Part 7

“Daughter mine, not far hence is a holy man, who is a much better master than I of that which thou goest seeking; do thou betake thyself to him;” and put her in the way. However, when she reached the man in question, she had of him the same answer and faring farther, came to the cell of a young hermit, a very devout and good man, whose name was Rustico and to whom she made the same request as she had done to the others.

He, having a mind to make a trial of his own constancy, sent her not away, as the others had done, but received her into his cell, and the night being come, he made her a little bed of palm-fronds and bade her lie down to rest thereon.

This done, temptations tarried not to give battle to his powers of resistance and he, finding himself grossly deceived by these latter, turned tail, without many assaults, and confessed himself beaten; then, laying aside devout thoughts and orisons and mortifications, he fell to revolving in his memory the youth and beauty of the damsel and bethinking himself what course he should take with her, so as to win to that which he desired of her, without her taking him for a debauched fellow.

Accordingly, having sounded her with sundry questions, he found that she had never known man and was in truth as simple as she seemed; wherefore he bethought him, how, under colour of the service of God, he might bring her to his pleasures. In the first place, he showed her with many words how great an enemy the devil was of God the Lord and after gave her to understand that the most acceptable service that could be rendered to God was to put back the devil in hell, whereto He had condemned him. The girl asked him how this might be done; and he, “Thou shalt soon know that; do thou but as thou shalt see me do.” So saying, he proceeded to put off the few garments he had and abode stark naked, as likewise did the girl, whereupon he fell on his knees, as he would pray, and caused her abide over against himself.

Matters standing thus and Rustico being more than ever inflamed in his desires to see her so fair, there came the resurrection of the flesh, which Alibech observing and marvelling:

“Rustico,” quoth she, “What is that I see on thee which thrusteth forth thus and which I have not?”

“Faith, daughter mine,” answered he, “this is the devil whereof I bespoke thee; and see now, he giveth me such sore annoy that I can scarce put up with it.”

Then said the girl:

“Now praised be God! I see I fare better than thou, in that I have none of yonder devil.”

“True,” rejoined Rustico; “but thou hast overwhat that I have not, and thou hast it instead of this.”

“What is that?” asked Alibech; and he:

“Thou hast hell, and I tell thee methinketh God hath sent thee hither for my soul’s health, for that, whenas this devil doth me this annoy, an it please thee have so much compassion on me as to suffer me put him back into hell, thou wilt give the utmost solacement and wilt do God a very great pleasure and service, so indeed thou be come into these parts to do as thou sayest.”

The girl answered in good faith:

“Marry, father mine, since I have hell, be it whensoever it pleaseth thee;” whereupon quoth Rustico:

“Daughter, blessed be thou; let us go then and put him back there, so he may after leave me in peace.”

So saying, he laid her on one of their little beds and taught her how she should do to imprison that accursed one of God. The girl, who had never yet put any devil in hell, for the first time felt some little pain; wherefore she said to Rustico:

“Certes, father mine, this same devil must be an ill thing and an enemy in very deed of God, for that it irketh hell itself, let be otherwhat, when he is put back therein.”

“Daughter,” answered Rustico, “it will not always happen thus;” and to the end that this should not happen, six times, or ever they stirred from the bed, they put him in hell again, insomuch that for the nonce they so took the conceit out of his head that he willingly abode at peace. But, it returning to him again and again the ensuing days and the obedient girl still lending herself to take it out of him, it befell that the sport began to please her and she said to Rustico:

“I see now that those good people in Capsa spoke sooth, when they avouched that it was so sweet a thing to serve God; for certes, I remember me not to have ever done aught that afforded me such pleasance and delight as putting the devil in hell; wherefore methinketh that whoso applieth himself unto aught other than God His service is a fool.”

Accordingly, she came ofttimes to Rustico and said to him:

“Father mine, I came here to serve God and not to abide idle; let us go put the devil in hell.” Which doing, she said whiles:

“Rustico, I know not why the devil fleeth away from hell; for, an he abode there as willingly as hell receiveth him and holdeth him, he would never come forth therefrom.”

The girl, then, on this wise often inviting Rustico and exhorting him to the service of God, so took the bombast out of his doublet that he felt cold what time another had sweated; wherefore he fell to telling her that the devil was not to be chastised nor put into hell, save whenas he should lift up his head for pride.

“And we,” added he, “by God’s grace, have so baffled him that he prayeth our Lord to suffer him abide in peace;” and on this wise he for awhile imposed silence on her.

However, when she saw that he required her not of putting the devil in hell, she said to him one day:

“Rustico, an thy devil be chastened and give thee no more annoy, my hell letteth me not be; wherefore thou wilt do well to aid me with thy devil in abating the raging of my hell, even as with my hell I have helped thee take the conceit out of thy devil.”

Rustico, who lived on roots and water, could ill avail to answer her calls and told her that it would need overmany devils to appease hell, but he would do what he might thereof. Accordingly he satisfied her bytimes, but so seldom it was but casting a bean into the lion’s mouth; whereat the girl, herseeming she served not God as diligently as she would fain have done, murmured somewhat.

But, whilst this debate was toward between Rustico his devil and Alibech her hell, for overmuch desire on the one part and lack of power on the other, it befell that a fire broke out in Capsa and burnt Alibech’s father in his own house, with as many children and other family as he had; by reason whereof she abode heir to all his good.

Thereupon, a young man called Nëerbale, who had spent all his substance in gallantry, hearing that she was alive, set out in search of her and finding her, before the court (_i.e._, the government) had laid hands upon her father’s estate, as that of a man dying without heir, to Rustico’s great satisfaction, but against her own will, brought her back to Capsa, where he took her to wife and succeeded, in her right, to the ample inheritance of her father.

There, being asked by the women at what she served God in the desert, she answered (Nëerbale having not yet lain with her) that she served Him at putting the devil in hell and that Nëerbale had done a grievous sin in that he had taken her from such service.

The ladies asked:

“How putteth one the devil in hell?”

And the girl, what with words and what with gestures, expounded it to them; whereat they set up so great a laughing that they laugh yet and said:

“Give yourself no concern, my child; nay, for that is done here also and Nëerbale will serve our Lord full well with thee at this.”

Thereafter, telling it from one to another throughout the city, they brought it to a common saying there that the most acceptable service one could render to God was to put the devil in hell, which byword, having passed the sea hither, is yet current here. Wherefore do all you young ladies, who have need of God’s grace, learn to put the devil in hell, for that this is highly acceptable to Him and pleasing to both parties and much good may grow and ensue thereof.

_EXCURSUS_ to _THE DEVIL IN HELL_.

Boccaccio’s immortal story of Alibech who “turned hermit and was taught by Rustico, a monk, to put the devil in hell” has been drawn upon or brazenly copied by innumerable _raconteurs_. La Fontaine has an exactly similar story. “To put the devil in hell” has passed into use as an accepted slang term for the act of copulation. _Hell_, in English, and _Enfer_ in French, are erotic synonyms for the female _pudendum_, as are _devil_ and _diable_ for the male organ of generation. (_C.f._ Farmer: _Slang and its Analogues_ and _Vocabula Amatoria_; also Landes: _Glossaire érotique de la langue française_.) “Vainly doth hell her prisoner recall,” says La Fontaine; “the devil is dumb.”

It is a moot point whether “The Devil in Hell” should have been included in this or the subsequent volume, _The Way of a Priest_. It seems to us, however, that the woman’s part transcends the man’s throughout, and for that reason we prefer to look upon the story as illustrating a phase of virginity rather than as an example of priestly lust.

Boccaccio’s “Nightingale,” which is also given in this volume, has provided yet another French slang term for the _penis_. “To put the nightingale in its cage or nest” is a fanciful but frequent description of the venereal act. (_C.f._ Pietro Aretino’s _Dialogues_: 1. _The Life of Nuns_: English and French translations: Liseux, Paris, 1889 and 1882.) On the other hand, _nightingale_, in old English slang, denoted a prostitute. (Farmer: _Slang and its Analogues_.)

The inclusion of any of Boccaccio’s tales in this volume has not gone uncritised by friends and advisers. “_The Decameron_,” they argue, “is accessible to all; it is hackneyed nowadays.” If the frequent issue of cheap, castrated and badly-produced editions of the immortal work are these so-called means of access, the argument is a poor one.

Boccaccio, to be appreciated, must be read in the original, unexpurgated Italian, or, at any rate, in a translation which is equally free and is the work of a scholar and booklover. Some of Boccaccio’s stories are fitly classed as the world’s best, and among these “The Devil in Hell” takes place. It is a story that has lived for centuries and will live while literature lasts.

Further, so far as we know, in one English translation alone, Payne’s, (_vide_ note _ante_, p. 56), is this story told in its entirety in our own language; in other editions the most dramatic part of the narrative, the part, in fact, which _makes_ the story, is invariably rendered in Italian or French, or is hopelessly bowdlerised. Thus is prudery satisfied and genius mocked. “The Devil in Hell” is strong fare assuredly, but it is served up in so artistic a manner as to please even the most delicate palate.

THE WEDDING NIGHT OF JEAN THE FOOL.[45]

[45] _Kruptadia_: Heilbronn, Henninger Frères, 1884: vol. 2, _Breton Folk Lore_.

“Mother mine,” quoth Jean the Fool, “I would marry.”

“Thou wouldst marry, poor innocent? And what wouldst thou do with a woman? And who would want thee? To marry, thou must have culture at thy back (for thus they term those who have worldly goods), and thou hast none. Furthermore, thou must pay court to the maidens, and thou art too great a fool to know how to do that.”

“What doth one do when he goeth to visit the maidens?”

“One goeth to them when they hold a party, one indulgeth in all manner of drolleries, one pincheth them, one snatcheth their handkerchiefs when they blow their noses, one pulleth at their petticoats, and one laugheth.”

“Good,” said Jean to himself; and went out.

Passing down a road, narrow and filled with mire, he sat down, and when he felt he had sufficient ‘cultivation’ on his backside, he went to a farm where there was a party. The youths and maidens, when they saw Jean the Idiot enter all smeared with mire, drew back to make room for him, lest they themselves be soiled. In the end he found in the lobby a stool on which he sat near one of the maidens, whom he scrutinised closely.

She drew away from him; Jean pinched her, rudely snatched away her handkerchief when she sought to make use of it, and laughed like a fool. Then, thinking to succeed with her, he tugged so violently at her petticoat that he broke the strings that held it up. The maiden, half undressed, was enraged, and Jean was kicked out of doors, amid the shouting and jeering of the entire company.

From this moment Jean the Fool had no desire to pay court to maidens. But his mother, who felt herself growing old and had need of a daughter-in-law to aid her, said to him one day:

“Jean, thou must marry.”

“Nay, indeed, mother mine. I was tricked enough when I saw the maidens.”

“Nevertheless, ‘tis good to be married. Thy wife will give thee a chicken to eat.”[46]

[46] The play on words here is somewhat obscure. _Manger un poulet_ is not a slang term for the sexual act. Interpreting freely, we might read: “Will give thee a chicken to pluck,” _i.e._: her virginity. This is borne out by the wife’s subsequent behaviour. On the other hand, the mother may be speaking simply and literally.

Jean gave his consent and was married. When he was abed with his wife, he believed that she would serve up a chicken for him, and he said to her:

“Give it me.”

“Take it,” answered his wife.

“Give it me, I tell thee.”

“Take it, then.”

Thus passed the night, and on the morrow Jean the Fool went weeping to his mother, saying:

“Mother, I begged her for it, and she would not give it me.”

“He lieth!” cried the wife. “I have told him to take it if he wished it.”

And she went to complain to her mother that she had married an idiot, who passed the whole night saying “Give it me” without doing aught else. The good woman saw clearly that her son-in-law was foolish, and she bade him on the following night mount upon his wife and thrust at a spot where he felt some hair.

Jean did as he was counselled, but instead of stretching himself at full length upon her, laid himself across his wife and began to thrust with all his force, but without success, as one can well imagine, a woman’s slit not being at the same angle as her mouth.

Nor was it until the third night that Jean the Fool learned how he must comport himself to have a chicken, and then he found it very much to his taste and his wife also.[47]

[47] We make no apology for the frequent extracts from _Kruptadia_ to be found in this volume and those to follow of _Anthologica Rarissima_. _Kruptadia_, perhaps the most remarkable _recueil_ of folk lore stories, songs, sayings and proverbs in the world, is a work far too little known to the student and bibliophile. Its rarity may be explained by the fact that comparatively few copies of each volume were struck off. Of Vol. 2, from which “The Wedding Night of Jean the Fool” is taken, only 135 numbered copies were done. A complete 12-volume set, in the original format (the work was begun in Heilbronn by Henninger Frères and completed in Paris by Welter) is not often seen, and we count ourselves fortunate in having one before us as we write. Havelock Ellis frequently refers to the collection in his _Studies in the Psychology of Sex_, while Pisanus Fraxi, the great bibliographer of erotic, prohibited and uncommon books, was just able to notice the first two volumes in his _Catena Librorum Tacendorum_, (London: Privately Printed: 1885). He pays generous tribute to the production. “Students of folk lore,” he writes, “will hail with delight the appearance of this well-printed and carefully got up little volume, to be followed, let us hope, by many others of the same kind, equally remarkable for talented and faithful rendering, and masterly editing.” Dealing with the tales themselves, he goes on to say that “they reveal to us in an interesting and unequivocal manner the feelings, aspirations, modes of thought, manner of living of the people who tell them, and are possibly one of the most valuable contributions to the study of folk lore which has yet appeared.... They are all characteristic--all good.” Fraxi then gives the pith of “The Enchanted Ring,” which we have already printed at length in this volume. In the concluding pages of his _Catena Librorum Tacendorum_, Fraxi states that vol. 2 of _Kruptadia_ has reached him in time to mention briefly its contents. Since these words were written, ten other volumes have been issued--a veritable mine of entertaining and instructive information. We even go so far as to say that genuine students of folk lore and collectors of curious literature cannot afford to ignore _Kruptadia_, even as they should have access to Pisanus Fraxi’s 3-volume work, _INDEX LIBRORUM PROHIBITORUM_, _CENTURIA LIBRORUM ABSCONDITORUM_, and _CATENA LIBRORUM TACENDORUM_. Possession of these works by all is impossible owing to their rarity, cost and small imprint. Not every student can afford to pay £20 to £30 for the complete set of _Kruptadia_, even if he be lucky enough to chance on such a find, while Fraxi’s amazing bibliography, in the sale room alone, commands about £35; and while the price tends steadily to increase, the appearance of the complete 3-volume set as steadily decreases.

THE MAIDEN WELL GUARDED.[48]

[48] _Kruptadia_: Heilbronn, Henninger Frères, 1884: _Breton Folk Lore_.

There lived a maiden whose mother guarded her with infinite care lest some youth should do her ill; and she was brought up in all innocence. And when she begged to go to gatherings even as other maids of her age, her mother was wont to answer her, saying:

“Nay, my daughter, thou shalt not go, for there thou art like to lose thy maidenhead.”

One day, nevertheless, Pierre, the maiden’s lover, who was a good lad and a quiet, came seeking to conduct her to an assembly, and both lad and maid besought the mother to let them go. In the end she consented, thinking in herself that Pierre was too honest to do her daughter ill, and she enjoined him guard her well.

Behold, then, these two on their way; and as they went, the maiden said:

“My mother hath strictly enjoined me to guard my maidenhead. It seemeth that at assemblies one is in case to lose it. How best preserve it?”

“Hath not thy mother shown thee a method of so doing?”

“Yea,” answered the maiden, “she hath enjoined me to press my thighs tightly together.”

Quitting the road, they entered a wood wherein were several streamlets, which one crossed by means of planks. Even as the maid walked upon one of these planks Pierre, who marched behind her, cast a stone into the water hard by the girl.

“Alas!” cried the maiden. “What will my mother say? Behold, my maidenhead hath fallen in the water and is lost!”

“Fear not,” answered the lad. “‘Tis fortunate I am here. I will restore it thee. Come with me ‘neath the trees, and say naught if the business hurteth thee, for ‘tis all for thy good.”

Then Pierre, in very sooth, ‘put back’ the maidenhead for her, and shortly afterward they came to the second plank. Even as the girl stood upon it, two or three frogs, slumbering at the streamside, were affrighted and hopped into the water, which spirted up ‘neath the maiden.

“Ah! Pierre!” cried she. “‘Tis lost again! It seemeth that it was not firm. ‘Twas most wrong of thee not to have put it back more firmly.”

“Say no more,” answered Pierre. “I will again put it back.”

And when the maidenhead had been put back for the second time, they went on, reaching the assembly, where they diverted themselves as did the others.

On their return journey, even as the young girl passed over a plank, Pierre cast in the water an apple which he had in his pocket.

“What will my mother say?” cried the girl. “‘Tis the third time I have lost it to-day!”

“Fear not,” quoth Pierre. “I am about to sew it on again.”

When the maidenhead had been resewed, the girl, who was acquiring a taste for this form of embroidery, said to Pierre:

“‘Tis not sewn sufficiently firm.”

“Indeed it is.”

“‘Tis not.”

“But I have no more thread.”

“Miserable deceiver!” cried the girl. “He saith he hath no more thread, yet all the while he possesseth two great balls of it!”[49]

[49] _Peloton_ is the word in the text, signifying, literally, _a ball made of things (thread, silk or wool) wound round it_. The play on words is remarkably apt in the last few lines of the story, _peloton_ exactly connoting, in the mind of the simple girl, the youth’s testicles and pubic hair.

_VARIANT._

Béroalde de Verville, in _Le Moyen de Parvenir_, has a similar tale. As it differs in several respects from our _Kruptadia_ version, we give it here. Our extract is from Arthur Machen’s text, which is, so far as we know, the only English translation of the old French Canon’s much censured work.[50] Donatus, one of the characters in the book, is speaking:--

[50] _Fantastic Tales or The Way to Attain: A Book full of Pantagruelism: Now for the first time done into English_ by Arthur Machen: Privately Printed: Carbonnek, 1890. We shall return to the subject of De Verville’s work in a later page of this volume.

... That’s like the case of my landlady’s daughter.... One day this young wench desired to go to a bride-ale, and asked leave of her mother, who granted it on the condition that she would solemnly, paragraphically, and distinctively promise to keep her maidenhead,[51] to which condition the girl agreed with all her heart.

[51] The word is ours. Machen translates “honour.”

So she went away to the wedding, and set herself to keep guard o’er her maidenhead. The lasses and lads all danced away, but she not a step, nor did she dare approach the board where the others were engaged in the quintessential operation of making ordure with the teeth. The poor girl stayed all the time in a corner of the room, with her two hands at the bottom of her stomach, just opposite to the diameter (I mean opposite to the centre which so far was cut by no diameter). Coypeau, seeing her thus dung in the mouth (I should say, down in the mouth) came up to her and said:

“What cheer, Coz; shall we foot it awhile?”

“Nay, I dare not, for fear I lose my maidenhead; my mother bade me take great care of it.”