A resigned soldier had nothing to live for and didn't know what to do. So he went out into the forest, and when he had walked a little while, he met a little man, but he was the devil. The little man said to him, "What is wrong with you? You look so miserable. Then the soldier said, "I am hungry, but I have no money. The devil said, "If you want to hire yourself out to me and be my servant, you shall have enough for your whole life; you shall serve me for seven years, and then you will be free again. But I tell you one thing, you must not wash, not comb, not flick, not cut your nails and hair and not wipe water from your eyes'. The soldier said, 'Fresh on, if it can't be helped,' and went away with the little man, who led him straight into hell. Then he told him what he had to do: he had to stoke the fire under the cauldrons, where the hell-roasts were sitting, keep the house clean, carry the sweepings behind the door, and see that everything was in order: but if he looked into the cauldrons just once, he would have a bad time. The soldier said, "It's all right, I'll take care of it.

Then the old devil went out again on his wanderings, and the soldier went on duty, built the fire, swept and carried the muck behind the door, everything as he had been ordered. When the old devil came back, he checked whether everything had been done, was satisfied and left for the second time. The soldier took a good look around, and there were cauldrons all around in hell, and a huge fire underneath, boiling and sizzling. He would have liked to look into it for his life, if the devil had not forbidden him so strictly: at last he could no longer stop himself, lifted the lid of the first cauldron a little bit and looked into it. There he saw his former sergeant sitting in it: 'aha, bird,' he said, 'do I meet you here? you had me, now I have you,' he quickly dropped the lid, stoked the fire and added some fresh fuel. Then he went to the second cauldron, lifted it a little and looked, there sat his ensign in it: 'aha, bird, do I meet you here? you had me, now I have you,' he closed the lid again and carried another log, which should make him even hotter. Now he wanted to see who was sitting in the third cauldron, and it was a general: 'aha, bird, do I meet you here? you've had me, now I've got you,' he fetched the bellows and let the hellfire flicker beneath him. So he did his service in hell for seven years, didn't wash, didn't comb his hair, didn't flick his hair, didn't cut his nails and hair, and didn't wipe water from his eyes; and the seven years were so short to him that he thought it had only been half a year. When the time was fully up, the devil came and said, "Well, Hans, what have you done?" "I have stoked the fire under the cauldrons, I have swept and carried the muck behind the door. But you also looked into the boilers; it is your good fortune that you have added wood, otherwise your life would be lost; now your time is up, do you want to go home again?' 'Yes,' said the soldier, 'I would also like to see what my father is doing at home.' Said the devil, "so that you get your deserved pay, go and grab your satchel full of sweeping dirt and take it home with you. Thou shalt also go unwashed and unkempt, with long hair on thy head and beard, with uncut nails and dull eyes, and when asked where thou camest from, thou shalt say 'from hell,' and when asked who thou art, thou shalt say 'the devil's sooty brother, and my king too.' The soldier kept silent and did as the devil said, but he was not at all satisfied with his reward.

As soon as he was up in the forest again, he lifted his satchel from his back and wanted to pour it out: but when he opened it, the dirt had become pure gold. I wouldn't have thought so," he said, was amused and went into the city. The innkeeper was standing in front of the inn, and when he saw him approaching, he was frightened because Hans looked so horrible, worse than a scarecrow. He called him and asked 'where are you from?' 'From hell. 'Who are you?' 'The devil's sooty brother, and my king too.' Now the innkeeper would not let him in, but when he showed him the gold, he went and unlocked the door himself. Then Hans had the best room given to him and delicious food served, ate and drank his fill, but did not wash or comb his hair as the devil had told him, and finally lay down to sleep. The innkeeper, however, saw the satchel full of gold before his eyes and did not let him rest until he crept up in the night and stole it away.

When Hans got up the next morning, wanted to pay the innkeeper and go on, his satchel was gone. But he thought, 'You have been unhappy through no fault of your own,' and turned back, straight into hell: there he complained to the old devil about his misery and asked him for help. The devil said 'sit down, I will wash you, comb you, flick you, cut your hair and nails, and wipe your eyes,' and when he had finished with him, he gave him the satchel full of sweepings again, and said 'go, and tell the innkeeper he should give you your gold again, or I will come and fetch it, and he should stoke the fire in your place.' Hans went up and said to the innkeeper 'you have stolen my gold, if you don't give it back, you will go to hell in my place, and you shall look as ghoulish as I do.' So the innkeeper gave him the gold and more, and asked him only to be quiet about it; and Hans was now a rich man.

Hans went home to his father, bought himself a bad linen coat, went around and made music, because he had learned that from the devil in hell. But there was an old king in the country, before whom he had to play, and he was so pleased that he promised Hans his eldest daughter in marriage. But when she heard that she was to marry such a mean fellow in a white coat, she said, "Before I do that, I would rather go into the deepest water. So the king gave him the youngest, who wanted to do it for her father's sake; and so the devil's sooty brother got the king's daughter, and when the old king died, he got the whole kingdom as well.