Jack and the Devil

Most folk agreed that if there was any man who ever deserved to be dragged down to Hell, it was Jack. Jack was a nasty fellow- miserly, cruel to his fellow men, and wicked in the way he treated those around him. He didn't care much for anyone but himself, and if there was a way he could take advantage of someone else- you bet Jack would find it and do whatever he could to get the upper hand. If the devil ever got his claws in Jack, there’d certainly be no one who’d miss him.

Well, eventually it came to be that Jack's time in this world had run out. Be it from drink, all his fights catching up to him, or just his health ailing, Jack had reached the end of his life. So it came to be that the Devil came right up to Jack, ready to haul off a new resident to Hell. Unfortunately for the Devil, Jack wasn't all too eager to face eternal damnation.

He hatched up a scheme while being led down the road. As they were walking along, he decided to act all friendly-like, asking the devil if he was thirsty. Well, Old Scratch was never one to turn down a drink, so he just smiled and decided it wouldn’t hurt too much to stop at a little tavern to wet their whistles before heading back on the road. Before they headed in, Jack confessed he didn't have any money on him- after all, he wouldn't need it where he was going, so he didn't bring any with him. He suggested that the Devil could turn himself into a coin so Jack could buy them both a drink. As the Devil, obviously he should have the power to pull such an impressive feat- and it’d be a funny surprise for the barkeep when it turned out his coin was a man in disguise.

The Devil obliged, seeing no harm in the little trick, but the moment he’d turned into a coin, Jack stuffed him away into a coin-purse with a cross emblazoned upon it so that the Devil couldn’t escape. He refused to let the Devil out unless he’d give Jack another year of living, and seeing as he didn’t want to spend the rest of his days in a coin-purse, the Devil obliged.

Jack was left alone for another year. Now, while most folk would have taken this chance to repent and shape up as not to end up in the Devil’s clutches once more, Jack was not most folk. Jack went right back to his wicked ways, deciding that eventually he’d come to religion so that the Devil couldn’t get him- later, of course. He kept putting off the day that he’d change his ways, ‘till one day he opened the door and found the Devil standing just outside of it.

The pair went back onto the road, the Devil this time fully intending to drag Jack back to hell where he belonged. On the way, they came across a great big tree full of apples, and Jack stopped walking. Gesturing to the tree, he asked the Devil if they could get some of the fruit as a snack to eat on their way to perdition. Though he was a little hesitant to do another favor for Jack this go around, the Devil agreed, and flew up into the tree to pick a few apples for the two of them. While he was up in the tree, Jack went around in the dirt and drew up a number of crosses in the dirt like a fence, and carved one in the bark of the tree with his jack-knife for good measure.

As before, Jack refused to let the devil free unless they made another deal- his freedom for another year in Hesperia. The Devil snarled, and snapped back that he'd do the man one better- he just wouldn't come after him no more. That sounded like a fine bargain to Jack, so he scratched out the cross in the bark, and rubbed out all the dirt crosses with his hands till it was as if they weren't there to begin with. The Devil hopped down from the tree, and stomped off without another word to Jack, leaving the wicked man to do just as he pleased.

While he may have been granted a pass from Hell, he hadn't been granted eternal life. Jack grew older and grew weaker as the years dragged on- his body eventually wearing so thin he finally died. As promised, he didn’t go to Hell. Instead, he made his way up to the pearly gates- but as he got there, Saint Peter refused to let him in. Such a wretched soul as Jack wouldn’t be allowed a place in Heaven. So it was that Jack was forced to go down to Hell, but when he came up to the door it wouldn't open to him. He pounded on the door, and the Devil came to stand on the other side of it.

He said through the door "Go away, and don't you come back. You ain't welcome here- go back from where you came."

"Well, how am I supposed to go back there in the dark?" Jack protested.

Maybe he could make another deal- he just had to get his foot in the door- metaphorically (but, preferably literally).

"Can't we work somethin’ out?"

Now, the Devil was a generous fellow, a much more caring one than he's ever been given credit for, as you fine folks have seen so far in this story. By now, he'd made many a compromise with Jack only to end up with the short end of the stick- but he felt it weren’t fair to ignore Jack’s plea.The door opened a crack- and a piece of hot coal was tossed out at Jack's hands.

"There. Now you got a light."

Then, the door to Hell shut to Jack for good.

From then on, Jack was barred from both Heaven and Hell, his spirit left to wander aimlessly in the between place, on occasion plodding his way through Equestria, having only a coal in his lantern to guide him around. He's not changed one bit; if anything he’s grown more bitter, with ihis only pleasure being leading the living astray with that light of his.

If you see a lone light off the side of the road, weaving between the trees, don't follow it. You might have come across old stingy-Jack.

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Jack and the devil is a folk tale that has its roots in Irish folklore, but has made its way throughout America with several different versions and retellings.

The Maryland retelling can be found here!