ONCE upon a time Skaraotski， the chief of the devils， was thinking how he could again play a trick upon men。For a long time he had not been able to do anything that pleased him， and he now wanted to amuse himself at their expense。So he clapped his hands three times， and there appeared before him a tiny little devil， black as pitch， big as a fist， with a tail three yards long and with eyes which were dancing in his head。After making his obeisance he said：“What is the wish of your infamous Majesty？”
“Go and call all the devils together， big and small。I want to amuse myself at the expense of mankind， and I am breaking my head to think out a good plan。Let them all come， and we will take counsel together and see if any of them can hit upon something。”
“Your will shall be done，”replied Little Mikidutsa， and he vanished。Soon afterwards the place began to fill with devils， big and small， so numerous that no man could count them。（May Saint Elie kill them with his lightning， and may Holy Water be sprinkled upon them！） They all came， and one by one passed in front of Skaraotski， bowed their knees before him， and took their seats。He was seated on his throne and with a fiery whip in his hand。After a while Mikidutsa appeared and said，“They are all here。”Skaraotski then asked them one by one whether they could devise a plan to cheat mankind。He wanted to have something to laugh at。It was a heavy task， and they sat down there hanging their heads until their horns touched their chests， and one after another suggested a plan； but none of them seemed to satisfy their chief， and so they went on until the last devil had given his opinion。
When they had finished， Skaraotski got very furious， and， rising from his throne， threatened them with his fiery whip。Then Mikidutsa said：“Stop！ I have not yet had my say。”
“What you， little one， have also an idea？ What can you say when all the big ones have failed？”“Wait and hear， then judge。”
“Very well， then。Let us hear what you have to say。”
“My idea is to invite all the people to a big banquet。”
“What！”growled Skaraotski，“are you now laughing at me， you little imp？ I wanted to make fun of them， and you ask me to invite them to a big banquet。”
“Wait a little until I have finished， and then you will see what I mean。Let us invite them and prepare a beautiful banquet， the table covered with the best dishes， but we will give them spoons with handles of a yard and a half long。One thing， however， is necessary。We must not invite the Beardless and the Red-haired， for they are too clever for us！”When Skaraotski heard what the little devil had suggested， he could not stop laughing， for how could people eat out of spoons with handles a yard and a half long。They could never get the food into their mouths， and that would be great fun to see them sitting there and not able to touch it。