he would take care of him all the
days of his life.
"No," answered he; "I am used to wander and rove about. I will again
set forth."
He went on until he came to a smithy, into which he went, and laying
his knapsack on the anvil, bade the smith and all his men hammer away
upon it as hard as they could. They did as they were directed, with
their largest hammers and all their might, and the poor devils set up
a piteous howling. When the men opened the knapsack there were eight
of them dead, but one who had been snug in a fold was still alive, and
he slipped out and ran away to his home in a twinkling.
After this Brother Merry wandered about the world for a long time; but
at last he grew old, and began to think about his latter end, so he
went to a hermit who was held to be a very pious man and said--
"I am tired of roving, and will now endeavour to go to heaven."
"There stand two ways," said the hermit; "the one, broad and
pleasant, leads to hell; the other is rough and narrow, and that leads
to heaven."
"I must be a fool indeed," thought Brother Merry, "if I go the rough
and narrow road;" so he went the broad and pleasant way till he came
at last to a great black door, and that was the door of hell.
He knocked, and the door-keeper opened it, and when he saw that it was
Merry he was sadly frightened, for who should he be but the ninth
devil who had been in the knapsack, and he had thought himself lucky,
for he had escaped with nothing worse than a black eye. He bolted the
door again directly, and running to the chief of the devils, said--
"There is a fellow outside with a knapsack on his back, but pray don't
let him in, for he can get all hell into his knapsack by wishing it.
He once got me a terribly ugly hammering in it."
So they called out to Brother Merry, and told him that he must go
away, for they should not let him in.
"Well, if they will not have me here," thought Merry, "I'll e'en try
if I can get a lodging in heaven. Somewhere or other I must rest."
So he turned about and went on till he came to the door of heaven, and
there he knocked. Now the saint who had journeyed with Merry sat at
the door, and had charge of the entrance. Brother Merry recognised
him, and said--
"Are you here, old acquaintance? Then things will go better with me."