From the folklore of the Slavs
Once upon a time there was nothing at all, only sky above and water below. Then God sailed over the water and met an immense clod of hard foam, on which sat the Devil.
“Who are you?” enquired God of him.
“I will not converse with you,” replied the Evil One, “unless you take me into your boat.” God consented, and heard in answer, “I am the Devil!”
Both rode on and on without a word to one another, until the wicked one began with:
“How charming and delightful it would be in the world, if only there was firm ground.”
“There shall be,” God replied. “Let yourself down into the depths of the sea, and bring up a handful of sand; of it I will form the land. When you let yourself down and take the sand, pronounce these words: ‘I take thee in God’s name’ ”
The Devil did not tarry longer, but was under the water in a twinkling. At the bottom he took some sand in both hands, with the words: “I take thee in my name.” He rose to the surface, looked with curiosity at his clenched fists, and was astonished to observe that they were both empty. But God, perceiving what had happened with him, consoled him and bade him plunge yet again to the bottom. He did so, and, as soon as he had taken the sand, he said over it the words: “I take thee in His name.” He only brought up, however, to the surface as much sand as was left under his nails. God took a little of the sand, scattered it over the surface of the waters, and formed solid earth, at first not more than supplied a place for a bed.
When night came, God and the Devil lay together on the hard earth to rest. As soon as out Lord God snoozed off, the Devil pushed him to the east, that he might fall into the sea and be drowned. Whithersoever the Devil pushed him, there solid earth sprang up. The Devil tried pushing him to the west, and in that direction too, more solid earth spread far and wide. Such was the accident that resulted in the formation of land, even in other directions upon our globe.
As soon as God had formed the land, he ascended into heaven. The Devil did not wish to stay without him, and so followed in his train. But when he heard how the angels glorified God in psalms and hymns, he stood abashed to think that he had no one to glorify his coming. He stepped up to God and whispered in his ear,
“What must I do, in order to have such a fine troop of ‘em?”
God replied, “Wash your hands and face, and splutter the water behind you.”
He did so; and such an enormous quantity of devils was the result that there was no longer room for the angels and holy ones in heaven. God saw clearly how inconvenient this must be to his holy ones, summoned Elijah, and bad his let loose his thunder and lightning. Elijah was agreeable, roared, thundered, lightened, and poured rain for forty days and nights; and with the heavy rain the devils fell to the ground. At last there were no more devils left, and the angels began to fall down too. Then God bade Elijah stop; and wherever the devils happened to be flying, there they stayed. From this time forth to our days fiery lights flash through the sky, but only now and then strike the ground.
Source:
Russian and Bulgarian Folk-Lore Stories, A.W. Strickland, 1907
Kotharian Lightning 