(_From the Italian_)
ONCE upon a time the Evil One made up his mind that he would like
to get married, so he changed himself into a handsome young man; he
mounted a coal-black steed; and away he rode to the city to find a wife
for himself.
[Illustration: EACH ONE WAS SAID TO BE HANDSOMER THAN THE OTHERS]
In this city lived a merchant who had three daughters, and they were so
beautiful that each one was said to be handsomer than the others.
The Evil One soon made acquaintance with the merchant, and in a
short time proposed for the hand of his eldest daughter.
The girl was delighted at the idea of having him for a husband, for
she thought him the handsomest man she had ever seen. The father gave
his consent, and the marriage was celebrated with great feasting and
rejoicing.
Afterward the Evil One and his bride entered a coach and drove away
together. They went on and on until they had left the city and had
driven through a lonely forest, and as soon as they had passed that
they came to a most magnificent house which the Evil One had raised up
for himself.
The coach drew up before the door and he helped his bride to alight.
"This is my home," said he, "and as long as you are my true and
obedient wife all the treasures it contains are yours."
The girl was overcome with joy at the sight of his magnificent
possessions, and when he led her in and through one handsome room after
another she could hardly control her pride and delight. Afterward
he showed her through the gardens, and the flowers were so many and
various that she had never seen the like before.
The Evil One and his bride now lived very happily together for a month,
but at the end of that time he told the girl that he was obliged to go
away on a journey and that he would not return for three days. During
that time she must amuse herself as best she could. She might go all
over the house and examine the treasures that were in it, and he gave
her a great bunch of keys which were the keys of the different rooms.
One door alone she must not open, and that was the Red door at the end
of the passage. If she opened this, even so much as a crack, great
misfortune would follow.
He then kissed his bride and bade her farewell, but before leaving he
gave her a bunch of flowers, and begged her to wear it while he was
away.
After he had gone the girl fastened the flowers in the bosom of her
dress, and then she began to open the different doors in the house and
to go through the rooms, for many of them she had never seen before.
She was amazed at the treasures she found in them, and began to think
her husband must be the richest man in all the world.
She amused herself very well for two days, and during that time the
flowers upon her bosom remained as fresh as when her husband had first
given them to her.
But by the time the third day came the girl had seen everything there
was in the house except what lay behind the Red door. As she had
nothing to do except wonder about that she grew more and more curious.
"It must be some treasure more magnificent than all the rest," she said
to herself, "and which my husband intends to surprise me with. It
would surely do no harm if I just took one peep at it."
She put the key in the door and turned it. Immediately, and in spite of
all she could do to hold it, the door swung wide open, and she saw at
her feet a pit filled with fire. She sprang back, but before she could
close the door a flame leaped up and scorched the flowers upon her
bosom so that they hung black and dead.
Frightened out of her senses the girl managed to shut the door and lock
it. The first thing she did was to take off the flowers and hide them,
and then she went out to the garden to gather a fresh bunch before her
husband's return. She hunted everywhere, but nowhere could she find
flowers such as he had given her.
While she was still searching she heard him riding up to the door and
she was obliged to go out to meet him.
As soon as the Evil One saw her he asked, "Have you opened the Red
door?"
"No," answered the girl, and she trembled so that she could hardly
stand.
"Then where are the flowers I gave you?"
"They withered because they had no water, and so I threw them away."
"That is false," cried the Evil One; "you have disobeyed me, and you
shall be punished as you deserve." And with that he caught hold of the
girl and threw her into the pit.
Then he mounted his black charger and rode away to the merchant's house.
The merchant was delighted to see him and began to enquire about his
daughter.
The Evil One put on a very mournful look. "My dear wife is dead," he
said, "and I am so lonely that I can scarcely bear it. Give me, I beg
of you, your second daughter for a wife, that she may take her sister's
place in my house and comfort me."
The merchant was very much grieved to hear of his daughter's death, but
he felt pity for the Evil One, and as his second daughter was willing
he gave her to him as a wife.
As soon as they were married they got into a coach and drove away
together.
When they reached the house of the Evil One the new bride was as much
delighted with it as her sister had been. They went inside and she
could not admire enough all the magnificence she saw.
She and her husband lived together very happily for a month, and at the
end of that time he told her he was obliged to go on a long journey,
and he would not be able to return for three days. However, he told
her she might amuse herself while he was away by going over the house.
He gave her the keys of all the rooms, and said she might go into any
of them; only the Red door at the end of the long passage she must not
open on any account.
The girl promised, and then after bidding her good-by the Evil One rode
away, but to her, too, before leaving, he gave a bunch of flowers, and
begged her to wear it until he returned.
After he had gone the girl began to go through the house, and when she
saw all the treasures that were in it she could hardly restrain her
joy. She examined the furniture and statues and the ornaments of gold
and silver.
At the end of two days she had opened every door in the house except
the Red door. She began to wonder what was behind it, and though she
tried to occupy herself with other things she grew more and more
curious. At last she could restrain her curiosity no longer.
"I will only open the door a crack," she thought, "and will just peep
in, and my husband need never know it."
She put the key in the lock and turned it, and immediately the door
swung wide open. The girl could not hold it.
Below her lay a pit of fire, and in it was her sister, and before she
could step back or move, a flame leaped up and burned the flowers on
her bosom to a crisp.
The girl was frightened to death, for now she knew the man she had
married was the Evil One himself.
She managed to shut the door at last, and the first thing she did was
to throw the flowers away. Then she went out in the garden to gather a
fresh bunch. She hunted everywhere, but no place could she find any in
the least like those that had been burned.
While she was still hunting her husband came home; she was afraid to
have him find her in the garden, and so she went out to meet him.
The first thing he asked her was, "Where are the flowers I gave you to
wear?"
"They fell from my bosom while I was out walking, and I have not been
able to find them."
"That is not true," cried the Evil One in a terrible voice. "You have
opened the Red door and the flowers are burned."
"No," cried the girl half fainting with terror. But with no more words
the Evil One caught hold of her and threw her down into the pit with
her sister.
He locked the door upon them and mounted his coal-black charger and
rode back to the merchant's house.
As soon as the merchant saw him from the window he came out to meet
him. "Has any misfortune happened to my dear daughter?" he cried.
The Evil One began to lament. "Alas, she is dead," he said, "and I am
left so lonely that it seems as though I could not bear it."
In the end the merchant gave the Evil One his third daughter for a
wife, though it broke his heart to part with her, for she was his
youngest daughter and dearer to him than either of the others.
The Evil One married her, and they got in the coach and drove away
together.
When the new bride saw the magnificent house he lived in, she was no
less pleased with it than her sisters had been.
For a month she and her husband lived there very happily, and then he
told her he was obliged to go away on a long journey, and would be gone
three days. He gave her the keys of the house, and told her she might
go into any of the rooms she chose. Only the Red door at the end of the
long passage she must not open on any account.
The new bride promised, and her husband gave her a bunch of flowers,
which he begged her to wear while he was gone. Then he rode away.
The girl watched him until he was out of sight, and then the very first
thing she did was to put the flowers in a glass of water, that she
might keep them fresh until he came back.
After that she began to amuse herself by going over the house and
seeing what it contained.
For two days she was very busy in this way, but at the end of that time
she had seen everything, and began to wonder what was behind the Red
door.
She stood it as long as she could and then she put the key in the lock
and turned it. Immediately the door swung open. What was the girl's
horror to see at her feet a chasm of fire, and in it her two dear
sisters whom she had thought were dead.
As soon as they saw her they cried aloud, "Alas, alas! What have you
done! You have opened the Red door and now you, too, will be thrown
into this pit of fire as we were."
"No, my dear sisters," said the girl. "Reach me your hands and I will
help you out, and then we will find some way to escape from the power
of this Evil One."
The sisters reached her their hands and she managed to pull them out,
first one and then the other. After they had kissed each other and wept
together the youngest sister hid the others away in her closet among
her clothes. And none too soon, for already she heard her husband at
the door.
She made haste to pin the flowers he had given her upon the bosom of
her dress, and then she went out to meet him.