There was once a soldier who served the Crown for a long time, and was finally allowed to go on account of his age. On his way back home he swore to himself and said:

"The Devil take that commander of mine for not giving me a pension book. How am I going to live now? I'm ashamed to beg, having served the Crown for so long."

This thought made the poor old soldier so sad that he wept. And he walked on. When he had gone a goodly distance, he met a man who asked:

"What are you swearing for, and why are you so downcast and sad?"

The soldier answered that he was swearing because his commander had not given him a pension book, and this made him anxious about what the future might have in store for him. Then the stranger said to him:

"Since your commander has failed you, why don't you become my handy man?"

"I'd be glad to take the job if I was able to work," said the soldier, "but I am not able."

"It won't be hard work," said the man. "You'll be able to do what I ask of you."

"What sort of work is it that's so easy to do?" asked the soldier.

"All you have to do is to keep cooking just one kettle," said the man.

"But who's going to fetch the firewood?" asked the soldier.

The other answered: "There'll always be wood at hand, the food is ready, and you can wear the clothes you've got on all the time you're with me." And he added that if the soldier would agree to become his handy man and serve the required three years, he could count on earning enough money to keep him for the rest of his life.

"Have you engaged any others to work for you?" asked the soldier.

"No," said the man, "you'll be all alone tending the kettle."

By now the soldier began to feel he could accept the offer made to him, but still he asked:

"Have you food enough, so we won't ever have to go hungry?"

"Plenty!" said the man.

"All right, I'll do it," said the soldier. "But how far do we have to go?"

"You don't have to worry about that," answered the man, "because I'll have you brought right back to this place, so you won't have any trouble travelling."

Now the soldier finally accepted the offer of the job. As soon as he gave his consent to the agreement, there was a thump, and he found himself inside a mountain where a kettle was boiling. This kettle, which was tremendously big, had a lid on it, so that no one could see what was inside. The man gave the soldier instructions how to cook, and he said to him:

"You mustn't lift the lid or look to see what is inside, if you want to keep our bargain. You've only got to be faithful and keep the fire going under the kettle."

And during the whole time, the soldier was not allowed to wash his face or cut his nails, shave his whiskers or cut his hair. (The wood never gave out during the whole time, and he never noticed who brought it in.) When three years had gone by, during which he had kept his promises, the man who had engaged him came and asked:

"Have you wanted for anything, and have you faithfully tended the kettle?"

The soldier answered: "I've not wanted for anything, and I have faithfully tended the kettle."

"Have you looked into the kettle?" asked his employer.

"I have not looked into the kettle."

Then his employer said: "I know full well you have been faithful. I'll certainly pay you your wages, but wouldn't you like to serve me for another three years?"

The soldier hesitated a little, and said he had felt lonely, being all alone for so long. His employer said:

"Stay, and I'll pay you more, so that you can get yourself a wife, and as big a family as you like. And you can have as much gold and silver as you want; and it won't grow any less on you."

So the soldier promised to stay on for three more years. The same contract was made; he must not look into the kettle, or wash his face, or cut his nails, or shave his whiskers, or cut his hair.

After he had tended the kettle for another two years, he thought to himself: "I'll have to peep into that there kettle and see what's inside." And he looked. Well, he saw that it was quite full of people, that kettle
was, and among them he saw the man who had failed to give him his pension book, in that same kettle. Well, that didn't cause him to ease up, rather did he cook with added energy, and he put extra wood on the fire, out of hatred for the fellow for being so mean.

When he had cooked for one more year, completing the three years, his employer came again and asked:

"Have you been faithful?"

"Surely have I been faithful," he answered, "only I looked into the kettle; but after that, I cooked even more faithfully."

"It doesn't matter if you've looked," said his employer, "as long as you kept on cooking, and did not stop out of astonishment."
Then he said: "Wouldn't you like to serve three more years? I'll raise your pay to as much as you'd ever want."

"I'd like to go away now and see the world," answered the soldier. "I've been all alone long enough."

"I have not had anybody so faithful in my service before," said the other, "and I certainly would like you to stay for three more years."

"No, I am already an old man. I haven't the strength to serve you any more."

"I see it's no use my demanding it either," responded his employer "I must make good my promise."

Then he led the soldier through a door into another room, where there were two bins, one containing gold pieces and the other silver pieces. And he said:

"Take whichever you wish, as much as you think you can carry."

The soldier filled his pouch with gold, taking as much as he could carry, which was a goodly amount, and he stuffed his pockets as full of silver coins as he could. Then the other transported him to the spot where they had first met, and they made a compact that he must not shave his whiskers or wash his face or cut his hair or cut his nails until he had consulted the other and obtained permission to clean himself. If he broke his pledge, his money would begin to run out; otherwise, no matter how he lived, as long as he remained dirty, his money would last. The soldier gave his word that he would not clean himself until he received permission to do so. Then they parted company, and he started to walk along the road.

He stopped at the first house on the roadside meaning to buy something to eat. But because he was such a dreadful sight, with his long beard and long hair, nails like the claws of an eagle, skin black and sooty, and clothes in similar condition, all the people fled when he entered the house, thinking he was the Devil. So he left and went to another house. But there likewise, the people fled, so he was unable to speak to anybody. He began to grow very hungry, and he went into several more houses; but they ran away from him everywhere he went, so he could get no food.

Then he decided to visit an inn, where there would have to be an innkeeper on hand to help travellers on their way. When he reached the inn, everybody fled except the innkeeper, who hid in the back room. The soldier sat down at a table in the main room, took some coins from his pocket, and made clinking noises with them. The innkeeper heard the sounds from his hiding-place, and he secretly peeped from behind the door to see what was clinking.

The soldier noticed that the door was slightly ajar and that somebody was peeping from behind it, and he said:

"You need not be afraid of me. I'm human, even though I haven't kept myself clean."

Then he asked that food should be brought to him, since he was able to pay for it. The innkeeper dared not come out, but kept on peeping from behind the door. So the soldier put a handful of coins on the table and said:
"If you'll bring me food, you can have all this money for just one meal."

Well, that fetched the innkeeper out of the back room. He was frightened; but he came up and asked:

"Where do you hail from, stranger? Where are you travelling to?"

The soldier answered: "I'm an old soldier, and I have been released from military service, and I'm on my way back home."

"I've seen old soldiers before," said the innkeeper, "but they have not been so filthy as you are, stranger. And after all, they don't let you be dirty in the army."

"By no means do they let you be like this," said the soldier, "nor was I dirty while I was in the army. But I've been working for a man for six years since I left the army, and he wouldn't let me clean myself."

"Well, what a crazy fool that man must have been," said the innkeeper, "not letting you wash yourself or clean up!" And he asked: "Where was it?"

"I don't feel inclined to tell you," said the soldier.

"Don't you think you ought to wash now that you've left that man?" asked the innkeeper.

The soldier asked for something to eat, and the innkeeper brought him some food. The soldier told him to take the money he had promised for the meal. The innkeeper took it, and then the soldier asked if he could be lodged in the house. But he was told:

"I've got so few rooms here that I can't put you up."

"I wouldn't take up such a terrible lot of space," said the soldier, "that I couldn't share the same room with the people of the house.» And he added: "I'd pay for my keep."

"I'm willing enough," said the innkeeper, "but the rest of the household would object, and lots of travellers who drop in would complain about your hideous appearance, since you never wash yourself."

The innkeeper even had his doubts whether the soldier was ready human. But he said he might be able to give him a lodging, provided that he cleaned himself.

"It won't do," said the soldier.

"Why not," asked the innkeeper, "if you're really a human being?"

"I am a real human being ad right," answered the soldier, "even if I haven't kept myself clean, and that's a fast. But the reason is that the man I worked for these past six years wouldn't allow it."

"Well," said the innkeeper, "why should you obey him so?"

The soldier said that, if the innkeeper would not ten anybody, he would explain. The innkeeper promised not to tell, and the soldier said:

"The reason I obey is that he paid me as wages as much money m gold as I could carry, and he said it would never grow less, no matter how much I spend, on condition that I do not clean myself. And I think my employer was no real human being, for he took me inside a mountain, where I spent the whole time."

That is how the soldier explained the whole of the matter to the innkeeper.

"Well," said the innkeeper, "under such conditions it certainly would not pay you to clean yourself up."

"Won't you put me up in this house," asked the soldier, "in spite of everything? I'll pay you back many times over what I use."

"I'd need a special room," replied the innkeeper, "for I could not keep you in the sight of people. But, as I've just said, I haven't got any such room. Besides, I don't know whether I could keep you anyhow, unless you have some papers proving that you are not an ordinary tramp."

"No fear of that!" said the soldier. "I'm an honest old soldier, and I have my soldier's passport to prove it."

"Why don't you go back to the country you hail from, where your home is?" said the innkeeper.

"It's a long way to the country where my home is," answered the soldier, "and the reason I don't want to travel there is that I have already seen that people won't even give me anything to eat. When they see me, they run away. I'd have to go hungry before I got far, even though I do have money. But you can't eat money, and the farmers and their wives won't stay in place so that I can buy provisions from them, let alone other people. And even without this, none of my relatives is alive any more back in my home country, and all my old-time friends have disappeared by now, for I have been so long in the army. So it's an the same to me where I stay."

The inn was loaded with debt, and its keeper was a poor man, who was naturally pleased to have a guest with so much money. He asked the soldier if he would mind living in the sauna, the bath-house.

The soldier answered: "What's pleasure to an old man? The main thing for an oldster is to keep warm."

So they concluded the bargain, the soldier going to live in the sauna, and the innkeeper staying on in his house. The innkeeper received so much money that he was soon able to pay off all his debts, and to make his house more imposing than any manor-house in the country. Finally he became very rich. Gentlemen who had visited the inn before asked him:
"How have you made a fortune in such a short time, when earlier travellers could scarcely get anything but water from the whole house?"

To these gentlemen who so persistently asked questions, the innkeeper explained that there lived on his premises an old soldier who had so much money he never ran out of it, and that he was being paid so well that he had been able to recuperate his fortune. Through the gentlemen, the matter came to the attention of the King of that realm. That is to say, he learnt that there lived in his realm a man who always had plenty of money, no matter how much he spent. And the King was heavily in debt, too.

So he summoned the soldier, thinking he might likewise get some money out of him. The soldier did not want to go, knowing how dreadful he looked. But command followed command. The soldier became very downhearted, for how could he go, looking as he did? Should he clean himself, or what should he do? Should he change his clothes and go all the same? Then, one night, his old employer visited him and said:

"Go ahead and see the King, and do not be at all afraid; but you mustn't clean yourself any more than you have up to now."

"But what will the King do to me on account of my uncouth appearance?" said the soldier.

"Don't be at all afraid," answered his old employer. "He won't do anything to you. I know what business he had in mind when he summoned you. He is in debt, is the King, and he has learnt that you have plenty of money, and that the amount never diminishes. So he intends to get his debts paid off through you. Just you go to him. I'll give you all the money you need. Give the money to the King, but on condition that he gives you the hand of one of his daughters in marriage. If he won't, then don't give him a single penny. But if he agrees to give you his daughter's hand, then you can give him as much money as he needs. He has three daughters, and the two older ones won't give their consent; but what the youngest will do, I have no idea. And remember, I'll always be with you on that journey, although nobody else can see me."

Then the soldier left the inn and went to the King, and said: "Here I am, the old soldier, whom Your Majesty has summoned."

"Yes, I have heard about you," said the King, "and that you are supposed to have so much money that nobody can be compared with you, and no matter how much you spend, the amount does not diminish. Is this true that I have heard about you?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, it is true."

The King asked: "How did you come by so much money?"

Then the old soldier told him honestly how he had come by the money after leaving military service.

"Why do you keep yourself so filthy?" asked the King.

The soldier explained that if he cleaned himself, his money would run out, and that he did not want this to happen because he had never received his pension.

Be that as it might, the King said he did not want to pry further into the matter. "But I do need money," he said, "if you are willing to help me and lend me some."

"Well, Your Majesty, that can surely be arranged, as much as you want, but not in very large sums, rather in small amounts, for I have no more on me than I can carry at a time; but only on condition that Your Majesty gives me your daughter's hand in marriage."

The King said: "I do not know whether my daughter would give her consent to that, because you look so very uncouth."

Nevertheless, he called his eldest daughter and asked her if she would agree to marrying this rich man, looking as he did. She was horrified and said: "Not anybody like that!"

The second daughter was asked the same question, and just like the first, she answered: «I would never marry anybody like that, even if I had to die!"

Then the third and youngest daughter was called in, and the King put the same question to her. "I wish to obey His Majesty, my father," she said, "even though it is not exactly to my liking, for I wish to abide by his royal will."

To this the soldier responded: "If you consent to a match of love with me, I shall not give you any other betrothal present now except one ribbon."

That ribbon was so strange that nothing like it had ever been seen before. It was his old employer who had given it to him; he had visited him during the night, and told him to present one half of it to his betrothed. So the soldier took a pair of scissors and snipped the ribbon in two, giving the King's daughter one half and putting the other half in his pocket. And he warned her not to lose her half, but to hold on to it until he came next time. Then he went away.

On his way home, he met his old employer, who said:

"Now you must shave off your whiskers, and clip off your hair, and clean yourself as well as you possibly can."

He told the soldier to buy himself the best princely garments he could find, and the best carriage and horses that were for sale in the whole kingdom, and to return to the King, but not to let it be known right away that he was the same man.

And his employer joined him as his manservant. The soldier turned out to be so handsome that nobody comparable to him had ever been seen before. He was both young and well dressed, in the finest of garments, and his carriage and horses were splendid and beautiful. He had a coachman to drive the horses, and everything sparkled with gold and silver, for he made them sparkle in the eyes of other people.

The soldier went to the King, acting the part of a different man, not as he was the first time, but as a Prince from some other kingdom. He offered himself as a son-in-law and requested the hand of a Princess. The King was agreeable, and called his eldest daughter first to show herself. She would have been willing to accept the Prince, but he said he did not care for her, and asked to see the second daughter. She was summoned for him to see, but he said:

"I don't like this one either, but I've heard there is also a third Princess. If I could see her, and if I could have her hand, I'll take her."

The third daughter came. The King asked if she wished to marry this Prince. The girl said:

"It is not right for me to make a match with another, since I have already plighted my troth, as Your Majesty knows full well."

"Where does he come from, this one to whom she has plighted her troth?" asked the Prince.

"I do not know whence he comes," answered the girl.

"Perchance he will not return to fulfill his pledge," said the Prince. But the girl answered:

"Surely he will. I cannot believe otherwise. He will surely keep his pledge."

"Well," asked the Prince, "did he give you any betrothal present?"

"He did not give me anything," said the girl.

"What sort of match was that, if no token was given?" said the Prince. "Surely he must have given some sort of token, as long as you made a match."

The girl answered that he had left her a token, but she was ashamed to say what it was.

Then the Prince said: "It makes no difference how poor it may be, or how worthless." And he insisted that she should bring it for him to see. She did not want to fetch it, but finally she did so, because he was so insistent. When she brought it, the Prince took the other half of the ribbon from his pocket and said:

"Aren't these cut from the same ribbon, and do they not fit together, though they have been cut apart in such a complicated way?" And he announced: "I am the same man as before, and the bargain was that whoever had the other half of the ribbon should be accepted as your suitor."

When they saw that the two ribbons had been cut from the same piece, they accepted him. And then he brought forth his betrothal presents, gold and silver in abundance and all sorts of splendid things never before seen, handing them over both to the King and to his bride. And he asked that the wedding be held as soon as possible. Great was the rejoicing in the King's palace, and especially because the ugly and uncouth man had changed into such a handsome and agreeable one. The other two daughters were very downcast because they had not had the sense to consent to his proposal the first time, and because after that, nobody else would take them.

While the youngest Princess was being married to the soldier in church, the elder sisters hanged themselves, because fortune had not smiled upon them. And the soldier's old employer shouted at the church door, while the wedding ceremony was going on and the two sisters were hanging themselves: "Aha! Aha! You got one, but I got two!"

The soldier made the King very rich, and he was rich himself.