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Message:: [QUOTE="cannoncoins, post: 1744003, member: 28659"]Hi Drusus,     I can't even remember how I stumbled on your post, but the efforts you've clearly already put into your research prompted me to sit down and try to craft a reply.  I was a bit confused here because I saw that you already had a translation on  the webpage you note in your post that is generally pretty solid (excepting the part about the bag from St. Peter),  but I see that it is from another Cointalker in response to your 2008 query.       I'm actually curious as to where you got the German version here, which seems pretty abbreviated.  I assume you know from your research that the origin of this story is from the oral tradition of the German low country, where similar themes of purgatory and deals with the devil by a blacksmith appear in tales like "The Smith of Juterbock" and "The Smith of Apolda", all of which are likely contemporaries or influences on the later "Gambling Hansel," including in Household Tales by the Brothers Grimm (a good translation, along with notes that cite these other "smith" tales can be found here: <a href="http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/grimms/82gamblinghansel.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/grimms/82gamblinghansel.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/grimms/82gamblinghansel.html</a>)      The most important thing to note here is that the German version you have isn't really "the" version or the "original" because the story was circulating, possibly for hundreds of years, before it was recorded.  I think you have something like the version that was published in the 1770s except in that version the Smith is left in Purgatory, but there is an earlier version that leaves out the keyhole piece but does have him using his apron to get into heaven from the 1730's. All that to say I wouldn't get caught up too much in having an exact translation of the version you have, unless you have some reason to believe that your version was a direct influence on the designer of the notgeld (I'd definitely be curious to know if that's the case).      In any case, here's a quick go at the version you have (again the only part that seemed to actually be "incorrect " in the version on your website is the part about the bag from St. Peter:    "In the Village of Bielefeld there once lived a Smith who knew his Art like no other.  In order to become better still, and to come into possession of the Secret Arts, the smith entered into a pact with the Devil.      The Smith soon became so renowned that even St. Peter once had to travel down to earth to see the Smith when his horse had a loose horseshoe.  When Peter asked what he owed for the Smith's services, the Smith answered that he did not want any gold... but perhaps the apostle might bless for him pouch so that gold could always be drawn from it; St. Peter obliged.      Yet soon the term of the pact expired, and the Devil came to collect the Smith.   When the Devil knocked, the Smith replied that surely the Devil did not need him to open the door- for he may simply come in through the keyhole.  And so the Devil did, and found himself trapped in a bag that the smith held against the keyhole. The Smith quickly closed the bag, took it to his anvil and went to work hammering until the devil gave in to his demands.      (Presumably time passes, the Smith lives until an old age)    When the Smith felt death nearing he had his old fur apron put on, and so, when death overcame him, he went to the doorway of Heaven.   Yet there St. Peter refused his entry because of his pact with the Devil, and then, when the Smith sought to find sanctuary in hell, the Devil repelled him as well because of the beating he had administered.    And so the Smith went again to Heaven's Doorway, and when Peter opened the gate to let a pious virgin through the Smith tossed in his apron. St. Peter  rebuked him for this, and called for him to retrieve it. However, once in Heaven, the smith sat down upon his apron and refused to leave. Peter, who remembered that the Smith had voluntarily given to the poor, decided to allow him to remain in that place- where he still sits today." I hope this is of some help; I'm no notgeld expert, but I do like my history and the chance to practice a little German translation.  Good luck with your research!------Silver and gold are not the only coin; virtue too passes current all over the world.Euripideshttp://myworld.ebay.com/cannoncoins[/QUOTE]

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