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Updated: May 20, 2025
And as he repeated mechanically the prayer his mother had taught him an angel suddenly appeared and said: "Satan, let Twardowski go; and you, Twardowski, hang you there between heaven and earth, to atone for your sin until the Last Judgment. Then will you be reunited with your mother in heaven. The prayer which you remembered in your hour of need has saved you."
Twardowski, who now seemed quite himself, only younger and stronger, thanked Famulus and resumed again his study of magic. He desired, above all things, to be freed forever from his compact with the devil. This, he read in one of the books, he might do if he would brave the terrors of the underworld. So Twardowski determined to enter the gates of hell.
Finally he found himself in a small room, and cast a hasty glance around, looking for a means of escape. Seeing a child in a cradle in one corner of the room he seized it hastily, threw his cloak around it, and was about to leave when the door opened and the Evil One entered. He made a respectful bow and said, "Will you be good enough to go with me now?" "Why so?" asked Twardowski, obstinately.
"Give me your immortal soul," was the answer. "Do you think I am a fool?" asked Twardowski. "You gave me your promise to go to Rome after seven years." "That I have already done," said Twardowski, "and I did not promise to stay in Rome." "Noble deceiver!" exclaimed the Evil One. "Stupid devil!" cried Twardowski. Then after a struggle the devil vanished and Twardowski returned home.
Similar requests followed, and it was not long before the devil repented of his bargain. One day it would please Twardowski to fly without wings through the air; on another, to the delight of the crowd, to gallop backward on a cock; on another to float in a boat without a rudder or sail, accompanied by some maiden who for the moment had inflamed his heart.
Then a deep feeling of sadness came over him as he realized the meaning of the bells. They were the funeral knell of his own soul. When morning came, however, doubts were forgotten, and Twardowski was glad to have the devil at his command. The first thing that he demanded was to have all the silver of Poland gathered together in one place and covered over with great mounds of sand.
One day, by the use of his magic mirror, he set fire to the castle of an enemy a mile away. This last feat made him greatly feared by people far and wide. At last the seven years were up. The devil appeared to Twardowski and said: "Twardowski, the time of our pact is over, and I command you to fulfill your promise and go to Rome." "What shall I do there?"
Twardowski uttered a low cry, fell, and was soon dead. Famulus dropped trembling into a chair and covered his face with his hands. Then he remembered that he must read the remainder of the parchment in order to find out what he must do to restore the body to life.
Thither, at the end of seven years, will I go." The devil hesitated over this clause, but thinking of the fun he could have in the holy city, finally agreed. Leaning against the wall of stone he wrote the compact, which Twardowski, making a slight wound in his arm, signed with his own blood.
At last so high were they that cities appeared like flies and Krakau with its mighty turrets like two spiders. Deeply moved, Twardowski looked down upon the scene of all his struggles and all his joys. But higher and higher they went higher than any eagle has ever flown and more lonely and more fearful did it seem to Twardowski.
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