Chapter 8 : Contes populaires de Lorraine, comparés avec le…

Jean, a wealthy youth, loses all his money gambling. A handsome stranger—the devil—offers him 20,000 francs on the condition that Jean meet him in the Black Forest in one year and one day. Discovering the stranger’s identity, Jean's parents urge him to return the money. Jean rides 6,600 leagues and arrives at the devil’s house exactly on time. Outside, a fairy tells him to watch a fountain where three magical feathers are bathing: Green Feather, Yellow Feather, and Black Feather. She instructs him to capture Green Feather, steal her dress, and kiss her. Jean complies, and Green Feather reveals she is the devil’s daughter. She provides him with critical survival instructions to counteract her father's traps, such as rejecting specific seating, dining ware, and bedding, counting exactly eighteen steps on the staircase, and stating it is the custom of his country. Jean successfully avoids the devil's initial traps by strictly following Green Feather's advice, which infuriates the devil. The next morning, the devil commands Jean to cut down an entire forest by evening using a cardboard axe, a wooden saw, and a rubber billhook. At noon, Green Feather brings Jean food and, using her magic wand, instantly cuts, stacks, and delivers the wood. Astounded by the completed task, the devil then orders Jean to build a beautifully sculpted castle with a central spire facing his house. Green Feather tells Jean to kill her while she is transformed into a white cat, boil her skin, and carefully arrange her bones while placing a hidden arrow from her body onto the castle spire. Jean performs the tasks, though he misaligns a small bone in her pinky finger. The castle appears instantly. The devil then blindfolds Jean, demanding he identify the transformed cat among the three feathers. Spotting Green Feather in the middle, Jean chooses correctly and wins her hand in marriage. That night, amidst a great wind, the couple escapes. Arriving near Jean's home, Green Feather kisses him, transforming him from ugly to handsome. She warns him not to let his parents kiss him, or he will lose his beauty. Jean resists his parents, but his grandmother forces a kiss upon him, reverting him to ugliness. Green Feather kisses him once more to restore his handsome appearance. The next morning, the devil pursues them but is misdirected by a stonecutter and a plowman, forcing him to return home in frustration. Later, unaware that the White Cat is married, wealthy suitors attempt to win her hand. Jean beats each suitor with sticks and whips as they try to court her, collecting their massive dowries of 100,000, 80,000, and 60,000 francs. Now immensely wealthy, Jean and the White Cat hold a grand wedding celebration.