Teufelchen

Summary

In a sulfurous corner of Hades, a cherubic imp—scarlet-skinned, tail prehensile as a violinist’s wrist—clutches his abdomen while sulfuric belches ricochet off basalt walls. Grandmama, a matriarch whose horns curve like Baroque violas, dispatches an infernal physician: a goat-hoofed charlatan cloaked in stink of burnt parchment. One draught of obsidian elixir later, the brat’s guts cool from molten to merely feverish; intoxicated by convalescence, he swells with hubris, snatches a bouquet of phosphorescent balloons, and pierces the crust between underworld and overworld. He ascends, a crimson comma against pastoral skylines, and lands in sun-dappled rye where a rosy-cheeked milkmaid—all linen and lark-song—offers him a crust of bread. First contact: no pitchforks, no psalms, only the hush of shared wonder.

Synopsis

The little devil has a bad stomach, whereupon the grandmother sends for the doctor from hell. He prescribes him a devilishly effective elixir, and the red rascal feels so good again that he immediately becomes overwhelmed with arrogance. He clings to some balloons and sails up to earth. His first encounter with a person is positive: it is a pretty farm girl who he likes very much.