When he once heard the sound of this temple bell, he scowled more unhappily than he had when he heard the bell of St. Paul’s and began to dig furiously in the field. For when, bathed in the warm sunshine, he heard this calm bell, his heart was strangely relaxed. He had no more mind to work evil than to do good. At this rate, his crossing the sea on purpose to tempt the Japanese would be all in vain. The only reason the Devil, who hated work so much that he was once scolded by the sister of Ivan for having no blisters on his palms, was willing to toil away with a hoe like this was simply that he was madly determined to drive away the moral sleepiness that threatened to overcome him.
After some days the Devil at last finished his work and sowed in furrows the seeds he had in his ear.
During the following months, the seeds the Devil had sown sprouted and grew into high plants and, at the end of the summer, broad green leaves completely hid all the earth of the field. But there was no one who knew the name of the plants. Even when St. Francis asked him, the Devil only grinned and held his tongue, vouchsafing no reply.
Meanwhile the plants put out clusters of flowers on the ends of their stems. They were funnel-shaped and light purple. The Devil seemed to be delighted with the flowering of the plants in proportion to the trouble he had taken with them. So every day, after the morning and evening services, he always came out into the field and cultivated them devotedly.
Then one day (St. Francis had gone off on a preaching tour for several days and was absent) a cattle dealer passed by the field leading a yellow cow. There across the fence in the field full of purple flowers stood a southern barbarian Brother in his black priest’s robe and broad-brimmed hat busily picking worms off the leaves. The flowers were so curious that the cattle dealer involuntarily stopped, took off his mushroom hat and called to the Brother politely,
“I say, holy one, what are those flowers?”
The Brother looked round. He had a flat nose and small eyes and was an altogether good-natured looking “redhead.”
“These?”
“Yes.”
The “redhead,” leaning on the fence, shook his head. Then he said in awkward Japanese,
“I’m sorry, but I can’t tell that one thing to anybody.”
“Oh, then did Francis-sama say that you shouldn’t tell?”
“No, not that.”
“Then won’t you just tell me once, for I’ve recently been instructed by Francis-sama and become a believer in your religion, as you see.”
The cattle dealer pointed proudly to his breast. The Devil looked, and sure enough, there was a little brass cross hanging from his neck and shining in the sun. Then, perhaps dazzled by it, the Brother screwed up his face a little and dropped his eyes to the ground, but quickly in a more familiar tone than before and so that you could not tell whether he was joking or not, he said,
“Still I can’t. For by the law of our country, it’s forbidden to tell. Better still, you make a guess at it yourself. The Japanese are clever, so you’re sure to hit it. If you do, I’ll give you all the plants in this field.”
The cattle dealer probably thought the Brother was making fun of him. With a smile on his sunburnt face, he gave his head an exaggerated tilt.
“What can it be, I wonder. To save me, I can’t guess it right off.”
“Oh, you needn’t do it today. Think it over for three days. I don’t care if you consult others about it. If you guess it, I’ll give you all these. Besides, I’ll give you some rare wine. Or shall I give you a picture of the Heavenly Paradise.”
The cattle dealer seemed to be surprised at his earnestness.
“Then if I don’t guess it, what’ll I have to do?”
Pushing his hat back on his head, the Brother waved his hand and laughed. He laughed in a sharp voice like a crow’s, that took the cattle dealer a little by surprise.
“If you fail to guess it, I’ll take something of yours. It’s a gamble. It’s a gamble whether you can guess it or not. If you guess it, I give you all these plants.”
As he talked, the redhead’s voice again took on a friendly tone.
“All right. Then I’ll do my best, too, and give you anything you say.”
“Will you give me anything? Even that cow?”
“If she’ll do, I’ll give her to you right now.”
Smiling, the cattle dealer patted the yellow cow on the forehead. He seemed to be taking everything the good-natured Brother said for a joke.
“And in exchange, if I win, I’ll thank you for those flowering plants.”
“Good. Good. Then it’s a real bargain, isn’t it?”
“It’s a real bargain. I swear in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
When he heard this, the Brother flashed his little eyes and snorted twice or thrice as if with satisfaction. Then putting his left hand on his hip and leaning a little back, he put his right hand out and touched the purple flowers.
“Well then, if you don’t guess it—I’ll take you, body and soul.”
With this, the redhead made a large circle with his right hand and took off his hat. There were two horns like a goat’s in his shaggy hair. The cattle dealer, changing color, dropped his hat from his hand. Perhaps because the sun was obscured, the brightness of the flowers and leaves in the field all at once vanished. Even the cow, as if in fear of something, lowered her horns and gave a bellow like the rumbling of the earth.
“Even a promise made to me is a promise. You’ve sworn in the
