reat
deal of money. Indeed, he spent so much that very soon there was none
left, and Don Giovanni, instead of being a rich man with everything
he could wish for, was forced to put on the dress of a pilgrim, and to
wander from place to place begging his bread.

One day he was walking down a broad road when he was stopped by a
handsome man he had never seen before, who, little as Don Giovanni knew
it, was the devil himself.

'Would you like to be rich,' asked the devil, 'and to lead a pleasant
life?'

'Yes, of course I should,' replied the Don.

'Well, here is a purse; take it and say to it, "Dear purse, give me some
money," and you will get as much as you can want But the charm will only
work if you promise to remain three years, three months, and three days
without washing and without combing and without shaving your beard or
changing your clothes. If you do all this faithfully, when the time is
up you shall keep the purse for yourself, and I will let you off any
other conditions.'

Now Don Giovanni was a man who never troubled his head about the future.
He did not once think how very uncomfortable he should be all those
three years, but only that he should be able, by means of the purse,
to have all sorts of things he had been obliged to do without; so he
joyfully put the purse in his pocket and went on his way. He soon began
to ask for money for the mere pleasure of it, and there was always as
much as he needed. For a little while he even forgot to notice how dirty
he was getting, but this did not last long, for his hair became matted
with dirt and hung over his eyes, and his pilgrim's dress was a mass of
horrible rags and tatters.

He was in this state when, one morning, he happened to be passing a fine
palace; and, as the sun was shining bright and warm, he sat down on the
steps and tried to shake off some of the dust which he had picked up on
the road. But in a few minutes a maid saw him, and said to her master,
'I pray you, sir, to drive away that beggar who is sitting on the steps,
or he will fill the whole house with his dirt.'

So the master went out and called from some distance off, for he was
really afraid to go near the man, 'You filthy beggar, leave my house at
once!'

'You need not be so rude,' said Don Giovanni; 'I am not a beggar, and if
I chose I could force you and your wife to leave your house.'

'What is that you can do?' laughed the gentleman.

'Will you sell me your house?' asked Don