Parker Hoysted Fillmore

“ But the farmer wouldn’t stop until he was too exhausted to beat the devil any longer.
Then he paused and asked:
“Shall I whistle some more?”
“No! No! No!” the devil roared. “Undo the kerchief and let me go and I swear I’ll never come back!”
So the farmer undid the kerchief and the devil fled, too terrified to stop even long enough to look around for all those fallen trees.
He never came back and the farmer was left in undisputed possession of the gold.
“I owe all my good fortune to my old grandmother,” the farmer used to say, “for she it was who told me to tie them with bast.” ”

“ Now the farmer suddenly remembered that his grandmother had once told him devils were afraid of lime trees because the bast from lime trees is the one thing in the world they are unable to break. That’s why, when you catch a devil, you must tie his hands together with bast. ”

“ The young devil, delighted with his bargain, hurried back to hell and told all his black comrades how grateful they ought to be to him for saving them from the farmer who was planning to bind them, hand and foot, with bast. ”