In a cozy little valley, lived a farmer named Tom. Tom worked hard, but his little patch of land just wasn't giving him much food. "Oh dear," he’d sigh, looking at his wilting cabbages.

One sunny afternoon, as Tom was sadly poking at a stubborn weed, poof! A little cloud of reddish smoke appeared, and out stepped a rather dapper fellow with a pointy beard and a twinkle in his eye. "Having a bit of trouble, are we?" the fellow asked with a sly grin.

Tom, a bit startled, nodded. "My crops just won't grow well."

"I can help with that!" said the stranger, who was, you might have guessed, the Devil in disguise. "I can make your field grow the best crops ever! We'll share what grows. For the first harvest, I'll take everything that grows *above* the ground, and you can have everything *under* the ground. Deal?"

Tom thought for a moment. He was a clever farmer. "Alright," he said, "it's a deal!"

So, Tom planted... turnips! Big, round, juicy turnips. When harvest time came, Tom dug up all the wonderful turnips from under the soil. The Devil looked at the leafy green tops he got. "Hmmph," he grumbled. "These aren't very tasty."

"Next time," the Devil declared, tapping his pointy shoe, "I get what's *under* the ground, and you get what's *on top*!"

"Sounds fair," Tom agreed, trying not to smile too much.

This time, Tom planted... wheat! Tall, golden wheat. When it was ready, Tom cut all the lovely wheat stalks, full of grain, from above the ground. The Devil dug around and found only the stringy roots.

"What?!" cried the Devil. "Roots again? You've tricked me!" He was very cross indeed. He stomped his foot, and with another poof of reddish smoke, he disappeared, muttering about clever farmers.

Tom chuckled. He had plenty of turnips and plenty of wheat. He and his family had a wonderful feast, and he always remembered that thinking carefully can be much better than a grumpy Devil's deal.

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