Chapter 6 : Contes populaires de Lorraine, comparés avec le…

The story follows La Ramée, a rowdy French soldier who kills his colonel and flees to England. Starving in a forest, he takes shelter with an old woman who promises him a fortune. She directs him to an enchanted castle, instructing him to pass through rooms guarded by terrifying beasts, locate an iron man sitting on an anvil, and pocket the lit candle behind him. La Ramée successfully executes the plan, ignoring the palace guards by keeping his eyes glued to the floor. Upon leaving, he lights the candle, which summons the iron man. The magical servant fills his sack with gold, allowing La Ramée to travel to the capital. When the old woman resurfaces to demand the candle, La Ramée kills her. La Ramée lives lavishly at a high-end hotel until his funds run dry. He lights the candle again, and the iron man replenishes his wealth. La Ramée then commands the spirit to abduct the princess of England each night. Although she refuses his marriage proposals, she is repeatedly brought to his room. Distressed, the princess informs her father, who consults a fairy for assistance. Following the fairy's advice, the princess drops a trail of bran to mark the house, but the iron man counters this by scattering bran across every residence in the city. The fairy then instructs the princess to puncture a bladder filled with blood, but the iron man covers the entire city in livestock blood to hide the tracks. Finally, the king places guards around the princess. Powerless against them, the iron man tells La Ramée to go himself, resulting in the soldier's capture and imprisonment in a dark dungeon. From his cell window, La Ramée spots an old comrade and begs him to retrieve the candle and a lighter from his hotel room. Once reunited with the item, La Ramée summons the iron man, who shatters his chains and frees him. On a nearby mountain, La Ramée has the iron man set up a massive battery of two hundred cannons and five iron giants. They easily decimate the king's forces in battle. Meanwhile, La Ramée encounters a blind man and buys a magical violin capable of controlling the living and the dead for ten thousand francs. He threatens to destroy the capital unless the king grants him the princess's hand. When the king laments his dead soldiers, La Ramée plays the violin, instantly resurrecting the fallen men. Satisfied, the king consents to the marriage and abdicates his throne, making La Ramée the new King of England, who is subsequently pardoned by the King of France.