them as he was the only one who knew the way back to the village they planned to flee to. Additionally the devil in this version is a gargoyle known as Beelzebub who is depicted as being a low level demon who is terrible at making riddles. The grandmother is omitted and the drummer boy learns the first two answers by spying on Beelzebub and the third he learns by praying to angels in heaven who take pity on him. Also Beelzebub's riddles are actually a goatskin made to look like silk, a billy goat made to look like a horse, and a cup of death made from the horn of a ram made to appear as a golden cup. After solving the riddles the three are returned to forest they were hiding in though the story ends with them running into the same regiment they had deserted forcing them to flee. The story inspired Mike Mignola's fifth issue of his series Hellboy In Hell called "The Three Gold Whips" See also Bearskin The Devil With the Three Golden Hairs The Story of Three Wonderful Beggars The Prince and the Princess in the Forest References External links The Devil and His Grandmother Grimms' Fairy Tales The Devil in fairy tales Dragons in fairy tales Hell in popular culture Deal with the Devil Literary duos Fictional families German fairy tales ATU 750-849