[138] From Miss Harriet Chepmell.
Another Version of “Satan and the Schoolmaster.”
It is related that in days long past there lived in the vicinity of the Roque Balan, at L’Ancresse, a man of very superior acquirements. It is true that he was commonly suspected of knowing more than was altogether lawful, but as he ostensibly gained his living by instructing the youth of the parish, and as there was no doubt that his scholars profited by his teaching, the neighbouring farmers made no hesitation in sending their sons to him. Among his pupils was one lad of whom he was justly proud, for a prying curiosity and love of acquiring knowledge, joined to a retentive memory and a sharp intellect, had made the boy, in the opinion of many, almost a match for his master. Curiosity and a love of acquiring knowledge may be good in themselves, but they can be carried too far, and this proved to be the case with the young scholar.
He had noticed some old-looking tomes which his preceptor kept always carefully locked up in an old carved oak chest, and had long felt most anxious to pry into their contents. The clearest hints he could give, and even the openly-expressed wish to be allowed to peruse the hidden volumes, met with no response on the part of his teacher. He determined to watch his opportunity, and to get a sight, by hook or by crook, of the contents of the mysterious books, and one day, when the master had been called away suddenly to make the will of a dying man, and had inadvertently left his keys behind him, the youth seized on them, and, as soon as his back was turned, proceeded to examine the contents of the chest. He lifted one of the ponderous tomes, opened it at hazard, and commenced to read out aloud the first passage which met his eye. Unfortunately this proved to be the spell by which the Prince of Darkness can be summoned to this upper world to do the bidding of his votaries. Great was the terror of the indiscreet youngster when a sudden violent storm arose, which went on increasing in intensity, and Satan in person appeared before him and demanded what he wanted of him. The unfortunate boy knew not what answer to make, nor what task to impose on the demon to get rid of him at least for a time, until the return of the master. Pallot, who was already at some distance from home, hastened back, and entered the house just at the moment when Satan, tired of waiting and enraged at having been unnecessarily called up, had seized on the inquisitive scholar and was on the point of flying off with him. The master, at a glance, perceived how matters stood, and, uttering a hasty spell, arrested the demon in his course. He then proceeded to set him a task, promising him that if he succeeded in accomplishing it before sunset he should be at liberty to carry off his prey.
The Devil made some difficulty in acceding to these terms, but the schoolmaster, determined, if possible, to save his unfortunate pupil, was firm, and not to be influenced either by the threats or cajoleries of the arch-fiend. He caught up a peck-measure containing peas, and scattered them on the floor, handing at the same time a three-pronged pitch-fork to the Devil, and ordering him with that instrument to throw the peas over the door-hatch into the court-yard.
Satan took the fork and set to work with right good will, but soon found that it was labour in vain. Not one pea could he raise from the floor. The sun was fast sinking below the horizon. As the last portion of its orb disappeared beneath the western wave, the enraged and disappointed demon wrenched the door-hatch off its hinges and cast it far away in the direction of Les Landes. There it was found the next morning on a thorn-bush, which had been green and flourishing the day before, but which, since that time, is blasted and flattened almost to the level of the ground, though it still lives and is pointed out as a proof of the truth of this history.[139]
[139] From Sieur Henry Bisson.
This incident is found in a Breton legend, as told by Dr. Alfred Fouquet in his work Légendes, Contes, et Chansons Populaires du Morbihan, apropos of the first occupant of the lands on which the Château de Herlean was afterwards built. Satan undertook to be the servant of a peasant as long as work could be found for him to do. He accomplished the most difficult tasks with the greatest ease. At last the peasant emptied a sack of millet into the court-yard and ordered Satan to pitch it up to him in the granary with a hay-fork. He acknowledged his inability and was ignominiously dismissed.
A somewhat similar story is also told in Notes and Queries. The Vicar of a certain Devonshire parish was a diligent student of the black art, and possessed a large collection of mysterious books and MSS. During his absence at church, one of his servants entered his study, and, finding a large volume open on the desk, imprudently began to read it aloud. He had scarcely read half a page when the sky became dark and a great wind shook the house violently. Still he read on, and in the midst of the storm the doors flew open and a black hen and chickens came into the room. They were of the ordinary size when they first appeared, but gradually became larger and larger, until the hen was of the bigness of a good-size ox. At this point, the Vicar (in the church) suddenly closed his discourse and dismissed his congregation, saying he was wanted at home and hoped he might arrive there in time. When he entered the chamber, the hen was already touching the ceiling. But he threw down a bag of rice which stood ready in the corner, and, whilst the hen and chickens were busily picking up the grains, the Vicar had time to reverse the spell.
Editor’s Note.—This story is still believed. It was told me by Miss Falla in 1896.