A young German merchant named Reichard arrives in Italy. Admiring the beautiful women and houses from the gondola, he sees a magnificent building full of charming female heads. Reichard voiced his admiration for them, and the gondolier said: “Come out and boldly go up to them. There you will not get bored. " Reichard does not believe the gondolier, believing that there they only laugh at him, but in the end he goes to the building. There he is cordially greeted, and the prettiest of the girls takes him to his chambers and there treats with such wondrous dishes, drinks and kisses that in the end he feels at the top of bliss. However, when the happy Reichard was about to leave, the girl demanded payment for the services of the best courtesan. A little upset, he goes to the wine cellar to distract from sad thoughts.
Every day, Reichard spends having fun with his drinking companions, only one among them was sad and silent - an army captain, a Spaniard. Reichard’s money became less and less, he began to think that he would soon have to cease such an existence. Once the Spaniard took Reichard to the deserted quarter of the city and said that he could offer a means to extract any amount of money at any time and live for his own pleasure for little money. Reichard doesn’t understand him well, then the Spaniard explains: “I don’t know if you have heard of tiny creatures called hellish inhabitants. These are black devils, enclosed in glass cones. Anyone who owns such a devil can use it to get all the pleasures of life and, first of all, money in any quantity. For this, the hellish resident brings the soul of his master to the prince of darkness, Lucifer, however, only if the master dies before he can transfer the cone to other hands. And you can transfer it only by selling, and for a price less than he paid for it. My devil was worth ten ducats. So if you give me nine for him, he will be yours. ” This was a real temptation for Reichard, “meanwhile, tempting pictures of the fun life that will become available to him, flashed through Reichard’s head, if he acquired a hellish resident. In the end, he decided to pay half of the remaining money for him, but before that he tried to bargain to get at least a few ducats. ” The Spaniard answered that he was demanding such a high price so that Reichard could also sell this box later, but he said: “Let it be to you! - Reichard exclaimed warmly. - It is unlikely that I will soon want to sell this amazing little thing. In a word, will you concede to me for five ducats? ” This Reichard greatly reduced the term of service of the devil and thus brought closer the death of someone's soul.
Reichard had money, he bought a castle, spent time with the courtesans, one of whom, when she saw a little bell with a little devil, was horrified and threw it into the river, but the little bell returned to her master’s pocket.
Reichard enjoyed the material benefits of life as best he could, he looked down upon even the most distinguished people. But suddenly Reichard became seriously ill, the reckoning began “a deadly weakness fettered all his members, despite the fact that the devil was still with him. During the first day of his illness, Reichard prayed for his help ten times, but in vain, healing did not come. ”
And then he had a dream, where the little devil sings: “Oh, dear Reichard, do you hear, / Do not escape your troubles, / Fire, coals, pans, / There is no living water for the dead, / You are mine forever! ..”
He thought that the devil got out of the room and it was a terrible black creature, the rest of the night Reichard could not sleep, he thought: “God, since this night has no end, how long will be the eternal night of hell!” And Reichard decided that if the Lord, in his goodness, allowed him to live until morning, he would by all means get rid of the hellish dweller.
Having woken up in the morning, he decided to ask one last bag of ducats and began to think about who to sell the little devil to. By deception, he sells the little devil to his doctor for three ducats, but due to illness, Reichard becomes even worse. All his castles and villas are taken away because he signed a paper on donating them to Lucretia, and then a doctor comes in who says that he found a cure for Reichard for two ducats. Reichard is happy to buy it, and it turns out to be a conk with a little devil. Having decided to take revenge on Lucretia, he sells the cone to her for a ducat and again remains almost without money.
Realizing that he will soon spend his last savings, Reichard decides to become a peddler. To do this, it was necessary to purchase a box with some goods for sale, for which he spent the remaining coins with him. Reichard had already begun to make plans for the future, when curious guests among his goods noticed a cone with a "strange little animal." Reichard is trying to sell the cone, but in vain, only a black freak in it scares everyone. He goes to Lucretia, reveals to her the secret of a hellish inhabitant, but the girl takes Reichard for a madman and threatens that he will be burned as a black magician. He requires the devil more money and goes to Italy.
Trying to sell a cone for a pittance, Reichard was known as a lunatic. He goes to war, but realizes that there he will be much closer to death and to becoming the prey of Satan. And then he sells a cone to one of the soldiers. Freed from her, Reichard really wanted to serve ...
Several times, the little flask with the little devil returned to Reichard, but one day he met a man who suggested buying a flask from him for half a geller, for this it was necessary to set a monster on the prince, and, after saving his life, demand two half-geller coins. Reichard did so, he came to this man and he revealed to him that he had already sold his soul to the devil for a long time and he needed a cone to take revenge, because he would get his soul anyway, and after a long service the devil would return back to hell empty-handed.
Having finally freed himself from the cone, Reichard “felt in his heart that he had atoned for his past grave sins and that from now on the hellish resident could no longer belong to him. In a fit of joy, he threw himself face down on the tall grass, gently touched the fingers of flowers and sent kisses to the sun. His heart came to life and again, as before, he was pounding merrily in his chest, but already without daring levity and blasphemous thoughts. Although he now had very good reason to be proud, since he had deceived the devil himself, he did not indulge in bragging. Moreover, he directed all his renewed power to starting from now on to live differently - God-fearing, dignified and joyful. ”
