Histoire du soldat & El amor brujo

HISTOIRE DU SOLDAT
The foot soldier Joseph Dupraz is on a fifteen-day leave with his only treasure, a fiddle. On the way, an old man (the Devil) offers him to exchange the instrument for a book that foretells the future. Although he cannot read, Joseph is tempted. And before going back to see his mother and his fiancée, he accepts to spend three days at the man’s place and teach him about the fiddle.
When Joseph comes to his village, three years have actually passed and nobody recognizes him.
The magical book enables him to become extremely rich. But wealth does not make him regain his lost happiness. One day, the Devil visits him disguised as a woman peddler who offers him a fiddle. Joseph cannot draw a sound. Furious, he tears up the book and takes to the road anew. On arriving in a foreign land, he hears the king’s drum announce the princess’s sickness and promise of her hand to whoever can cure her.
In order to recover his fiddle, Joseph plays cards with the Devil and makes him drunk. He loses all his fortune but manages to steal the instrument.
To the princess he plays three dances – a tango, a waltz and a ragtime – that cure her. After getting rid of the Devil, they get married.
Their happiness lasts until the princess asks Joseph to take her to her native village. At the kingdom boundary, the Devil regains his power over Joseph and takes him away forever.

EL AMOR BRUJO
Two Gipsy women are drawing cards. Thus, Candelas learns that her lover does not love her. She hopes to call him back to her through a night spell and a ritual fire dance. She laments on seeing a happy couple. She sadly sings the fisher’s ballad which prompts her to go to a witch.
The access to the witch’s cave is dreadful. Candelas confronts the will-o’-the-wisp, the master of enchantment. Now she can perform exorcism rituals that will enable her to win back her lost love. When the man she loves appears, she pretends to be a fake witch and conquers him again. At dawn he is bewitched by her love.