The Lord’s Animals and the Devil’s

The Lord God had created all the animals, and he had chosen the wolf to be his dog, but he forgot the goat. Then the Devil got ready and began to create too, and he made goats with fine long tails.

When the goats went to graze, their tails often got caught in the hedges. Then the Devil had to go and free them, which was a lot of trouble. This made him very angry, so he went and bit off the tail of every goat, which is why goats have a stump for a tail to this day.

Then he let the goats graze alone. But soon the Lord God noticed that the goats were gnawing at fruit trees, damaging the grapevines, and destroying other tender plants. This saddened him, so in his goodness and mercy he sent his wolves, and they tore the goats to pieces.

When the Devil saw this, he went to the Lord and said, "Your creatures have destroyed mine." The Lord answered, "Why did you create things that do harm?" The Devil said, "I had to. My thoughts are evil, so everything I create is evil.

You must pay me a huge fine." The Lord replied, "I will pay you as soon as the oak leaves fall. Come then, and your money will be ready." When the oak leaves fell, the Devil came and demanded his money.

But the Lord said, "In the church of Constantinople there is a tall oak tree that still has all its leaves." The Devil cursed and raged, and went to find that oak. He wandered in the wilderness for six months before he found it.

By the time he returned, all the other oaks had sprouted new green leaves again. So the Devil lost his payment, and in his fury he put out the eyes of all the remaining goats and replaced them with his own eyes.

That is why all goats have the Devil’s eyes and bitten-off tails, and why he likes to take their shape.