The Devil and Daniel Webster

The Devil and Daniel Webster

Author: Stephen Vincent Benet

Publisher: Dramatists Play Service Inc

Published: 1943-10

Total Pages: 44

ISBN-13: 9780822203032

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THE STORY: Jabez Stone, young farmer, has just been married, and the guests are dancing at his wedding. But Jabez carries a burden, for he knows that, having sold his soul to the Devil, he must, on the stroke of midnight, deliver it up to him. Shortly before twelve Mr. Scratch, lawyer, enters and the company is thunderstruck. Jabez bids his guests begone; he has made his bargain and will pay the price. His bride, however, stands by him, and so will Daniel Webster, who has come for the festivities. Webster takes the case. But Scratch is a lawyer himself and out-argues the statesman. Webster demands a jury of real Americans, living or dead. Very well, agrees the Devil, he shall have them, and ghosts appear. Webster thunders, but to no avail, and at last realizing Scratch can better him on technical grounds, he changes his tactics and appeals to the ghostly jury, men who have retained some love of country. Rising to the height of his powers, Webster performs the miracle of winning a verdict of Not Guilty.


Noah and the Devil

Noah and the Devil

Author:

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 36

ISBN-13: 0618117547

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A retelling of the story of Noah's ark, embellished with elements from Romanian folklore, including how the devil sneaked aboard, the reason Noah threw a cat overboard, and the role of a snake in saving the ark. In this Romanian folk version of the Noah story, getting the animals to march, two by two, onto the ark is the easy part. It's Noah's stubborn wife who insists that she's staying on dry land. Frustrated, Noah finally declares, "Oh, you devil, come in!" and not only persuades his wife but also gives the Devil himself the invitation he needed to come aboard.


Robert the Devil

Robert the Devil

Author:

Publisher: Penn State Press

Published: 2018-01-23

Total Pages: 158

ISBN-13: 0271081880

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Samuel N. Rosenberg, one of the premier translators of Old French, presents in this volume the first modern English-language version of the thirteenth-century French romance Robert le Diable, a tale of supernatural birth and spiritual redemption. Robert is born after his mother, a childless noblewoman, secretly calls upon Satan to help her conceive. His wicked behavior as a boy and, later, as a destructive young man is so brutal that one day Robert prevails upon his mother to reveal the secret of his birth and thus the source of his wickedness. Upon learning the truth, he leaves his privileged home in Normandy to seek salvation. Robert’s lengthy penance—under the aegis of the Pope and a pious hermit—begins with his acting as a mute fool in the Roman Emperor’s court and ends with his sainthood. In between he plays the hero’s role in defeating the Turks in battle and turns down the hand of the Emperor’s daughter in marriage, choosing instead to return to the hermit’s abode. The legend of Robert le Diable was extraordinarily influential in the seven hundred years after its creation, generating new versions and adaptations in various languages, ranging from sixteenth-century English adaptations by Wynken de Worde and Thomas Lodge to Giacomo Meyerbeer’s esteemed 1831 opera. Framed by a thoughtful introduction and thorough bibliography, this accessible translation renders the original octosyllabic rhymed couplets of the metrical Old French romance in energetic free verse.


The Faustian Century

The Faustian Century

Author: James M. Van der Laan

Publisher: Camden House

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 414

ISBN-13: 1571135529

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New essays revealing the enduring significance of the story made famous in the 1587 Faustbuch and providing insights into the forces that gave the sixteenth century its distinct character. The Reformation and Renaissance, though segregated into distinct disciplines today, interacted and clashed intimately in Faust, the great figure that attained European prominence in the anonymous 1587 Historia von D. Johann Fausten. The original Faust behind Goethe's great drama embodies a remote culture. In his century, Faust evolved from an obscure cipher to a universal symbol. The age explored here as "the Faustian century" invested the Faustbuch and its theme with a symbolic significance still of exceptional relevance today. The new essays in this volume complement one another, providing insights into the tensions and forces that gave the century its distinctcharacter. Several essays seek Faust's prototypes. Others elaborate the symbolic function of his figure and discern the resonance of his tale in conflicting allegiances. This volume focuses on the intersection of historical accounts and literary imaginings, on shared aspects of the work and its times, on concerns with obedience and transgression, obsessions with the devil and curiosity about magic, and quandaries created by shifting religious and worldlyauthorities. Contributors: Marguerite de Huszar Allen, Kresten Thue Andersen, Frank Baron, Günther Bonheim, Albrecht Classen, Urs Leo Gantenbein, Karl S. Guthke, Michael Keefer, Paul Ernst Meyer, J. M. van der Laan, Helen Watanabe-O'Kelly, Andrew Weeks. J. M. van der Laan is Professor of German and Andrew Weeks is Professor of German and Comparative Literature, both at Illinois State University.


The Jersey Devil

The Jersey Devil

Author: James F. McCloy

Publisher: B B& A Publishers

Published: 1976

Total Pages: 126

ISBN-13: 9780912608112

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In the course of its extraordinary history, the Jersey Devil has been exorcised, shot, electrocuted, declared officially dead, and scoffed as foolishness--none of which has had any effect on it or the people who persist in seeing it!This mysterious creature is said to prowl the lonely sand trails and mist-shrouded marshes of the Pine Barrens, and emerge perioducally to rampage through the towns and cities of New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania, leaving many communities in near-hysteria.The authors show that while a few appearances have been out-right fraud and others have likely been the result of mass hysteria, this creature has been seen by enough sane, sober, and responsible citizens to keep the possiblity of its existence alive and tantalizing.Over 50,000 in print


The Black Devil

The Black Devil

Author: Paul Charles Blanchard

Publisher: P. C. Blanchard Jr.

Published: 2021-06-21

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 9781087970684

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When a villain creates his own worst nightmare... Debut author P. C. Blanchard's horrific tale of Southern lore will terrify and entertain as it challenges readers to question their very own morality. Victimized his entire life a young boy seeking to find himself, finds revenge and manhood instead. Everyone has that line, across which lies a desolate and dark place beyond your fight or flight trigger. As Christopher Nails enters this realm of insanity, this unlikely hero will have you cheering his every kill. An imprisoned father and the great depression forced a young Christopher to take on the role of family protector. Quitting school to work the sugarcane plantation was the only way to keep his family from adding to the growing number of homeless. After years of racism and cruelty drain the joy out of Christopher's life, a forbidden love offers him a glimpse of happiness. But should he take it? The consequences could haunt his family, and his enemies, for generations. The Black Devil series will engage your inner demon as well as your heart as you explore how a man becomes a devil and leaves a blood trail long after his death. A victim's past becomes the villain's future. With his father falsely imprisoned and his mother spiraling into desolation, young Christopher Nails finds himself man of the house. In the 1930's Louisiana bayou, Christopher finds himself the primary target of an unholy and soulless Sheriff from which the Parish feeds. But when a forbidden love offers more joy-and danger-than he could ever imagine, Christopher's life and family are threatened. Dreams turn to nightmares as lines are crossed and secrets are discovered. Christopher and his siblings face torture and death with no one to protect them. But a Mamma's plea to an unusual source will change the Nails family legacy and ensure Christopher's name will never be forgotten. The Black Devil is a unique supernatural thriller that leads readers into a chilling place of terror, where right and wrong isn't black and white.


Disappearance at Devil's Rock

Disappearance at Devil's Rock

Author: Paul Tremblay

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 2016-06-21

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 006236328X

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From Paul Tremblay, the author of A Head Full of Ghosts, comes a contemporary psychological suspense concerning a family shaken to its core after the mysterious disappearance of a teenage boy. “A Head Full of Ghosts scared the living hell out of me, and I’m pretty hard to scare,” raved Stephen King about Paul Tremblay’s previous novel. Now, Tremblay returns with another disturbing tale sure to unsettle readers. Late one summer night, Elizabeth Sanderson receives the devastating news that every mother fears: her thirteen-year-old son, Tommy, has vanished without a trace in the woods of a local park. The search isn’t yielding any answers, and Elizabeth and her young daughter, Kate, struggle to comprehend Tommy’s disappearance. Feeling helpless and alone, their sorrow is compounded by anger and frustration: the local and state police have uncovered no leads. Josh and Luis, the friends who were the last to see Tommy before he vanished, may not be telling the whole truth about that night in Borderland State Park, when they were supposedly hanging out a landmark the local teens have renamed Devil’s Rock. Living in an all-too-real nightmare, riddled with worry, pain, and guilt, Elizabeth is wholly unprepared for the strange series of events that follow. She believes a ghostly shadow of Tommy materializes in her bedroom, while Kate and other local residents claim to see a shadow peering through their windows in the dead of night. Then, random pages torn from Tommy’s journal begin to mysteriously appear—entries that reveal an introverted teenager obsessed with the phantasmagoric; the loss of his father, killed in a drunk-driving accident a decade earlier; a folktale involving the devil and the woods of Borderland; and a horrific incident that Tommy believed connects them. As the search grows more desperate, and the implications of what happened become more haunting and sinister, no one is prepared for the shocking truth about that night and Tommy’s disappearance at Devil’s Rock.


God, the Devil, and Harry Potter

God, the Devil, and Harry Potter

Author: John Killinger

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2004-04-05

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 9780312308711

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A Presbyterian minister defends the Harry Potter series from conservatives who denounce the books as paganism, demonstrating how they promote the values of faith and morality, and profiling the main character as a Christ figure.