In this 1814 novella by Adelbert von Chamisso, the protagonist encounters an old man who seems to have strange powers. The man compliments him on his shadow, and offers to buy it in exchange for a bottomless purse. The protagonist is perplexed as to how or why a shadow could be bought, but on seeing the bottomless purse, happily agrees. As the genre savy would suspect, he learns too late that there is a downside to the bargain. (full-text available at the Internet Archive[1]
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This story provides examples of:
- Affably Evil: The old man
- The Adjectival Man: naturally.
- Casts No Shadow: naturally.
- Character Development: The protagonist grows into a better person over the course of the story.
- Deal with the Devil: Strongly implied, though he didn't realize it at the time. Also averted, in that once he realized the nature of the first transaction (and the old man refused to reverse it), the protagonist refuses to accept a second transaction where his shadow is returned in exchange for his soul.
- Functional Magic: A handful of magical objects.
- Genre Blindness: A strange old man with odd powers asking for a seemingly harmless price in exchange for a powerful reward. What could possibly go wrong?
- Jerkass: One of the two servants he hires after gaining the endless purse.
- Love Triangle: One of the motivations behind the above Jerkass's betrayal.
- Mundane Utility: The old man is first encountered accompanying a group of the idle rich on an outing. And is able to provide from his jacket pocket whatever mundane item they decide what they are in need of: A telescope, a mustard-plaster, a turkey carpet, a pavilion tent.
- Sliding Scale of Realistic vs. Fantastic: It's just like real-life 1814. Except for the old man with strange powers. And the bottomless purse. And selling the shadow. And an invisibility cap. And the Seven League Boots.
- Visible Invisibility: A magic cap that turns the wearer, but not the wearer's shadow, invisible. Of course, if you don't HAVE a shadow to give you away...
