Gambling Hansel (Grimm)
Division into chapters is editorial.
Gambling Hansels encounter with divine guests
A compulsive gambler lived who had lost everything to his addiction. People knew him only as Gambling Hansel because he never stopped gambling.
Once upon a time there was a man who did nothing but gamble, and for that reason people never called him anything but Gambling Hansel, and as he never ceased to gamble
The day before his creditors were to seize his house, the Lord and St. Peter arrived seeking shelter for the night. Hansel agreed to take them in, though he had no food or proper beds to offer. The Lord said they would buy their own food.
St. Peter gave Hansel three groschen to buy bread. On his way to the baker, Hansel encountered other gambling vagabonds who enticed him to join their game. Despite knowing he would lose everything, he gambled away the money and pretended it had fallen into a gutter when he returned empty-handed. St. Peter gave him another three groschen, and this time Hansel successfully bought the bread.
Three magical wishes and unstoppable winning
The Lord told Hansel that wine remained in his cellar despite his claims that all casks were empty. When Hansel checked, the finest wine indeed flowed from the tap. After the divine guests spent the night, the Lord offered to grant Hansel three wishes. Instead of asking for salvation, Hansel requested magical gambling tools.
The Lord expected that he would ask to go to Heaven; but Gambling Hansel asked for a pack of cards with which he could win everything, for dice with which he would win everything
He also wished for a magical tree bearing all kinds of fruit, from which no one could descend without his permission. The Lord granted all three wishes and departed with St. Peter. Hansel immediately began gambling with unprecedented success.
And now Gambling Hansel at once set about gambling in real earnest, and before long he had gained half the world. Upon this St. Peter said to the Lord, 'Lord, this thing must not go on'
Death trapped in the tree
Concerned that Hansel would win the entire world, St. Peter convinced the Lord to send Death to claim him. When Death arrived and commanded Hansel to come with him, the cunning gambler asked Death to first climb the magical tree to gather fruit for their journey.
Once Death climbed up, he found himself unable to descend due to the tree's magic. Hansel left him trapped there for seven years, during which time no one in the world died. This unprecedented situation alarmed the heavenly authorities.
So Hansel left him up there for seven years, during which time no one died. So St. Peter said to the Lord, 'Lord, this thing must not go on. People no longer die'
Finally, the Lord and St. Peter intervened personally, commanding Hansel to release Death from the tree. Hansel complied, and Death immediately seized him and ended his life. They departed together for the afterlife.
Rejection from Heaven and Purgatory
In the afterlife, Gambling Hansel first approached the gates of Heaven and knocked. When asked to identify himself, he announced his name, but the heavenly gatekeepers refused him entry, declaring they wanted nothing to do with him. He then tried Purgatory, where he was similarly rejected.
'Gambling Hansel.' 'Ah, we will have nothing to do with him! Begone!' So he went to the door of Purgatory... 'Ah, there is quite enough weeping and wailing here without him.'
The authorities at Purgatory explained that there was already sufficient weeping and wailing there without adding a gambler to their troubles. They had no desire to introduce gambling to their realm and sent him away. With nowhere else to turn, Hansel headed for Hell.
Chaos in Hell and assault on Heaven
Hell welcomed Gambling Hansel, though only old Lucifer and his crooked devils were present when he arrived. Hansel immediately resumed gambling, and using his magical cards, he won all of Lucifer's misshapen devils from him.
With his newly won army of crooked devils, Hansel departed Hell and went to Hohenfuert, where they pulled up a hop-pole. Using this makeshift weapon, they assaulted Heaven itself, causing it to crack under their attack. The situation became so dire that St. Peter urged the Lord to admit Hansel rather than risk being overthrown. Once admitted to Heaven, Hansel immediately began gambling again, creating such noise and chaos that normal heavenly activities became impossible. Finally, the divine authorities threw him down from Heaven, and his soul shattered into fragments that entered all the gambling vagabonds living to this day.