Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-06-21
CHATTER VI


conveying the souls belonging to him in
kind of creel, or basket. You may see
him on the portal of the Cathedral of
Fribourg, where he is represented with
the head of pig, hook in his hand, and
| the basket OF ragpieker on his back.
The devil was not in the habit of closing
his basket, so that the souls escaped,
thanks to the help of the angels. The
devil, perceiving this, added a good cover
with paddock, but the souls, which were
| subtle, did not care much about covers.
and, aided by the little rosy fingers of the
| cherubs, still found il possible to escape
through the net work of the basket.
Finding this out the devil, enraged, killed
a dromedary, and of the skin of the hump
made bag which, with the assistance of
! The demon Hermes, he made secure. With
this full of souls he felt himself happier
than schoolboy with purse Of gold.
One day when the devil had had better
luck than usual, and was filling his sack
| Sayly, he saw an angel watching him and
smiling; the devil shrugged bis shoulders
and continued filling his sack, not stop
ping to pick, tor anything is good enough
for his kettle. When be had finished he
tried to fling the sack over his shoulders,
but found it impossible to raise it from
the ground, so full had he filed it with
souls, and so heavy were their iniquitIes.
The second effort was as useless as the
first; the sack did not bulge from the
earth. ooh, souls OF leadl" cried the
devil, and he began to swear. Turning he
beheld the angel, who was still smiling.
What are you doing there?" exclaimed
the devil angrily. You shall see,v re-
piled the angel; "a moment since l smiled,
now l laugh" "Oh, celestial fowlp
great innocent! get outp' said Asmodeus;
but the angel, speaking sternly, said
dragon, hear the words | say to you
from the Lord: Thou shalt never carry
away this load Of souls until a saint from
Paradise or Christian fallen from
heaven ehall aid thee to put it upon thy
back And the angel opened his wings
and flew away. The devil was very much
puzzled. "What does that imbecie
mean p muttered he between his teeth; ;
ga saint from Paradise or a Christian fall
len from heavenp / should wait a long
time if / waited until such assistance
reached me. What stupid tale. Well,
they must amuse themselves in some way
up there;" and while he grumbed to him
self the inhabitants of Clisma and Coma
thought they heard thunder. 1t was the
devil swearing. 1t is very well to swear,
but to got your wheels out of the rut is
still better. The poor devil scratched his
head and reflected. 1t is a shrowd rogue
who lost Eve Paradise; he gets in every
where-lnto love, sometimes into Para
disc. Meanwhile. four saints, known for
their close friendship, St. Nil the Solitary,
ST. Autremoine, St. John the Dwarf, and
st. Medard. were walking on the shore OF
the Red Sea. AS they approached the
pine grove the devil caught sight OF them.
He Immediately took the form Of an old
man and broke into loud lamentations.
The saints came up TO him. "What is the
matterY' cried st. Nil "Alas, my good
gentlemen" replied the devil, "come TO
my assistance, implore you; | am poor
slave; | have q very cruel master who is
a merchant from Fez." "What do you
wish p st. AutremOine. "My good gen.
tlemen," replied the devil. ''my master is
a great traveller. He has wbims. In all
the countries he visits he likes to build in
his garden mountain Of sand which one
gets from the seashOre where this wicked
man resides. In order to build this he
cOmpels me to come here every day to fill
this bag with sand. Yesterday | made
six trips and at evening | was so weak /
could no longer lift the load to my back.
j have passed the night weeping and in
terror OF my master Ny good gentlemen,
help me 10 put this burden upon MY
shOu lders."
Alas alasl At this pathetic appeal st.
Nil. St. AutremOine, and st. John the
Dwarf were much moved, and 1t caused
St. MedaTd to weep, which brought rain
OF 40 days upon the earth. But 81. MI
said To the demon, 81 cannot aid thee, my
friend. and ] regret it; but il would be
necessary TO put my nand upon this bag,
which is a dead thing, and verse of Holy
Writ forbids us to touch dead things under
pain OF becoming impure" st. Autre-
moline said 81 cannot aid thee, my friend,
and regret it; but consider it would be
good action; and good actions incline to
vanity those who perform them; there
l.4f.e In, H..
humility"
st. John the Dwarf said: 81 cannot
help you, my friend, and | regret it; but,
as YOU see. ] am so short that do not
reach your waist; how, then, should
be able TO put a load upon your shoul-
dersY' St. Medard, still weeping, said
II cannot aid thee, my friend, and I re-
greet It: but | am 40 much distressed that
my strength fails me-" And they went on
their way. The devil was enraged. "What
animalsV he cried, "what hypocritesv'
How absurd they are with their long
beardsl Upon my word, they are worse
than the angels"
When one is in rage he has at least
the resource OF sending the cause Of irrita-
ton to the devil. The devil, poor fellow,
has not that consolation.
While he grumbled, his eyes, full of
flame and fury, fixed upon the sky, he
which grew larger each moment. The
devil watched IL approach; II was man.
1t was knight armed cap q pie--it was a
Christian, having the red cr0es upon his
breast. lie fell from the cloudsl "Whn-
ever It is, he Il welcome cried the devil,
leaning with Joy. ~ am savedl Here is
nv Christlanl ! have not been able TO
manage my four saints, but 1t would be "a
pity indeed II the devil could not get the
better OF a man."
Al this moment Pecopin was gently de-
posted upon the shore. Percelving the
old man, apparently slave, resting be-
side his burden, he eaid 70 him: who
are YOU, friend, and where am ! r. The
devil began TO whine plteously You
are on the shore OF the Red Sea, my lord,
and am the mUetunhappy OF m0rtalsp
And he proceeded 10 tell the tale he had
related 10 the four saints, praying IN con-
cluslon that PecOpin would assist him TO
put the burden upon bis back. PecOpin
tossed his head. "That IL not a very prob
able story, my good man." said he. "My
fine lord, who has fallen from the Clouds
replied The devil, ''your own Is still less
20, aud yet IL is true" "Thats TACT"
said Pecopin. Sand, !" continued the devil,
"what would you have me dOI II my mis-
fortunes have not "A good appearance, ~ Il
NY FAULTY | am only "a poor creature, and
cannot invent story; besides, what harm
can IL do YOU, my brave young sir, - as
a A 90 a.