When the maiden resembled more of a beast than a young woman, the Devil returned. The girl wept and her tears went onto the palms of her hands and down her arms. And because of this her hands and arms were pure white.
The Devil was enraged, "Chop off her hands, otherwise I cannot come near her!"
The father horrified questioned and engaged the Devil. "You want me to sever the hands of my own child?" The Devil bellowed, "If you don't, everything here will die, including you, your wife, and all the fields for as far as you can see."
The father was so frightened he obeyed, and begging his daughter's forgiveness he began to sharpen his silver-lipped ax.
The daughter submitted saying, "I am your child, do as you must." AND he did! Thus--ending the girl's life as she knew it.
When the Devil came again, the girl had cried so much the stumps that were left of her limbs were again clean and the Devil was again thrown across the yard when he attempted to seize her.
Cursing in words that set small fires in the forest, he disappeared forever, for he had lost his claim to her. Her tears released the hold he had on her.
The story continues in my blog post: The Handless Maiden--Initiation #3 The Wandering.
