the bearskinner...

I have found a short story in which i have read and im interested in illustrating.
the bearskinner is a tale from the brothers grim in which a dejected soldier makes a pact with the devil who wraps him in dead bear skin which he must wear for seven years.


They say that when a man gives up hope,
the devil walks at his side.
So begins the story;
A soldier marched through a dark wood.
and he did not march alone.

It was winter, the wind shredded the clouds, and the moon shone casting a blue light through the trees. The soldier saw the one who had shadowed him; a handsome devil.
‘What do you want?’ demanded the solider.
‘Nothing!’ answered the devil. ‘You’re the one who’s hungry and cold. You’d sell your soul for a hot supper and a soft bed.’
‘Never,’ said the soldier because he knew that the man who sells his soul becomes the devils slave and burns in hell.
The devil shrugged, ‘the choice is yours. I would like to make you rich. But if your afraid-‘
‘I fear nothing,’ said the soldier.
‘Look there’ said the devil, pointing to the thicket.
The branches moved behind them, something strong and dark with fierce gleaming eyes. The soldier raised his rifle and shot the bear in its heart.


‘Brave fellow’ laughed the devil. ‘Here is the game I would like you to play for the next seven years. I will see to it that your pockets are full of gold but you must follow my rules.’

The devil offered him a knife. ‘First, skin the bear.’
The soldier took the knife, and the devil took the wet bearskin and draped it over the soldier. ‘You will be called the Bearskinner’ the devil said softly. ‘For seven years you will wander the world, you will have all the gold you need but you may not wash, cut your hair or trim your beard. And during those years you may tell no one of the bargain we have struck- and you must not pray to God. If, during the seven years you kill yourself, your soul is mine.

The soldier swayed on his feet dizzy with hunger and desire. ‘Do you accept the bargain?’ asked the devil. And so the soldier agreed and they had a deal.

So began the first year the solider bought everything he wanted. Every door was open to him, he grew filthy and the bearskin stank, but he bore the stench and the filth bravely.
By the second year, he no longer looked like a man in a bearskin; he looked like a bear, with thick yellow claws and a matted beard. People began to mock him.
By the third year he no longer looked like a bear but a monster. Children pelted him with stones, men and women fled from him until he brought out his money. The Bearskinner despised them for their greed and loathed himself.
He began to dream of drowning himself in the river that ran through the city. The dreams haunted him, he knew if he ended his life, the devil would gain his soul.
But the night came when he left his bed and went to the river. He stood on the bridge and stared through the rain at the black water. At that moment he heard the sound of someone crying. He followed the sound, a woman and her child had taken shelter under the bridge. The Bearskinner was filled with pity. He reached into his pouch and threw the gold onto the ground in front of her.
‘God bless you!’ she cried.
The Bearskinners heart leaped. ‘Pray for me!’ he begged. He then saw how he might live; he would use the devils money to feed the poor people of the city.

Now the soldier’s dreams changed, often he dreamed that he walked in a cloud of butterflies. They surrounded him so closely that they shielded him from the devil. When he woke he knew that the butterflies were prayers of the poor.
In the fourth year, the soldier came upon a man who had gambled away his fortune, ‘I have been a fool,’ wept the man. ‘I will pay’ said the Bearskinner asking the gambler to pray for him.
‘Come with me I will give you one of my daughters for a wife,’ said the gambler.
The gambler summoned his three beautiful daughters and told them that one must marry the Bearskinner.
‘How dare you bring home a creature like that, father?’ she asked and before he could answer the youngest daughter covered her face with her pretty hands and whimpered, ‘Oh father, Im frightened!’
But the middle daughter was either angry or afraid; she looked into his eyes as if she was searching fr something. ‘I believe you have a good heart, she said. ‘I will keep my fathers word.’
The Bearskinner reached into his pouch and drew out a gold ring, broke it in two. He gave one half to the middle daughter, ‘Keep this and wait for me’ and she promised.

The Bearskinner returned to his wanderings. For three more years he travelled the world, giving away the devils gold.
At last the seven years were over. The Bearskinner made his way back to the wood where he first met the devil. The soldier smiled at the devil, ‘I have won.’
The devil said, ‘Your soul is your own’ as if the words tasted bitter to him. ‘For seven years you made me dirty now you will make me clean,’ said the soldier then he walked of whistling.

The next day he rode to the gamblers house so merry and gallant on a dapple gray horse. When he knocked on the gamblers door the gambler did not recognize him. The Bearskinner announced he was seeking a bride, how eager they were to marry this handsome stranger. The middle daughter kept apart watching with questioning eyes. The soldier asked why she was so silent.
‘She was promised to marry another,’ said the eldest daughter. ‘A great ugly bear of a man too!’
‘His eyes are not ugly,’ said the middle daughter, ‘His eyes are like yours.’
He put his half of the gold ring in one goblet and gave it to the middle daughter. When she glimpsed the bit of shining metal, her face lit up.
‘I have come back,’ said the soldier. ‘Will you marry me?’
She gave him her hands and said she would while her sisters hissed with envy.

The love between them lasted a lifetime, and so did the soldiers fortune. He always had more than enough, sharing with those who had nothing.
And never again did he bargain with the devil.