Four card players — three from Merzig and one from Feulen — were once playing cards in a house in Merzig (the house was then, and is still today, called Träpen). Since they lacked money, they agreed among themselves to make a pact with the Devil: if he would give them plenty of money, he should have the one who first grew tired of playing and wanted to stop. Said and done.

The Devil appeared in the form of a large black dog, carrying a sack full of coins — gold or silver pieces. He lay down with the money under the table, and whenever one of the players had lost all his money, he received more from the black dog. Thus they played for three days and three nights without stopping.

When Father Keltgen, then chaplain in Grosbous, a nearby village of Merzig, heard of it, he came to free the bewitched players from the Devil’s grasp. He joined them, saying, “Mech mat oder d’Spil z’rasz” (meaning “Either I join, or the game is broken off”). They let him play. After a few rounds, he suddenly threw his cards across the table, exclaiming: “I will play no more — I am tired of it!”

At that very moment, the Devil fled in haste through the window, taking it with him as he vanished. The sack of coins sank seven beams deep into the floor. The stench that the Devil left behind was unnatural — and people say it can still be smelled to this day.

Reported by Teacher Abnen of Niederfeulen.