Three friends fall in love with the same girl and all pay the price for loving a girl who is too clever for them.

When my father was a young man, in the nearby town where he grew up lived a very clever young woman. The girl not only was clever but also very beautiful and for that reason had many suitors. Amongst the many admires there were three best friends who lived at the edge of the town. Unknown to one another they all courted the same girl. Being clever, it didn’t take long for the girl to work out that the three men were friends and suspected that they were competing for her affection for a bet, and for that reason thought of a plan to get her own back on the three men.

The three friends, apart from liking the same girl had another thing in common: they all boasted to be very brave and each one believed to be the bravest of the three. In the meantime, the girl thought of nothing else but of how to teach the men a lesson they will never forget. Two weeks later she was ready to put her well thought plan into action.

The girl met the first suitor at sundown. He was a strong young man of average weight and stature, not at all bad looking and like his friends didn’t lack confidence; if anything, he was too confident. The girl, after the customary greetings said

“Tonight, a body from a nearby village will be received in the Cemetery Chapel of rest.

The funeral will take place early in the morning; the priest needs someone to guard the body overnight. Are you brave enough to watch over a body all night?”

“Of course, I am the bravest of men, of that I am sure.” And to convince the girl began to tell her a long list of his valiant deeds.

“I believe you.” Said the girl, and added, “I don’t need to know everything you have done. I only need to know that tomorrow morning, at first light; you will be there with the body when the priest comes. Please don’t let me down!”

The man reassured her, that he wouldn’t let her down, and thrilled by the prospect of winning her heart ran home to get ready for the night ahead.

The first suitor had just disappeared along a country lane when the second, a bullish man, who boasted his strength at every opportunity approached her. To this suitor, she said, “Tonight, to demonstrate your strength and bravery you need to pretend to be a devil. I want to play a prank on my brother who boasts that nothing can ever scare him, not even the devil himself... God protect us.”

Even before she started giving instructions, the young man said, “Why do you ask? Do I look the type of man that scares easily?”

“No, you don’t,” said the girl and instructed him on what he had to do. She said, “Behind the chapel of rest, there is a shed where workmen shelter when the weather is bad. There you will find the chains used to lower the coffins in the grave, all you have to do is to rattle the chains as noisily as you can.”

“Easy pieces - grab a rat by the tail and swing it high. I will make so much noise that even the dead will wake.” The man, drunk on happiness, sang and danced around her whilst punching the air.

“I will be there with the priest at first light, don’t let me down.” said the girl. Then instructed him on what to do. She said, “At the stroke of midnight, not before, you need to pretend to be a devil”, and warned,

“No cheating, only rattle the chain after the town church bells will strike midnight and not a minute before.”

The man agreed and left punching the air and boasting his strength.

The girl was fond of the third suitor; she liked his gentle nature, however, she believed that he too needed to learn the same lesson as his friends. The young man was love struck and the girl was aware that lately, he had been watching her bedroom window until she doused the candle.

She lit the candle as usual and went to the well to get a bucket of water. The young man couldn’t contain his excitement to see her by the well and announced himself to her. He said “Hello” and tentatively advanced a step.

“I am glad to see you” said the girl. “Tonight, I would like you to prove your bravery, not a difficult task but truly a test of courage.”

The third suitor was the youngest and not at all wise to the ways of courtship and eager to please agreed to follow her instructions. His task was to go to the cemetery’s chapel of rest, lay in a coffin and pretend to be dead until morning.

“If you accomplish the task, I will walk with you on Sunday after Mass. Is up to you now, I have always wanted to marry a brave man and I will marry no other.”

The girl felt a little sorry for the young man, who was still a boy really, however, she couldn’t help but giggle at what was going to take place in the chapel of rest in less than two hours’ time.

The young man didn’t bother to go home that evening, after all, no one was going to miss him: his parents believed that he had gone to bed early. He was besotted with the girl, and to give himself courage, unconsciously began to whistle a tune, that since falling in love with the girl, wouldn’t go out of his mind.

The chapel was flooded with bright moonlight. From the wide-open entrance door, the young man could see the coffin in the aisle. He calculated that he could sleep for five or six hours before dawn. He climbed in the coffin, wriggled about for a while and when he felt, as comfortable as he could be, closed his eyes and tried to sleep. He was nearly asleep when he heard footsteps approaching the coffin.

He didn’t move a muscle, and with one eye slightly opened and both ears alert, tried to see and hear what was going on. He saw a figure leaning over the coffin; he could smell its fetid, garlic breath and kept still: the figure moved away and came back almost immediately. After a short while the young man worked out that the shadow had settled on a chair by the coffin, he guessed to be a man because he could see two large shoes resting on the edge of the coffin. The young man pretending to be dead got nervous, he tried not to move, however, he couldn’t help it, he needed to stretch his legs, just a little.

The man guarding the pretending corpse detected the slight movement and became suspicious, he checked the body again. He had heard many stories of people being buried alive and to make sure that this didn’t happen on his watch looked around for an object to finish the man off, should the need arise.

He saw a spindle of wood by the altar balustrade and grabbed it, just in case it was necessary to prevent the deceased from complicating his simple task.

Both men longed to sleep, however every little noise prevented both to rest. Their senses were alert and a light wind turned every innocent noise into a suspicious one.

The town bells announced midnight and a demonic figure dragging heavy chains and casting a long shadow appeared in the chapel. The man sitting by the coffin, on the chair, in the rush to get away pulled the coffin down with his feet and the coffin and body ended standing upright in front of the altar.

The pretend devil got very scared by the unexpected riot and dropped the chains to run out of the chapel. He tried to free himself from the chains and when he failed to do so, he ran as fast as he could with the chains tangled around his trembling legs.

The three friends, without being aware, were chasing one another.

After a while the first man out of the church stopped running, to listen for the sound of the demonic chains. Not a sound could be heard and that reassured him that he was safe, however he still didn’t know what was going on.

The wind had calmed down, and the full moon continued to cast ghostly shadows. Ghosts appeared every way: in the edges, along the path and in the imagination they multiplied. The men had never believed in ghosts, and after a while no longer felt threatened.

They were approaching their village and the familiarity of their surroundings helped to calm the situation. The first man out of the chapel had run very fast and to catch his breath was resting behind an edge. The youngest one, the pretend corpse, felt the need to empty his bladder and as he did so, he began to whistle the tune he had been whistling since falling in love with the girl. However, try as he may, he no longer could get the tune right. At this point the man behind the edge recognised his friend and came out. Not long after, the third friend came along and he worked out that the girl had made fools of them all. They were angry and in the first instance plotted revenge. However, after careful consideration and sound advice from the youngest man all agreed not to tell anyone of their experience in the cemetery chapel. And what more they vowed never again to seek the love of a clever woman, leave alone marry one.

For years I believed that my father was one of the three friends.