Crossville chronicle. [volume] (Crossville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1920-09-15
MiSChievOuS Imp a Creation of
The AbOrigineS.
Is Pictured as Having Strong Spice
of Humor and Little Desire to
Hurt Human Beings-Has
But One Leg.

His color is black, his nose broad
and fiat. A long, pointed tongue is
| sticking out of his mouth; the teeth
are triangular and sharp; otherwise
he has the face of an infant. He has
three fingers on each hand, as shown
by tie traces he leaves on the bark of
trees he climbs. His palms are pierced
in the middle. His ears are big and
he wears a red cloak and cap. He
smells of sulphur and his eyes emit
thick, sitting smoke. But his most dis
tinctive characteristic is tlat he has
only one leg; he neither walks nor
runs, but jumps along, writes a New
York Tribune man.
This is the description complied
from the accounts of many witnesses,
of Sacy Perere, special indigenous
devil of Brazil, whose biography was
not long ago published in book form at
Sac PaulO. The preface declares that
there is so little original native ele-
ment in Brazilian culture that it is
worth while to preserve whatever
there is. SO the great Brazilian news
paper, o EStadO de Sac paulO. nSti-
tutA an inquiry regarding Sacy Per-
ere, who is described as one of the
very few tropical native products.
Readers were asked to submit what
ever they knew or heard concerning
this brazilian representative of, tie
EVIL One and the answers were col
lected in the book entitled 80 Sacy
Percre" (the Sacy Perere). In the
Npu Zurcher Zeitung DIR. A.. Usteri
pa5liSh9s extracts from tho testimony,
out of which Sacy energies as a fairly
harmless, amiable and humorous sort
OF devil, WhO in spite of his terrify-
ing appearance, does not really want
to hurt human beings, although he is
fond of practical jokes of a rather
crude brand
Sacy Perere is 100 per cent Ameri-
can. He was here before Columbus,
for he was invented by the aborigines
of Brazil, the Tupi Indians. His name
is OF Tupi origin, Caa Cy, meaning
evil eye, and perereg, the jumping one.
So Caa Cy Perereg, Portuguesified in
to Sacy Perere, means jumping evil
eye. To his above description should
be added that, according to a witness
Of scientific accomplishments, his |
smell comes from sulphur hydrogen |
,HsS).
His one leg has story, told by old
negroes, Wl.o have it from their slave
ancestors. According to this story,
)nce upon a time the devil decided to
give banquet in his cave. There was
'Ienty Of everything and more than
'lenty of cahaca (sugar cane brandy. J
The guests got so drunk they could
hardly move, and the ensuing COnfu-
ion gave chance to a gang of small
evils' apprentices to go jOyriding to
he earth. The devil became enraged
nd pursued the youngsters, capturing
hem all except one, whose leg, how
vef, he slashed off. The little devil
7aS the original Sacy, and his off
pring were born with one leg only.
low the Sacys are very clever and
wifi and they can easily put it over
n the devil though they are one
,gged.
The Sacy and his gang appear usual
: during tornadoes, when they ride
:e wind. They alight on the backs of
orses and tie knots in their names.
ometimes a Sacy is observed on the
'of of house. He scares the passer-
2 or throws dirt down thp chimney