History Literature / Bearskin

* NemeanSkinning: The Devil gives the hero the titular Bearskin to wear after the pact had been made.

* OldMaid: All three girls are unmarried when Bearskin comes looking for a wife. Three years later, the older two are still unmarried, and they don't seem to have any prospects either, given how eagerly they greet the 'rich stranger'.

* NemeanSkinning: The Devil gives the hero the titular Bearskin to wear after the pact had been made.

He survives to the end of the term, gains the gold purse, and cleans himself up before visiting the old man again. Everyone but the youngest daughter takes a keen interest in the handsome newcomer, especially when he says he's come to seek a bride. The older girls go to pretty themselves up, letting him reveal himself to the youngest girl in private -- by showing her the other half of the ring. They marry in great joy, but the older sisters are eaten alive with envy and ultimately kill themselves. The Devil is pleased: he got two souls instead of one.

A soldier can not return home after he leaves the army, and can not find a job. Desperation drives him to make a deal with the Devil. For the next seven years, he will carry a purse of gold that's always full. However, he must wear a bearskin and neither pray nor wash nor cut his hair in all that time. If he survives, he can keep the purse, but if he dies, the Devil gets his soul.

!!Tropes included

* AgeLift: Some adaptations change the birth place of the youngest child. For example, the English dub of ''Anime/GrimmsFairyTaleClassics'' makes Christina the middle daughter in the show’s adaptation of the episode.

* SheCleansUpNicely: [[GenderFlip Gender-flipped]]. The soldier is actually quite handsome when he's allowed to bathe, trim his hair, and wear nice clothes. Even his own fiancee doesn't recognize him until he shows her his engagement ring.

The soldier spends several years WalkingTheEarth, giving away gold to the poor and asking them to pray for him. One night he rescues an old man from prison for debt, and the man promises the hand of one of his daughters in gratitude. The older two reject him, but the youngest agrees, knowing that only a good man would have rescued her father. He gives her half of a ring and asks her to wait for him, telling her if he doesn't return after three years, she is free to marry someone else.

A soldier can not return home after he leaves the army, and can not find a job. Desperation drives him to make a deal with the Devil, who makes a bet with him. For the next seven years, he will carry a purse of gold that's always full. However, he must wear a bearskin and neither pray nor wash nor cut his hair in all that time. If he survives, he can keep the purse, but if he dies, the Devil gets his soul.

* AdaptationPersonalityChange: The opening lines of the Grimmelhousen version and the opening lines of the Grimm version are polar opposites. Grimmelhousen's soldier is a deserter who hid in the woods until cold and hunger replaced bullets as the immediate danger. Grimm's soldier "was always at the very front when it was raining bullets" and his misfortune comes from the fact the war ends, leaving him useless to society.

* RuleOfSeven: Seven years is the term of the bargain.

* TheBadGuyWins: Arguably. Bearskin is freed from the deal and he and his bride find happiness, but the Devil is ''also'' happy with how the deal turned out; he lost the soul he was looking for but gained ''two'' in its place after the older sisters commit suicide, and all it cost him was the magic purse.

* TheBadGuyWins: Arguably. Bearskin is freed from the deal and he and his bride find happiness, but the Devil is ''also'' happy with how the deal turned out; he lost the soul he was looking for but gained ''two'' in its place after the two older sisters commit suicide, and all it cost him was the magic purse.

* BlindIdiotTranslation: Some foreign translators of the tale (even a few English ones) were apparently confused by Bearskin's nickname and have the soldier [[BalefulPolymorph actually turn into a bear]] instead of just wearing a skin. This makes the later scenes where he falls in love with the princess and completes humane acts accidentally humorous.

* IgnoreTheFanservice: The stranger who visits the house when the three years are up is handsome enough that both the older sisters fall for him, but the youngest isn't interested because she promised to wait for Bearskin. Which is why he's able to privately reveal to her that he ''is'' Bearskin, as the other two had went to their rooms to pretty up for their guest.

* GuileHero: Bearskin's rather clever LoopholeAbuse and his invocation of a SecretTestOfCharacter show him to be a rather clever man and a lot more capable than most luckless fools who make a DealWithTheDevil. The fact that that [[TheBadGuyWins the Devil managed to get *two souls* instead of one when the older sisters commit suicide]] is a lucky accident. Bearskin won their deal.

* NemeanSkinning: The devil gives the hero the titular Bearskin to wear after the pact had been made.

* WinWinEnding: Both the Devil and Bearskin got what they wanted from the deal; Bearskin is alive, rich, and married, and while the Devil didn't get his soul, he got an even better consolation prize in the form of the two older sisters, who commit suicide upon realizing who they turned down.

* GuileHero: Bearskin's rather clever LoopholeAbuse and his invocation of a SecretTestOfCharacter show him to be a rather clever man and a lot more capable than most luckless fools who make a DealWithTheDevil. The fact that that [[TheBadGuyWins the Devil managed to get *two souls* instead of one when the older sisters commit suicide]] is a lucky accident. Bearskin won thier deal.

* GuileHero: Bearskin's rather clever LoopholeAbuse and his invocation of a SecretTestOfCharacter show him to be a rather clever man and a lot more capable than most luckless fools who make a DealWithTheDevil. The fact that that [[TheBadGuyWins The Devil managed to get *two souls* instead of one when the older sisters commit suicide]] is a lucky accident. Bearskin won thier deal.

* TheBadGuyWins: Arguably. Bearskin and his bride find earthly happiness, but her sisters go to Hell, giving Satan ''two'' souls for the measly price of some gold.

* ThePromise: The father promises he can marry his daughter without asking any of them to do it.

* SheCleansUpNicely: [[GenderFlip Gender-flipped]].

* WinWinEnding: Both the Devil and Bearskin got what they wanted from the deal.

Full text [[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/bearskin/index.html here]].

** Jealousy will ''ruin'' you.

* YoungestChildWins: The youngest girl gets an ideal husband in return for her willingness to look past Bearskin's appearance. Her sisters, who realize too late what they could have had, kill themselves.

He survives to the end of the term, gains the gold purse, and cleans himself up before visiting the old man again. Everyone but the youngest daughter takes a keen interest in the handsome newcomer, especially when he says he's come to seek a bride. The older girls go to pretty themselves up, letting him reveal himself to the youngest girl in private -- by showing her the other half of the ring. They marry in great joy, but the older sisters are eaten alive with envy and finally kill themselves. The Devil is pleased: he got two souls instead of one.

** Your actions and decisions may have effects on those around you.

* TheBadGuyWins: Arguably. Bearskin and his bride find happiness, but her sisters go to Hell, giving Satan ''two'' souls for the measly price of some gold.

* GreenEyedMonster: The elder sisters.

* SecretTestOfCharacter: The youngest daughter, who agrees to marry Bearskin because she can see his good character, shows her own fidelity by rejecting what looks like a much better prospect -- the handsome, rich young man who, as we already know, ''is'' her fiance.

* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: The youngest.
* TwoHalvesMakeAPlot: the [[YoungestChildWins youngest daughter]] of the family agrees to marry Bearskin in exchange for the financial help he gave to their father, and Bearskin gives her half of an engagement ring, and then leaves, keeping the other half for himself. Some time afterward, he returns [[SheCleansUpNicely cleaned up and handsome]], and proves his identity by producing the other half of the ring.

* YoungestChildWins: The youngest girl gets an ideal husband in return for her willingness to look past Bearskin's frightening appearance. Her sisters, who realize too late what they could have had, kill themselves.