The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-16
TEE DEYIE.


From me National RsptsW.
There 10 a curious legend OF the devil
making his confession In Cologne Cathedral.
He profsases to repent his crimes and 10
b willing 70 endure . thousand years Of
psnance. my son. says the PRIEST. all
you need do IL TO bow before the image OF
the CruciHed and ask Him for pardon"
what" cries the devil. He who swept up
the chips for Joseph1 He who hung on .
gallows1". And he turned IN his heel with
q curse.
In popular legend and folklore the devil
In outwitted constantly, contracts made
with him are broken, he Is again and again
deceived by the simplest expedients, a.
Substituting O lantern for the sunrise.
This, II I remember rightly, occurs In the
legend Of tho Devils Dyke at Brighton.
Al Q child terrified by a very different Satan
I remember the light brought to my own
spirit by some story Of the kind. The
expedient In this case was cutting the sole
out OF Q shoe which the Devil had to MI
with silver. The shoe was never hlled,
and 90 he could never claim his part OF the
bargain. l remember feeling q thrill OF
relief at seeing that IL was possible TO evade
and elude him after all.
There IL an Ioelandic legend which IL
possibly tho origin Of the proverb. The
devil take the hindmost.' He had agreed
TO instruct seven scholars In all the mys-
teries OF magic for no other reward than
that when their seven years apprentice
ship was over he should lave a. his thrall
the last to leave for the last time by the
single narrow iron door. On the fatal day
the last to leave literally escaped him
-eluded him by slipping out Of his cloak,
which the devil had grasped. He became
q most worthy parish priest, venersted all
over the island. As the iron door slammed
TO It crushed his heel.
The dev& is constantly represented in
tradition and folk tales as childish, gro
tesque, spiteful. With his bellows he tries
to put out st. Genevieve's candle Al she
carries it alight through rain and wind to
church. A very we'll known legend IL that
Of st. Dunstan, who when attacked by him
while busy at the forge brought the con-
fict to an end by seizing the adversary with
the red hot tongs. This incident was the
most popular pageant provided by the
goldsmiths on Lord Mayors Day, when tho
Mayor happened to be elected from their
company.
The lion and the dragon are the animals
typical Of the devil. II Is said that the
ancient idea Of the animosity between the
lion and the cock is the origin OF the plac-
ing OF the weatheroocl~ upon the steeple.
A medieval rhythm says Of the cock,
In nocte dunn eoncinatleo perturbatur.
and the idea was to terrify Satan by the
sight OF his enemy on the highest point Of
the sacred building. The dragon was the
symbol OF the powers Of darkness every
where. In many Of the stories OF saints
delivering a countryside from a devouring
dragon the dragon obviously represents
paganism destroyed by the labors OF the
Christian apostle. Up to the French Revo-
luton a prisoner was set FREQ ut Rouen
every year on Ascension Day In commem-
grafton OF the de~liverance Of the people
from a dragon by st. Roman. In Pro-
vance st. Martha bound a monster called
the tarasque with her girdle, 20 that the
people could slay him with swords and
CALVES Hence the name TRrasoon. In
Spain a monstrous snake, called Ia ~tdrascG,
Is dragged In the Corpus Christi PROFESSIONS
10 signify Christ's triumph over death and
hell. By the way, the EliSabethan tnjmc-
ions decreed that In the rogationtide pro-
SESSIONS -there should be neither George nor
Margaret, but the old dragon to come on
alone and show himself
He was believed to have special power
over the air, to be continually stirring up
thunderstorms n tempests OF wind and
hail. Hence the ringing OF the bells dur
ing thunderstorms to brighten the evil
spirits away. 1t was by the help Of Satan
that Simon Magus, according to the early
Christian legend, hoated In the air till COM
handed by St.~Peter to descend. It is
significant that Leonardo da Vinci, the
typical figure Of the Renaissance, spent
many years Of his life in the endeavor TO
invent a flying machine. The opposition
he met with from the clergy and devout
people was intense. It Is indeed difficult
to imagine q more concrete symbol OF all
that is most opposed to what has been
known historically as the Christian spirit
than a flying machine. IL must lave
seemed q ~partakinG Of Lucifer's daring
presumption, to be speedily followed by a
similar fall.